Society Committees

President-Elect Committee Service Letter 2007-2008
A Letter from NYSSCPA President-Elect, Sharon Sabba Fierstein

Some people are born leaders. Some people learn how to be leaders. Where can they go to hone their skills in a collaborative environment? The NYSSCPA committees. Now is the perfect time to join a committee with the Society’s first-ever committee open house. Find out why joining a committee will be one of the most important and beneficial decisions of your career.

NYSSCPA committees give you the opportunity to be an active participant in the evolution of our profession. You can work with our technical committees to comment on significant issues of the day. You can exchange ideas with peers in our industry committees to improve the services that you provide to your clients. You can even work with high school and college students in our membership committees to educate them about what it really means to be a CPA and why they should consider public accounting as a profession.

Equally important, NYSSCPA committees give you the opportunity to learn the skills required to be a successful professional in today’s fast-paced environment. We can all agree that becoming adept at “soft” skills can make a significant difference in our careers — making us more than numbers crunchers by developing us into trusted professionals. Learning how to run a meeting, finding a voice for public speaking, coordinating long-term projects and facilitating consensus building are all skills that are vital to every CPA professional, whether that person is in public accounting, industry, government or consulting. Having the opportunity to develop those skills in an environment free from the pressures of the everyday workplace makes the experience even more beneficial. I truly believe that committee service can be rewarding for you, your employees, your clients and your peers. It’s a professional growth opportunity that you can’t afford to miss.

Whether you confine your involvement to committee service or whether you use it as a springboard to more intensive involvement in the Society, I urge you to get involved in a committee. More than 20 years ago, I got my start at the Society on a membership committee and next year I will serve as your president. Seize the opportunity to get your start today —you never know where it’s going to take you.

Sharon Sabba Fierstein, President-Elect

About Society Committees

Travel Reimbursement

Committee members may qualify for travel expense reimbursement. To learn more about the reimbursement policy, visit www.nysscpa.org, click on “Find Committees” and look for the Travel Reimbursement Policy link.

Conference Calls

If you find that traveling to the Society offices for a committee meeting conflicts with fulfilling the rest of your day’s commitments, you need not miss out on the benefits of the meeting. You can conference in, now more easily than ever. The Society has available conference phones and dial-in conference call services for committee members to use for meetings held at the Society. Just contact the Society’s Sr. Manager of Committee Services at 212-719-8358 for confirmation and availability.

Eligibility to Serve on a Committee

All New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants members, both CPA and associate members throughout the state, are encouraged to apply for committee service. Some senior committees have a prerequisite of prior committee service (noted with *) or prior committee chair service (noted with ^). Members can serve on more than one committee.

You will be formally notified of acceptance of your application to serve on a committee upon approval of the chair of the committee. The committee year runs from June 1st to May 31st.

Members Currently Serving on Committees

Members currently serving on committees are no longer required to go through an annual reapplication process. In September of 2002, the Committee Operations Committee, in response to committee membership, approved a streamlined procedure based on the principle that members who volunteer to serve on committees typically desire to do so for periods longer than twelve months.

Current year committee members are automatically carried over to the next committee year unless they notify the Society that they do not wish to continue, or if the chair deems that their service is no longer required or they receive a “Do Not Reappoint” assessment from the chair. Committee members can check their committee service history through their online member profile by clicking on “Change Your Info” on the homepage of www.nysscpa.org and clicking on “Committee Service”. A check box will appear starting each January 1st alongside listed committees for members to notify the Society if they wish to no longer serve on a particular committee.

Committee Meeting CPE

Many committee meetings feature guest speakers or technical presentations throughout the year that qualify for one hour of CPE credit. To learn more about committee CPE, visit www.nysscpa.org, click on “Find Committees” and look for the Committee CPE link.

Committee Coordinators

Many larger firms or companies have an in-house committee coordinator who monitors effective representation of the organization on Society committees. The coordinator can assist you with and should receive a copy of your committee service application. To find out if your firm or company has an in-house coordinator, call Nereida Gomez, Sr. Manager of Committee Services at 212-719-8358 or send an e-mail to ngomez@nysscpa.org.

Questions:

For more information regarding committee service, please do not hesitate to call Nereida Gomez, Sr. Manager, Committee Services at 212-719-8358 or via e-mail at ngomez@nysscpa.org.