narrator: Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

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[jazzy music] ♪ ♪ - Hello and welcome to "Pathway to Success."

I'm John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

You know, when you do your family budget or running a business enterprise, it's always about the numbers.

The numbers will determine if you are in business or potentially going out of business.

Today's guest is very proficient in this area.

He's my friend, and a great friend to New Jersey, Mr. Ralph Albert Thomas.

He's a CPA.

He's also CEO and executive director of New Jersey Society of CPAs.

Welcome to "Pathway to Success."

- Thank you, John.

And it's a pleasure to be here with you today.

- Well, you know, we want to start very simple and build on it.

Can you share with our viewers today a little bit about your background?

You know, where you're from, big family, small family, and then we'll get into, you know, your education.

- Well, John, I grew up in Washington, D.C.

I have a brother and a sister and grew up with a family that emphasized education.

And because of my dad that, believe it or not, only had an eighth-grade education.

And--but only having an eighth-grade education, saw the three of us go to college, all three of-- my two siblings and I all have graduate degrees.

And so we were-- we were blessed to-- to have parents like that that focused on having an education as being an important facet to be successful in life.

- Neither my dad or my mother completed high school.

I think coming up from their respective generations, they had an appreciation for education.

So I know you attended a number of schools.

So let's start with the first one, Lehigh.

How did you select that particular university?

And, you know, take us from there to the others.

- Yeah.

Well, it's interesting because Lehigh was not my first choice.

I actually was looking to go to The University of Texas in Austin because my dad grew up in Fort Worth, Texas.

And as a result of living in the District of Columbia, you could go to any college, state college in the country as an in-state student.

And so at the last moment I decided, University of Texas was a little too far away from home and that I'd only be able to come home once a semester and whatnot, so I ended up going to Lehigh.

I did a graduate degree at Lehigh.

And I ended up serving as the first African American to be president of the Alumni Association at Lehigh.

And then I went on the Lehigh board for about 14 years where I chaired the audit committee for six years and also help establish Lehigh's diversity and inclusion initiatives there at the--at the school.

So at the end of the day, it all--it all worked out.

I ended up and I'm still actively involved in Lehigh.

I'm a trustee emeritus there.

And I'm--I'm very involved in what's happening at the institution with regard of this diversity and inclusion program there.

- So why accounting?

- Well, that's another interesting story.

I was originally going to go and be an engineer because my brother was an engineer.

My brother and sister both went to HBCUs.

And so after about ten days at Lehigh, I decided to change and go into the business school.

And--and I thought accounting would be a great way or great discipline to pursue because of the opportunities and what accountants did in the marketplace at that time.

So I ended up majoring in accounting.

And then also, you know, I had a minor in finance at Lehigh.

- Share with us a little bit about your professional career.

- Well, after graduating from--from Lehigh and getting my MBA, I went back to Washington and I went to work for what was then Price Waterhouse.

Now it's PricewaterhouseCoopers.

And at that time, Price Waterhouse was one of the big eight accounting firms.

And I actually had done, while I was at Lehigh, three internships with Price Waterhouse.

So when I started my career, I was very familiar with the landscape there.

And I went back there and, you know, stayed there for about three and a half years.

And then I ended up going to Potomac Electric Power Company, which was a client of Price Waterhouse and spending, oh, about I guess two and a half years there before coming to New Jersey to-- during the time of the breakup of the Bell Operating Companies.

And I went into work for a small spinoff of AT&T there and worked there for about-- oh, I want to say about four or five years.

And then, had an opportunity that came to me to go to work for Citibank in New York where I headed up-- I was a vice president there, headed up a due diligence team for our leveraged buyout group.

So my group was responsible for going out, taking a look at, you know, mergers and acquisition transactions to see whether the bank should invest in and--and fund those kinds of transactions.

Taking a step back, because one of the things I always wanted to do was run an organization.

And so, when I had joined the New Jersey Society of CPAs as a member, was on their board, was treasurer of the society.

And one of the past presidents came to me and said, "Ralph--" and his--his wife was my predecessor at the New Jersey Society of CPAs.

And he said, "She's going to be retiring.

"I think you would be a good candidate or a good person for this position."

And so I said, "Hmm, are you sure?"

Because at that time, there had not been a person of color heading up a state society in the country.

So I challenged him to go out to the past presidents and say, "Are you ready for somebody of color to be, you know, head up the organization?"

And so he did circle around, talk to a number of the past presidents and other people in leadership.

And surprisingly, they were-- they were fine with it.

So here I am.

So I'm 22 years later, still heading up the society and having--having a good time in doing that.

- Well, you know, that's a very long tenure and we wish you nothing but the best.

But I want to go back to something you said, and this is for the young people who may be tuning in today.

How significant was internships?

You--you mentioned you had three tours of duty of internships.

- Price Waterhouse, yes.

- Yeah.

- It's--it's very important because you get a lay of the land in sort of a non-threatening environment because you're-- you're an intern.

And I did typical things that interns do.

I ran information up to Capitol Hill when there were committee meetings there in one of my first internships.

And I--it was around my second internship that I went to the head of HR at the company and said, "You know, I really like to go to the training program that you have."

