Man, it’s a tough time to be an industry CPA, isn’t it?

Think about it. The economy stinks, and that’s impacting operations, staffing, spending … heck, just about everything these days.

Add to that the crazy regulatory pile-on we’re experiencing lately — health care reform, finance reform, those insane 1099 reporting requirements, the looming specter of IFRS and the continuing “red flags rule” saga — and you’ve got a true corporate nightmare.

“Since you can’t prepare for everything, you have to have an organization that’s ready to deal with anything,” says Tom Foard, former MACPA board chair and current chair of the AICPA’s Business and Industry Executive Committee. “You have to be quick and nimble and able to deal with a very uncertain operating environment.”

Yep, it’s a complex world. And that complexity doesn’t end at the corporate CPA’s office door. There’s just as much at stake for CPAs in practice, too.

“I can use health care reform as an easy example,” Foard said. “We are trying to figure out what this means to our companies, and CPA firms can help us to understand what the new rules might mean for our businesses and think through strategies to help us implement those new rules, adminstrate them and account for them.”

Foard offer these thoughts and more during an interview at the 2010 Maryland CPA Summit. Watch the interview in its entirety.

Luckily, answers are available. The first step is to attend one of the MACPA’s popular professional issues updates this fall. Tom Hood leads the sessions by explaining the many issues that impact CPAs today and what the profession is doing in response. The meetings are free for MACPA members and are worth four hours of CPE.

Check out the complete fall schedule here, then tell us: Which issue is having the biggest impact on your company?