Valentine Gives Back in Every Way

Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of profiles highlighting the diverse interests and careers of VSCPA members. Know a member (including yourself) who would make for an interesting profile? Email VSCPA Communications Specialist Chip Knighton.

The VSCPA is filled with high achievers, but Monique Valentine, CPA (right) has been remarkably active even among that group. She chaired the VSCPA Board of Directors in 2007–2008 and has held leadership positions with the VSCPA Educational Foundation and the VSCPA PAC. As it turns out, that love of service bled into her non-VSCPA work.

After starting in public accounting, Valentine transitioned into the nonprofit sector in 2000 and has worked for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), where she is now chief financial officer (CFO), and has been for 11 years.

“My first job in my nonprofit career was with a [501(c)(3)] organization that raised money for international relief and development organizations, and knowing that the money we raised went to help people in under-developed countries was very rewarding,” Valentine said. “We worked hard to keep overhead expenses to a minimum so that the majority of the money we raised was used to fulfill our mission.  It gave me a great sense of purpose knowing that the work I did was benefitting many other individuals.”

Valentine made partner in a Springfield CPA firm the same year she got married and began a lengthy commute from Front Royal around the same time. It didn’t take long before she realized that spending four hours a day in the car wasn’t conducive to a successful marriage.

“The thought of an increased commute and the long hours I was working helped me to decide that I either needed to divorce my job or my husband,” she said. “I chose to divorce my job.”

While work-life balance played a role in her move to the nonprofit world, the sense of working for a greater good let her know she made the right decision.

“I love working for an organization where I believe and support the mission and know that my work benefits more than just the owners of the business,” she said.

It’s that same sense of working for something bigger than herself that has driven much of Valentine’s volunteer work with the VSCPA and other organizations. In addition to the long list of roles she’s held with the Society, she’s given her time to the George Mason University Accounting Advisory Council, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Manassas Presbyterian Church. She started as a VSCPA volunteer with the Young CPAs Committee before taking on a greater role with the Society’s Northern chapter.

“The firm I worked for was a strong advocate for giving back to the profession and encouraged all staff to get involved with the local chapter and the VSCPA,” she said. “…I have grown tremendously personally and professionally through my involvement with the VSCPA. I never thought that I would have a leadership role at the VSCPA, but by getting involved early on and taking on a little more each year, I eventually felt that I had the knowledge and ability to serve in a leadership capacity. 

“The VSCPA has helped me to grow in my current position as the CFO for a large trade association and has introduced me to so many great CPAs that I would never have had the opportunity to work with without my involvement at the VSCPA.”

Becoming a volunteer has helped Valentine in her day job, too.

“By volunteering with the VSCPA and other organizations, I have had to become more efficient at managing my time, which is a skill we can all continually improve upon,” she said. “My volunteer work has also helped me to improve my communication skills, and has given me the ability to work in teams with fellow professionals with diverse and varying backgrounds. But most of all, I think my volunteer work has helped to build my confidence and to not be afraid to try new things by taking on new opportunities and challenges. The roles I have had with the VSCPA have helped me to improve all of these skills, which has led to my becoming a more efficient, productive CFO.”

Going into the nonprofit world after “divorcing her job” helped Valentine refocus on her family life. She has two children, Sara (15) and Ben (13) and enjoys taking them to the beach, on camping trips and to Washington Nationals games.

“My kids keep me sane and are my reality check in life,” she said.

Even that sanity check hasn’t stopped her from scratching the volunteer itch. In addition to her work with her church, she serves as the treasurer for Ben’s middle school.

“I am always volunteering my time because I love it,” she said. “The word ‘no’ is not part of my vocabulary.”

Guest Blogger: Disability Exclusion for Military Retirees

By Monique Valentine, CPA

Monique T. Valentine CPA

As most of you know, many military retirees receive disability benefits from the Veterans Administration and receive these benefits tax-free. These benefits are in addition to the regular retirement benefits that the retiree receives from Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS).

Military retirees with service-related injuries or sickness will typically apply for service-connected disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or even apply for an increase in disability benefits after an award has been granted. Once the VA receives the application for initial benefits or increased benefits, it will review the application and issue a disability rating to the retiree based on the extent of the injuries or disabilities sustained, which can take months to receive. Once a determination is made by the VA, the retiree must sign a waiver, pursuant to section 1005 of the Veterans’ Benefit Act of 1957, 38 U.S.C. 3105, agreeing to have the taxpayer’s future retirement pay reduced in an amount equal to the disability benefits to be received from the VA.  

In the meantime, during the time the application is being reviewed by the VA and before a disability rating is awarded, the retiree is continuing to receive their full monthly retirement benefits from DFAS. Once a retroactive award is made by the VA, per Revenue Ruling 78-161, based on the Strickland decision, military retirees may reduce their taxable retired pay from DFAS by the amount of the retroactive VA award for that year.  

Once the waiver has been signed by the retiree, future disability benefits will be paid to directly from the VA and the retired pay received from DFAS is reduced accordingly. Therefore, no future adjustments are necessary to the amounts received from DFAS. 

Recently, there has been some misinformation circulating in the military retiree community regarding the further reduction of military retirement benefits from DFAS based on an assigned VA disability rating. The documentation that is circulating indicates that retirees can further reduce their retirement benefits from DFAS to the full extent of their disability rating from VA, based on a memorandum issued by the Chief, Branch 2, Employee Benefits and Exempt Organizations Unit on March 31, 1999.  The information that is circulating indicates that if the retiree received a disability rating, then they can file amended returns to claim additional reductions in their taxable retired pay from DFAS based on a re-computed net disability exclusion until they reach age 65.  

Please be aware that this is not a correct interpretation of the Chief Counsel Memorandum. We have spoken with the Chief Counsel’s office and have confirmed that these claims of additional reductions in DFAS retired pay are not an accurate interpretation of the Memorandum and that the reduction in DFAS retired pay is only allowed when an initial VA award has been received or an amended award has been approved for which a retiree did not receive the benefits from the VA.