EC08 – A – 0
Call to Order

EC08 – A – 1
Minutes

a. Approval of Minutes of November 14, 2007, Executive Committee Meeting

Mr. Lifson asked if there were any comments or corrections to the draft minutes of the November 14, 2007, Executive Committee meeting. There being none, Ms. Kinsella moved to approve the minutes as presented and Ms. Barnickel seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

b. Approval of Minutes of December 14, 2007, Executive Committee Conference Call

Mr. Lifson asked if there were any comments or corrections to the draft minutes of the December 14, 2007, Executive Committee conference call. A correction was noted. Mr. Piluso moved to approve the minutes as corrected, and Ms. Jensen seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

a. Set Tax Update

President Lifson provided an update regarding the Society’s SET Tax proposal. He referred committee members to agenda materials for several articles on the proposal which were published in The New York Sun, Financial Week, Accounting Today and Practical Accountant. He noted that the article in The New York Sun garnered approximately 60 phone calls including one from a presidential campaign.

b. Town Hall Meeting Update

President Lifson noted that the 2007-2008 round of Chapter “Town Hall” meetings had been completed. He and President-elect Fierstein spoke of the rewarding nature of the meetings and their importance to enhancing leadership communication with Society members all over the state.

c. Mobility

Messrs. Lifson and Grumet gave an overview of the AICPA Mobility Initiative and how it overlapped with – and was at variance with – the currently proposed New York State legislation governing the profession.

d. PAC Update

Mr. Grumet gave an update on recent Political Action Committee activity.

a. Quality Enhancement Policy Committee

President-elect Fierstein reported that the Quality Enhancement Policy Committee (QEPC) had completed work on its pre-certification education white paper and was seeking an Executive Committee recommendation that the full board approve the white paper at its April meeting. The Executive Committee took action on the white paper as summarized below under item EC-A-15. Ms. Fierstein concluded by noting that the QEPC would be commencing its research of post-service education.

b. 2008 Leadership Conference

Ms. Fierstein described the plans for the 2008 Leadership Conference to be held July 13 to 15, 2008 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. Ms. Fierstein reported that she had visited the property and was very impressed with the accommodations. She noted that the resort was a half hour from the Syracuse Airport for those who preferred to fly. She said that she had rearranged the conference schedule to enable people who are not on the NYSSCPA Board to reduce their time out of the office.

a. Chapters Update

Vice Presidents Barnickel and Lauchert reported on recent chapter matters.

b. Recent Society Comments

Vice President Torres reported that the Society was ahead of last year’s record-breaking pace of issuing Society comments. A list of comments issued since the December board meeting follows:

• Comments from the NYSSCPA Higher Education Committee to NASBA on their Exposure Draft of the UAA Model Education Rules 5-1 & 5-2; 1/30/08 – A response to the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy invitation to comment on their exposure draft of the UAA Model Education Rules 5-1 & 5-2.
  Principal Drafter, Priscilla Z. Wightman.

• Comments from the NYSSCPA Financial Accounting Standards Committee to FASB on Proposed FSP FAS 142-f – Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets; 1/16/08 – Comments on proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 142-f– Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets (Issued 11/26/07) that would amend Statement No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, paragraph 11d, to allow an entity to consider its own assumptions about renewal or extension in determining the useful life of a recognized intangible asset. Principal drafter: Margaret A. Wood.
  
• Comments from the NYSSCPA Financial Accounting Standards Committee to FASB on Proposed FSP FAS 157-b – Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157; 1/16/08 – Comments on proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 157-b – Effective Date of FASB Statement No. 157 (issued 12/14/07) that would amend FASB Statement No. 157, Fair Value Measurements, to delay the effective date. Principal drafter: Margaret A. Wood.
  
• Comments from the NYSSCPA Financial Accounting Standards Committee on Proposed FSP FAS 157-a – Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13; 12/28/07– Comments on proposed FASB Staff Position (FSP) FAS 157-a – Application of FASB Statement No. 157 to FASB Statement No. 13 and its related interpretive accounting pronouncements that address leasing transactions (issued 11/28/07). Principal drafter: Edward P. Ichart.

• Comments from the NYSSCPA Higher Education Committee to AICPA on Improving the Uniform CPA Examination; 12/21/07 – A response to the AICPA’s invitation to comment on planned improvement to the Uniform CPA Examination. Principal drafters: Ronald J. Huefner, Wayne J. Morse and Priscilla Z. Wightman.
  
• Comments from the NYSSCPA SEC Practice Committee to the PCAOB on Preliminary Staff Views – An Audit of Internal Control that is Integrated with an Audit of Financial Statements; 12/17/07 – Comments to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board on their Preliminary Staff Views (October 17, 2007) – An Audit of Internal Control that is Integrated with an Audit of Financial Statements: Guidance for Auditors of Smaller Public Companies. Principal drafter: Anthony S. Chan.

