Minutes

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 A.M.

Chair Stephen Langowski introduced the members of the committee, and gave a brief overview of what the committee will attempt to accomplish, including creating a committee action plan and choosing a new audit firm for next year.

Fiscal Year 2003 Audit Issues

Mr. Langowski summarized the goals of the audit, and said that another meeting will be held after Eisner has finished their fieldwork to discuss any problems or concerns raised by either Society or Eisner personnel involving the audit. Mr. Langowski then asked Julie Floch of Eisner, LLP to address the group. Ms. Floch noted that audit fieldwork is scheduled to begin on July 7th, and discussed concerns that arose during the fiscal 2002 audit. She mentioned that Eisner had presented an incomplete audit draft to the Executive Committee last year, and that the functional expense breakdown was not completed in a timely manner. Ms. Floch expects that fieldwork will take two to three weeks. After audit fieldwork is completed, an audit draft will be finished within a week and a half. An Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for August 13th, and Eisner will need to present a draft to that group. In order to meet that deadline, Mr. Langowski decided to hold periodic conference calls with the auditors.

Ms. Chambers discussed recasting the functional expenses and schedule of activities, and reviewed the worksheets that showed the revised 2002 presentation. She noted the changes would portray the audit data in the same format as the monthly financial statements that are circulated to the NYSSCPA Board and the FAE.

The Committee then discussed other general issues related to the audit, such as whether staff had received bank reconciliations from all chapters, a point in last year’s management letter. Another issue that will be addressed during the current year is the Society’s upcoming move, which will occur before October 2004.

Ms. Floch noted that a preliminary list of requested items had been submitted to staff several weeks earlier, and noted that additional items would be required as the audit progressed. Lynda Feldman and Ms. Floch asked whether staff would be able to email all audit schedules to the audit group before Monday, the 7th. Ms. Chambers replied that because the accounting department had to complete the June financial statements by Thursday, July 3rd, emailing schedules would not be done until the 7th. All data already gathered will be given to the auditors after the meeting for their review, and Eisner will notify Ms. Chambers whether they will begin the fieldwork on the 7th, or wait until the next day. The first telephone conference call was scheduled for Thursday, July 10th to review the audit progress. Ms. Floch then left the meeting.

401K Pension Plan Audit

The 401K pension plan audit for year ending December 31, 2002 was presented by Ms. Feldman. The loss on investments as compared to the previous calendar year was noted. Ms. Chambers replied that the loss was a small percentage of the overall assets, and said it compared favorably to the market losses that occurred during 2002. Several changes were made to the wording in the audit. A motion was passed and unanimously approved to accept the audit, as revised. After being given all of the prepared audit schedules, Ms. Feldman left the meeting.

Audit RFP

The current audit will be Eisner’s fourth year, and the Society’s bylaws state that no firm may perform more than four successive annual audits. Also per the bylaws, the Board of Directors must approve the new auditors during their second meeting, which will occur in September. Discussion ensued about whether Eisner was eligible to serve as the Society’s auditors for the next four years, and Ms. Chambers said she would review the bylaws to determine whether that is allowed. A proposed auditor solicitation and request for proposal were reviewed, and several wording changes were made. The auditor solicitation, as revised, will be distributed at all committee meetings held in the Society’s offices, included in The Trusted Professional, and posted on the organizations’ website. Proposals will be due at the Society’s offices by August 15th. Ms. Chambers was asked to prepare a brief summary of the proposals that are received, and present it to the committee by August 29th. During the week of September 8th, interviews will be conducted with the three audit firms that are chosen as finalists. Due to concerns about not allowing firms adequate bid preparation time, a committee member also suggested emailing the auditor solicitation to all statewide committee members. Ms. Chambers said she would do that.

Mr. Langowski addressed a concern about whether the Committee members were covered by the Society’s directors’ and officers’ insurance coverage. He reported that Jim Woehlke, the Society’s in-house counsel, had reviewed the insurance coverage and said the Committee was included under the current policy.

With no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 10:50 A.M.

Respectfully submitted,