After three years of negotiations, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has agreed to implement changes suggested by the NYSSCPA’s Real Estate Committee that bring a CPA’s report used in a tax exemption and abatement program known as J-51 into compliance with professional standards.

The question of whether a transaction should count as an exchange or a contribution—and whether a contribution is conditional or unconditional—is one that has long challenged not-for-profit accountants, with no real consensus as to the proper treatment. A new proposed accounting standards update, issued on Aug. 3 by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), aims to end this ambiguity by providing a consistent methodology. While it’s relevant mainly for nonprofits, if approved, it would apply to every entity that receives or makes contributions of cash and other assets. 

Now in its second year, the Foundation for Accounting Education’s (FAE) upcoming Sustainability Investment Leadership Conference is focused on turning theory into practice when it comes to sustainable business practices. Scheduled for May 17 at the New York Bar Association, the conference will feature a number of talks on how CPAs can apply processes like integrated reporting, supply chain management and other topics in corporate sustainability to their own practices.