Welcome New Seasonal Employees

Natalie Lehman - Chambersburg

Richard Czarnecki - Carlisle

Mary Zimmerman - Carlisle

Leah Harclerode - Chambersburg

Kerry Annett - Carlisle

Welcome New Interns

Evan Wabrick - Carlisle

Diane Cruz - Hagerstown

Daryl Staley - Carlisle

Ashley Taylor - Chambersburg

On Deadline: How to Deliver Desults When They’re Due

Meeting deadlines shows that you take your work seriously and that you value other people’s time. Even outside of work, the ability to keep your promises on time shows your commitment to doing the right thing. Here are some important tips for hitting your deadlines (without driving yourself to exhaustion):

• Start with specifics. What exactly is the deadline? Clarify whether “end of the week” means 5 p.m. Friday or first thing Friday morning. And hammer down the results: What does your boss want? How will he or she measure your effectiveness?

• Negotiate. Is the deadline realistic? Try not to accept an assignment you can’t complete on time. Suggest alternative dates, or work out what other tasks you should put on hold in order to give the deadline the attention it deserves.

• Break the task down. Take a look at what’s involved, and identify the individual steps you need to take in order to achieve your goal. Lay them out on a calendar in step-by-step form so you know what you’ve got to achieve, and you can monitor your progress.

• Get started. Don’t procrastinate on step one. Focus on beginning without getting overwhelmed by the number of steps or the magni­tude of the task ahead of you.

• Build in a buffer. As you schedule your work, give yourself a cushion of time—mark the due date a few days ahead of the actual deadline, for example. This will help you deal with changes or last-minute emergencies.

• Stay in contact. Let your boss, or whomever you’re accountable to, know where you are on the project. He or she will feel more confident about your abilities, and you’ll be able to alert the powers that be about potential roadblocks before they become full-blown crises threatening the deadline.

• Enlist assistance. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Your boss, a friend, or a co-worker will probably be willing to pitch in if you explain the circumstances and the stakes honestly.

SEK&Co Welcomes Kelly DeGroff

 Kelly joined the firm as a Staff Accountant in the Hagerstown office on  Monday, January 9.

SEK&Co Year-End INSIGHT Newsletter

SEK&Co’s Year-End INSIGHT Newsletter is available at www.sek.com/insight

SEK&Co Welcomes Nicole Rollman

 Nicole joined the firm as a part-time payroll specialist in the Hanover office on January 5.

SEK&Co Welcomes Matthew George

 Matthew joined the firm as a Staff Accountant in the Audit department in the Chambersburg office on January 3.

Smith Elliott Kearns & Company Announces Promotions

PROMOTED TO MANAGER

Peter O. McDonald, CPA was promoted from Supervisor to Manager. Peter earned his Baccalaureate in Commerce degree with honors in Accounting from the University of Ottawa, in Canada. He joined SEK&Co’s Hagerstown, Maryland office in 2000 and works with the firm’s small business and individual clients providing accounting, consulting and tax services.

Jessica L. Mihalov, CPA, MBA was promoted from Supervisor to Manager. Jess graduated cum laude from Shippensburg University with a master’s of business administration degree and a bachelor of science degree in business administration, majoring in accounting. She joined SEK&Co in 2006 and serves audit clients in the Carlisle, Pennsylvania office.

PROMOTED TO SUPERVISOR

Margaret E. Eldridge, CPA, MBA was promoted from Senior Associate to Supervisor. Margie joined SEK&Co in 2005 after receiving her master’s degree in business administration and bachelor’s degree in accounting from York College of Pennsylvania. She works in the Hanover office providing individual, small business and estate tax services.

Shannon K. Geiman, CPA was promoted from Senior Associate to Supervisor. Shannon graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting. She joined SEK&Co’s Hanover, Pennsylvania office in 2009, bringing with her 15 years of accounting experience. She specializes in providing the firm’s small business clients with tax preparation, planning and consulting services.

MaryBeth Hockenberry, MBA was promoted from Senior Associate to Supervisor. MaryBeth earned a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in business administration from Frostburg State University. She joined SEK&Co’s Hanover, Pennsylvania office in 2009 and specializes in assisting clients with business and individual tax consulting, planning and preparation services.

Leighton P. Stiffler was promoted from Senior Associate to Supervisor. Leighton earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University in 2005. He joined SEK’s Carlisle office in 2008 and works in the Audit Department where his primary focus has been on nonprofits and governmental entities.  Prior to joining SEK&Co Leighton worked for Boyer and Ritter CPA’s in Carlisle (6/05 – 7/07) and Holy Spirit Hospital (6/07 – 10/08).

PROMOTED TO SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Amy K. Brousse, CPA was promoted from Staff Associate to Senior Associate. Amy graduated summa cum laude from Shippensburg University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, majoring in accounting. She joined SEK&Co’s Chambersburg, Pennsylvania office in January 2010 and works with banking clients providing audit and bank tax return services.

Tyler L. Clugston was promoted from Staff Associate to Senior Associate. Tyler graduated summa cum laude from Shippensburg University, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in accounting. He joined the audit department of the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania office full time in 2009 after successfully completing internships with SEK&Co. Tyler provides services to both audit and tax clients.

Jennifer G. Day was promoted from Staff Associate to Senior Associate. Jennifer joined SEK&Co on a full-time basis in 2010 after completing a successful internship with the firm. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, majoring in accounting, from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Jennifer primarily works with audit clients and helps with a variety of tax projects in the firm’s Hanover, Pennsylvania office.

Nicole E. Shives was promoted from Staff Associate to Senior Associate.  Nicole graduated magna cum laude from DeVry University, earning a bachelor’s degree in technical management with emphasis in Accounting. She joined SEK&Co’s Chambersburg, Pennsylvania office in 2008 and works with banking clients providing audit and bank tax return services.

Mark A. Sloan was promoted from Staff Associate to Senior Associate. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Elizabethtown College. He came to the Carlisle, Pennsylvania office of SEK&Co with two years of audit experience. Mark specializes in auditing, with particular interest in non-profit clients.

PROMOTED TO STAFF ASSOCIATE

Jaimie S. Kaufman was promoted from Accounting/Bookkeeping Associate to Staff Associate. Jaimie earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Shippensburg University with a dual major in accounting and management information systems. She joined SEK&Co’s Carlisle, Pennsylvania office in 2009 and works with the firm’s small business and individual clients providing accounting, consulting and tax services.

Ashley N. Poole was promoted from the firm’s accounting clerk to Staff Associate. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Keiser University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She has served as the accounting clerk for SEK&Co in the Administrative office since 2010 and will work in the tax/accounting service department of the firm’s Hagerstown, Maryland office.

PROMOTED TO SUPERVISING ACCOUNTANT

Deborah L. Meckley was promoted from Accounting/Bookkeeping Associate to Supervising Accountant. Deb graduated  from York Technical Institute, York, Pennsylvania with an associate’s degree in Accounting. She joined the Hanover, Pennsylvania office of SEK&Co in 2000 and works with payroll and QuickBooks clients, and supervises the accounting service practice. Deb is also a certified ProAdvisor in QuickBooks, and is the Hanover representative to the firms ACTS committee.

Congratulations Amy Brousse

Congratulations to Amy Brousse who recently received her CPA license!

SEK&Co Welcomes Stacy Maun & Amy Schildt

Stacy joined the firm as a part-time administrative assistant in the Chambersburg office on December 13.  Amy joined the firm as an administrative assistant in the Hagerstown office on December 14.  We are excited to welcome these employees to the SEK&Co Team!