And he said, "Well, if you go to-- "if you want to go to the training program, "you gotta commit that you're going to come to work for us when you graduate," and so I did.

At that time, you know, we were still in an environment where, you know, there weren't a lot of folks of color in the major accounting firms.

And so you kind of felt-- felt a little bit isolated.

So I thought all I needed to do was put my head down, do my work and--and everything.

And then I soon found out that I needed to make sure that I networked with people, especially those individuals who were managers and seniors at the firm.

- But share with us a little bit about when was the New Jersey Society of CPAs established and you coming in.

What--what is the mission?

- The mission of the society is to--to serve the needs of members by, you know, providing training programs, making sure that our members are informed about the things that are happening, not only in New Jersey, but on a federal level, and the things that have an implication on their clients.

So we do a lot of educational programs.

When I first started at the society, we weren't really a household name if you will down in Trenton.

And one of the things that I really worked hard at was to try to make sure that we had a seat at the table, so to speak, because I had a saying that, "If we want to know what's happening in New Jersey, who better than then to ask CPAs," because they pretty much touch every constituency here in the state.

So we were able to really work hard and--and become a thought leader and, you know, have legislators call on us to get our views and opinions on things other than just taxes and audit, but the economy in general.

- Well, the numbers as I said-- the outset are significant.

I know you all weighing on the budget.

You have opinions as it relates to that stuff.

Why is that important to your profession and/or your constituency?

- Well, it's-- it's no secret, John, that New Jersey has one of the highest taxes in the nation.

And so one of the things that we advocate is looking at ways to make New Jersey more affordable, make sure that New Jersey is operating efficiently as well.

And so that's some of what we've been, you know, pushing with the legislature that they think about doing those things.

Making sure that, you know, we are doing the best that we can with the resources that we have here in New Jersey.

When the deductions on... taxes were kept, that was a big hit on New Jersey.

And so one of the things that we took a look at is what could we've come away with that perhaps would help small businesses, and one was bait, and that's the business alternative income tax.

And what that did is, you know, help businesses defer taxes.

And so that was a big initiative and we believe it will help save small businesses on the order of magnitude of about $400 million a year on that.

That's just one of the initiatives that we-- obviously, we were always looking at how that we can, you know, work with the division of taxation and--and the legislature and making sure that they're aware of what the business community is talking about.

I wanna reflect back to one program, a meeting we had with Vince, the Senate president, Sweeney, where I was testifying at a committee hearing.

And I was telling him that one of the things that our members were counseling New Jerseyans to think about was leaving New Jersey.

And I thought the Senate President was going to pass out because he said, "Did you hear what he said?

They're counseling people to leave New Jersey."

And so--but that is the role of our members to help their clients and constituencies think about, you know, their financial planning and what works best for them.

So that was--that was I think the start of developing a good relationship with the Senate President and his team such that when we did surveys, we would share copies of the survey with them beforehand to see if they would want to put any information in there.

And vice versa, they would come to us and ask us to think about doing surveys.

So I feel real good about that fact that I think we accomplished one of the goals that I had was that was being looking at having a seat at the table.

- Ralph, we're going to have to take our first break here.

We'll be back in a moment.

narrator: The African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey is your pathway to success.

We encourage you to visit our website at www.aaccnj.com or call us at 609-571-1620.

We are your strategic partner for success.

- Welcome back to "Pathway to Success."

Let's go here, Mr. Thomas.

We've had a great conversation so far.

And you and I have spent a lot of time around your scholarship program and seeking to recruit more Black men and women into the profession.

Let's talk about that.

- Well, the New Jersey Society of CPAs established a scholarship fund about 60 years ago.

And it's interesting.

It's really grown because back 60 years ago, the scholarships that were given out were $25 savings bonds and when $25 meant something.

But today, we're--we're giving away anywhere and around $1,500 to high school seniors who have expressed an interest in majoring in accounting.

We also have a scholarship program associated with individuals in college, and they get anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000.

We have had years where we have given-- awarded scholarships in an excess of a 1/2 of million dollars for both high school and college.

One of the things that's been challenging for us is our ability to get to students, to let them know about our programs.

In some of the school districts here in the state of New Jersey, it's difficult to get an opportunity to go in and talk about what CPAs do.

I make it a point that every year I go to New Brunswick High School because I know that's a high school that has a large body of minority students.

And because I think it's important that our students of color and ethnicity see individuals like us out in the marketplace so that they can say, "Well, you know, I could be in that same position."

- What is a typical day like for you?

- Well, I wish there was something as a typical day.

A day can be anything, you know, having members call because they have, you know, problems getting their staff licensed and everything.

It could be that a firm has an issue that they, you know, need to chat with us to see what options should they pursue as well.

I could be having conversations with firm--firm leaders, you know, promoting, you know, the products that we provide to the firms, and also getting them to make a larger commitment to the society.

- In your current role, you sit on several boards.

Why is that significant?

- Well, I think again, you know, I think having a presence is there.

For example, you know, I'm--I'm on six accounting advisory boards here in New Jersey and a seventh one in my alma mater at Lehigh.

