Deiters also warned his audience against thinking that the increasingly global scale of the economy won't apply to their clients or their firm. While it used to make sense to think that the activities of a small mom-and-pop shop would be restricted mostly to its local area, Deiters said CPAs can't make that assumption anymore. Through the Internet, businesses can sell goods and services to people around the globe. He noted that there are multinational companies worth millions of dollars that have only about 10 or 15 people working for them. This means that even small practitioners must take on a global outlook and understand the challenges their clients may face, not just in their immediate area but in far-flung countries thousands of miles away. 

"It used to be you had a sole CPA firm handling the small mom and pops. The stationary stores or delis and hair places. They had to deal with the local economy, local tax issues, state tax issues, federal tax issues, but that was it. But what have a lot of them done? They've opened up websites and said, 'We can triple, quadruple our sales by going online and selling our wares there.' ... It's not so easy anymore to just put your head in the sand and say, 'I only deal with local clients,'" he said. 

In the face of these changes, Deiters said that CPAs must specialize. Soon it won't be enough to just be an auditor. People will need to be a forensic auditor, or an internal controls auditor, or an IT systems auditor. To this end, he highly recommended getting additional credentials that demonstrate that level of specialization. While getting these credentials may seem a little like alphabet soup after a while (Deiters noted his six credentials means a lot of letters after his name), he said they communicate important things to clients. 

"I wanted to compete in my market. If I want to get work from attorneys, they need to know I'm an expert, and I do that by getting credentials. ... I will tell you, all those credentials, people make fun, but it has really, really helped my career; it has helped me bring in business, and when the public looks for someone they are going to trust with whatever their problem is, they want to know they're dealing with a professional," he said. 

And beyond credentials, he added that, with the increasingly client-centered nature of the CPA profession, more and more firms are demanding better communication skills from their staff. If you don't have those skills, Deiters said, it's important to get them. He noted that joining the NYSSCPA is a great way to do so. 

"I would encourage you to get involved. It does a lot of different things. It's going to help you out in your career. It's good for the profession. ... But more importantly, you're here [at this conference] to better yourself, and it will help you [do just that], help you communicate with your peers better, or you might, at worst, make a friend," he said.