President Lifson commended the comment authors for outstanding work.

b. Finance and Investment Committees Draft Action Plans

Mr. Piluso reported that the Finance Committee had accepted the changes made by the Executive Committee to its draft action plan in November and, therefore, the Finance Committee’s action plan was now final. He also relayed the committee's belief that it should be a committee of the Board.

Finally Mr. Piluso noted that he and Mr. Woehlke were still working on a draft action plan for the Investment Committee and revised Investment Guidelines.

a. Nominating Process Update

Secretary Ellis reported that the Nominating Committee met on January 11, 2008 pursuant to Society bylaws and nominated the following individuals to serve in the leadership positions indicated next to their respective names:

b. Committees Update

Secretary Ellis presented a summary of committee activity at the present time.

a. Legislative and State Board of Accountancy Update

Mr. Grumet briefed the Executive Committee on developments regarding accountancy legislation, noting the possibility that the State Education Department might be considering issuing a “Regents’ Bill” that tracks closely with the bill as it stood at the close of negotiations in the preceding legislative season.

b. Member Benefits Program Update

Executive Committee members were referred to the agenda materials for a written report on member benefits programs.

c. COAP Update

Mr. Grumet reported that there were expected to be ten COAP programs in 2008, and that the number of students served had grown from approximately 50 when he began as NYSSCPA Executive Director to approximately 300. He indicated his personal goal was to serve 1,000 students.

d. Peer Review Update

Mr. Markezin reported that the AICPA had updated its Peer Review standards to be effective January 2009; however, the computer systems development necessary to meet that effective date did not appear to be on target. It was noted that if the AICPA were to miss the target, it would put program administering societies in a bind as to how to comply with the new standards. This would be particularly acute in states where peer review was required for licensure; however, it was noted that the AICPA would work on a “bridge” until the new system was ready.

e. Report on the Staff Industry Initiative

Mr. Grumet noted that the staff was working on a plan to reach out to members in industry. He noted that a large number of the Society’s members in industry were clustered in a relatively small number of financial services industry concerns. He said that this could pave the way for a narrowly targeted recruitment program, which would make it very manageable.

f. FEI Discussions

Mr. Grumet reported that he had met with FEI leadership and learned there might be some common ground.

Mr. Falbo presented the first audit committee annual report, which had been transmitted to him by Audit Committee Chair, Michelle Levine. The Executive Committee reviewed and discussed the audit committee’s suggestion that its committee year be set as a calendar year, which would more closely match its activity cycle. The EC accepted the audit committee’s report and took under advisement the suggestion that the audit committee have a different committee year.

The Executive Committee entered into executive session for this item. In November, Dick Piluso, Rosemarie Barnickel, and Ed Torres had been appointed as a working group to look into a partial reimbursement and further request for reimbursement from the Brooklyn Chapter to the Long Island University School of Business Department of Accounting, Taxation and Law. The Executive Committee received the working group's report and voted unanimously to direct that certain action be taken by David Lifson, Sharon Fierstein, and Lou Grumet.

Susan Schoenfeld, chair of the Tax Division Oversight Committee, presented the committee’s annual report to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee received her report.

Mr. Markezin noted that reimbursement rates for committee and Board travel were adjusted annually, using federal government reimbursement rates as a benchmark. The Executive Committee approved an increase in the limit on lodging expense to $265, however some members of the Executive Committee identified several concerns they had with the lodging limit. Mr. Lifson appointed a working group consisting of Messrs. Lauchert and Ellis to review the policy for lodging costs in light of these concerns and report back to the committee at its May meeting.

Ms. Fierstein moved to approve the rates in the interim as presented. Ms. Barnickel seconded the motions. The motion passed unanimously.

Ms. Fierstein presented the QEPC’s white paper on pre-certification education by giving an overview of the paper’s concerns and of the process by which the committee finalized the draft paper. During the ensuing discussion, the Executive Committee made several modifications to the white paper.

Mr. Wei then moved to recommend full Board consideration and approval of the pre-certification education white paper at the Board’s April meeting. Mr. Ellis seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Pape presented the Membership Report as of February 12, 2008, which included 406 new members (including 147 CPA candidate and 61 student associate members), 389 reinstatements, 24 resignations and 16 deaths. These changes reflected a total membership of 28,536 as compared with 28,371 at approximately the same time the previous year.

Mr. Falbo moved to approve the Membership Report, and Mr. Ellis seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.

Mr. Woehlke gave a summary of the Mediation and Arbitration Committee’s proposed changes to the Society’s Arbitration Rules. He noted that the proposed changes would clarify the requirements for the Society to take jurisdiction over a dispute. He also noted that the permitted arbitrator fee was increased to be more attractive to prospective arbitrators.

Mr. Falbo moved to approve the proposed amendments to the Society’s Arbitration Rules as presented, and Mr. Torres seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.