NYSSCPA Members in the News

Joanne S. Barry – Executive Director and CEO
Awards Recognize the Most Powerful Women in Accounting
CPA Practice Advisor
Women are increasingly attaining the reins of power in accounting firms, accounting for about 20 percent of firm partners. This is still not enough, according to thought leaders like Amy Vetter, CPA, who notes that women make up more than half of the overall workforce, so their representation in leadership is too low. Still, it is an improvement over a decade or two ago. In just the last couple of years, two Big Four firms have appointed female CEOs: Cathy Engelbert at Deloitte, and Lynn Doughtie at KPMG.

Joanne S. Barry – Executive Director and CEO
NYSSCPA Leader Named President of CPA Execs Association         
INSIDE Public Accounting
Joanne S. Barry, executive director and CEO of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA), has been appointed the 2016-2017 president of the Certified Public Accountants Society Executives Association (CPA/SEA). Formed 50 years ago, CPA/SEA is composed of all state CPA state society chief executive officers/executive directors throughout the United States.

Other Accounting and Financial News Stories

The Rich Get Ready for Higher Taxes Under a President Clinton
Bloomberg
For wealthy Americans, a big win by Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 could get pretty expensive. Clinton is proposing higher taxes on Americans who make more than $250,000, including a 4 percent “fair share surcharge” on incomes over $5 million a year. She’s also trying to limit the ability of the rich to lower their tax bills through clever planning.  This has made the election a hot topic at accounting and advisory firms that cater to the wealthy.

House Moves To Stop IRS Forfeiture Abuse
Forbes
The House of Representatives just took a major step to protect innocent Americans’ bank accounts and restore the principle of innocent until proven guilty by reforming the IRS’s abuse of civil forfeiture. Under federal civil forfeiture law, the IRS can seize someone’s money if they make a close series of cash deposits or withdrawals under $10,000. This is evidence of “structuring,” or trying to evade reporting requirements, because the Bank Secrecy Act requires bank transactions over $10,000 to be reported to the government.

 Fed’s Task Next Week: Signal December Rate Rise
Wall Street Journal
Federal Reserve officials, wary of raising short-term interest rates amid the uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential election, are likely to stand pat at their November policy meeting and remain focused on lifting them in December. Their challenge will be deciding how strongly to signal their expectation of a move at their last scheduled meeting of the year, Dec. 13-14. Market expectations suggest officials may not need to fire strong new warning shots: Traders in futures markets already place a 74% probability on a Fed rate increase by then, according to CME Group.

Report Shows Need for Private Company Clearinghouse
CPA Practice Advisor
CPA.com has released a position paper, Addressing the Need for a Private Company Clearinghouse, that makes the case for the secure digital distribution of private company financial information.  “Reliable financial information is one of the foundations of capital markets,” the document states. “Emerging trends and market demands suggest the current process in the United States of exchanging private company financial information between CPA firms, clients, banks and investors is not working and needs to be dramatically improved.”

EU Proposal to Revive the CCCTB: Areas of Concern
Bloomberg BNA
Does the EU's new CCTB require significant development in the accounting that underpins taxation? This article considers the issues. The leak of the European Union's (“EU”) proposal for the revival of the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (“CCCTB”) has attracted much attention, not least because it embraces the idea of an interim step towards the ultimate, consolidated goal, of creating a Common Corporate Tax Base (“CCTB”) in which the consolidation process does not take place.

The Big Number
Wall Street Journal
8% Share of public companies that haven’t started implementing new revenue-accounting rules. Some finance chiefs are proving that work expands to fill the time allotted. Despite a year-long extension for implementing new revenue accounting rules, 8% of public companies surveyed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the Financial Executives Research Foundation said they haven’t yet started the work.

MAP survey: Firms continue to grow revenue
Journal of Accountancy
Public accounting firms, ranging in size from solo practitioners to multimillion-dollar operations, continue to bring in more revenue, often at a faster-growing pace, while dealing with increased competition for clients and talent. Those are among the findings of the 2016 Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) benchmarking survey.

Washington State’s Ambitious Carbon Tax Proposal
New York Times
Anybody hoping for a robust national discussion about climate change this election year has been sorely disappointed. But one state, Washington, has been having just such a debate, thanks to an ambitious ballot proposal that would impose a tax on carbon emissions. The proposal, Initiative 732, started as a long-shot campaign by an economist and standup comedian, Yoram Bauman, but it has gained public support and become a viable effort.

The Fastest-Growing Firms Go Beyond Accounting
CPA Practice Advisor
In a recent survey of accountants across the country(1), Gusto, an all-in-one platform for HR, payroll, and benefits, found that 88% of the fastest-growing accounting firms enjoy helping clients with non-accounting services. Benefits stood out as one of the biggest areas of opportunity for forward-thinking accountants to explore. According to Gusto’s research, 85% of accountants say they are asked by clients for benefits advice, yet only 52% feel confident doing so.

4 Strategic Priorities for Firms to Ensure Client Satisfaction
AccountingWEB
At any point in time, one-third of a firm’s clients consider walking out the door because they are not happy with the service they receive, according to a new survey and white paper released on Oct. 24 by Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. So, what do these firms have to do to ensure their clients do not switch to a competitor? According to Game Plan for the Future: Are You and Your Clients in Sync? successful firms “aren’t settling for the flat growth that comes from serving the same number of clients year after year.

Filling the Pipeline
Accounting Today
Sometimes it’s nice when a problem is so big you can’t reasonably be expected to do anything about it. When some higher authority is really needed to solve an issue — whether it’s a boss or a court or a government — it lets you off the hook. And who doesn’t like to be let off the hook? Take one of the biggest issues facing the accounting profession: the relative dearth of new CPAs.

Estate of Deceased Investor Is Entitled to Tax Relief for Bernie Madoff’s Scheme
CPA Practice Advisor
Bernie Madoff is serving time in federal prison -- a 150-year sentence, to be exact -- for concocting a massive Ponzi scheme that bilked billions from unsuspecting investors. Some of those victims have sought partial retribution from the IRS in the form of theft loss deductions. A deductible loss may be available where investment holdings are found to be worthless.