So again, I think it's important because I can share with the students what--what CPAs really do in today's marketplace.

CPAs are strategic advisors for the clients that they work with.

- So, you know, we talked earlier about relationships and networking.

And you're all over the place.

You know, you're dancing with the stars, you hobnobbing with governors and elected officials and big business executives.

Can you share a little bit about the significance of networking and building these relationships?

Man about town.

[both laugh] - Well, building relationships are extremely important because it's like-- how can I put it?

Like your doctor or a dentist, you know, that you go to.

You form a relationship with those individuals, and you trust them.

You trust the advice that they give to you.

And so that's what we look to do with our members who are CPAs.

We want them to be the trusted advisors to their clients.

- So we're in the 2021 tax season, if you will.

Are there any significant changes to the tax code?

- No, not really, not like we've had in the past.

But we certainly are working on-- within the accounting profession, an initiative that we think is very important.

And that's the STEM initiatives.

You know, accounting enrollments have been declining in schools.

And we think one of the reasons that they've been declining is because of the STEM initiatives.

The STEM initiatives get a lot of attention.

They get funding even down through the elementary school level.

So we've been trying to push through in Congress to have accounting deemed a STEM initiative.

And we think that that will attract more individuals into accounting.

- But diversity and inclusion, business diversity, do you engage in those conversations with your clients?

And if so, from your perspective, you know, why is that important?

- Of the CPAs in the country, only 2% are folks of color, so we've got some work to do.

That's one of the things that we really have to work on is getting folks of color interested in coming in and taking the CPA exam.

- But, Ralph, if you could take a moment, we still have a significant number of businesses that are operating off the books.

Can you tell them today why it's important to have an account and the value proposition that could be shared through that relationship?

- Absolutely not.

It's--it's important to, if you're owning a business, that you engage professionals who can help you make that business flourish and grow.

And that's what, you know, CPAs are doing in today's marketplace.

It's tough running a business today.

And if you try to run a business and at the same time pay the taxes and make sure that you're compliant, it's gonna be tough.

That's why it's so important to really connect with--with a CPA and a CPA firm because they can help those businesses navigate through those problems.

When I look back at, you know, when we had the--the pandemic and, you know, the PPP programs and all the stimulus packages that came out, our members played a tremendous role in helping small businesses navigate through that.

- So that said, how does one go about selecting the right account for their business?

- Make sure that you do a background check.

Check at the division of consumer affairs and the state board of accountancy and see if the firm is in good standing.

Does it have a license here?

'Cause that's--you know, some people are practicing here without licenses or their license has expired and that's not a good thing.

So you want to make sure that you're working with a firm that does not have any issues or hasn't had problems.

- Now, those are some great, great points.

As a follow-up, how do you arrive at expectations?

Hey, you've identified an accountant, they've cleared all your concerns, and now, how do you, you know, get an agreement on what to expect from each other?

- Well, the firm should put before for proposal of what they will, one, going to do.

So you need to have that documented to make sure you don't miss anything.

Secondly, it's the cost-- the fees associated with it, but you really have to do your homework to make sure that the firm that you're choosing understands your situation, the environment that you're in, and that they have the manpower to help do the job that you want to be done.

- What does that mean?

Or what has it meant to you to be affiliated with our chamber?

- Well, I've been so very proud to have been affiliated with the chamber, John.

I knew you guys were out there.

We've been on, you know, other committees with the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and whatnot.

In particular, I know you had-- you had an initiative where you were trying to help get internships for high school students to work in the accounting field.

Let's work together.

And I think that that's the opportunity that I see and hope that we'll get to before I call it a day at the society.

- So what's ahead for you and the organization?

- Well, again, I think we want to make sure that we continue to be-- have a seat at the table, that our voice is heard just not on tax issues or audit issues, but that we have some impact in the economy.

So one of the initiatives that we're working on now is that we believe that the members of the legislature may not have a real good idea of the state of things here in New Jersey.

So one of the things that we're looking to do is to approach the--the legislature and ask that there be an initiative or that the auditor-- auditor of the state do a annual presentation before the whole legislature of the financial condition of New Jersey.

- I tell you, Ralph, that is a good point to end our conversation on.

So, Ralph, you know, all good things must come to an end.

Until the next time on your pathway to success, This is John Harmon, founder, president, and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey.

[jazzy music] ♪ ♪ The message today is about transparency.

We just heard from a very well-educated, experienced CPA and just a professional in the industry of dealing with-- with the facts.

And here, in our great state, everybody here in the state individually, as well as corporations and small businesses are paying taxes.

And we have these annual state of address at the municipal, at the county, and even the state level.

But how about having an annual "let's look at the books"?

The art of the general coming before the legislature and just sharing with all the citizens and the business owners of this great state where we really are.

Think about how you are surviving.

And then lastly, having an accountant, someone who really knows how to help you structure your business, helping you manage the profits or navigate the losses.

At the end of the day, it's not the top line.

It's the bottom line.

What you have in your pocket is what counts.

Thank you.

♪ ♪ narrator: Support for this program was provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSE&G, JCP&L, Investors Bank, Berkeley College, NJM Insurance Group, New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

♪ ♪