Message From the President

By Thomas Boyd, Queens Chapter President

October and November have been busy months for the Queens Chapter. Members look to these months to update themselves and earn CPE credits. Chapters attempt to comply and put as many events as they can into this period.

On Oct. 4, the Young CPAs Committee met at Queens College. Under the leadership of Aleta Saravia, this committee now has 12 members. The group has planned a series of events, including a networking event on Dec. 1 or 2 at the Corner Bistro at Queens College. Aleta is looking into the possibility of getting a sponsor for the event. Members of the Better Business Bureau, American Bar Association and Queens Chamber of Commerce, as well as bankers, will be invited. The committee is also planning to hold an event such as a bowl-a-thon for charity, a possible career night or a breakfast meeting with practicing CPAs.

The Queens Chapter’s Tax Committee, headed by the chapter’s first president, Edward Torres, held its all-day tax conference on Oct. 21. Over 60 attendees earned eight CPE credits and heard speakers from the Internal Revenue Service and the New York State Tax Commission and Queens Chapter practitioners, who spoke on a wide variety of tax topics. These included a tax update for both federal and state taxes, IRS administrative procedures, pension plans, alternative minimum tax, and tax planning strategies. Bob Sypolt, our president-elect, challenged the attendees to answer a variety of questions regarding related-party transactions and choice of entities. You would be well advised to plan to attend the chapter’s tax conference next year.

The last event of the month was the chapter’s ethics conference on Oct. 28 at the Adria Hotel and Conference Center, which drew about 100 attendees. This year’s meeting was special in that it gave the chapter an opportunity to recognize a very special CPA from St. Albans Queens, Bernadine Coles Gines. Her story was featured on the cover of the September issue of The Trusted Professional.

That month, Bernadine celebrated her golden jubilee as 50 years as a CPA. Gines was the first black woman to be licensed as a CPA in New York state. She graduated from Virginia State College and received a Master’s of Business Administration degree from New York University, but still had difficulty in entering the public accounting profession. Despite having an MBA degree, she at first was offered only bookkeeping work. After two years of perseverance, she got a position in public accounting and became a CPA in 1954.

Two students from the St. John’s University Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), Vanessa Meronnee, president, and Ebony Hoyte, webmaster, presented the awards. If you didn’t see Ms. Gines’ story in the September issue, it’s worth looking up online.

This meeting was also our officers visitation, which gave an opportunity for John J. Kearney, NYSSCPA president, and Louis Grumet, executive director of the NYSSCPA, to address the members and bring them up to date on events affecting the profession. Robert H. Colson, editor-in-chief of The CPA Journal, covered ethics. The discussion was lively and the feedback most favorable.

I hope to see you at our Dec. 7 Holiday Party, Seminar and Networking session.

Thomas Boyd can be reached at 718-428-0956 or tmboyd38@hotmail.com.