Chapter Roundup

Editor's Note: This roundup of NYSSCPA chapter activities is an opportunity for chapter presidents to voice their opinions and give updates on their chapter's accomplishments in the past year. The Trusted Professional thanks all who contributed during their busiest time of the year.

Buffalo

By Frances L. Engel, CPA

The Buffalo Chapter kicked off its 1998­1999 year with a long-range planning session at Niagara University, attended by the newly elected officers and board members. The meeting provided us with the opportunity to recognize the changing role of our professional organization and to focus our attention on the type of activities that were of interest to our membership.

We formed a CPA Candidates Association chapter that has become very active, holding an organizational happy hour after the CPA exam last November, a food drive in December, a ski-fest in January, and an investment seminar in May. Working closely with the CPA Candidates Association, the Young CPAs Committee was rejuvenated with a few hundred members in attendance at some of the functions.

Membership was another focus of our year. We sponsored a VIP reception last fall for the managing partners of the 25 largest CPA firms in western New York. In May we held a similar reception for our members in industry, as we expand the services and involvement of this segment of our chapter.

We held fewer dinner meetings this year, and most were joint meetings with the Financial Executives Institute, the bar association, and other professional groups. As a result, the dinner meetings were very well attended. We implemented breakfast meetings and afternoon CPE sessions for efficiency in providing CPE and the opportunity to stay in contact with peer groups.

We have enjoyed a very good year, with enthusiastic and supportive leaders in Buffalo.

Nassau

By Micki Levine, CPA

Following the trend of the last several years, we have been trying to serve our clients in more areas than ever before. One-stop shopping has invaded our practices, and those of us who have staunchly resisted following the herd have found ourselves circling our wagons, forming alliances, and struggling to survive among the "big guns." Our Society has taken on the formidable task of gathering our input and organizing a presentation to be used in the formation of the Uniform Accountancy Act.

The Nassau Chapter focused on preserving the dignity of our profession and keeping up the morale of our members through interesting and informative chapter and committee meetings. The task of presenting this program has fallen on comparatively few individuals, whose names are in the Nassau Chapter committee chairs, officers, and trustees sections of the NYSSCPA handbook. I extend my profound gratitude to these individuals who have so selflessly given their time and effort to further our profession, and I wish the next administration continued success.

Northeast

By Richard E. Rosenbrock, CPA

The Northeast Chapter's most pressing concerns are declining membership and declining member participation. This year we have tried to focus on these areas with each event and membership communication. We believe the key to a solution is the education of the professional on the benefits of membership. This will not be an overnight project. Fortunately, our officers are dedicated to it.

One of our continuing success stories is our chapter's Young CPAs Committee. Our group is active, enthusiastic, and creative with their events. It is the only committee within our chapter that has a number of active members and many who are willing to assume leadership responsibilities. This bodes well for the future.

A severe problem we encounter is the geographic area our chapter covers. To alleviate this, we have held a meeting in Glens Falls each year for the past six years. This mitigates some of the problem, but it is not a solution. Glens Falls is still almost two hours south of Plattsburgh, which is also part of our chapter. We spoke with Society officials regarding a further revision of our chapter to better serve those members who are more than 50 miles from Albany.

The chapter has made a point of staying in touch with a promising new field of development in the Albany area. Several venture capital firms have noted that the area is ripe for high-tech development. The Albany Law School recently has added a department to train attorneys in this field. We have had representatives from the venture capital concerns speak to the chapter, and the professor responsible for the establishment of the law school's program addressed us in February. This development could benefit our members tremendously in the not too distant future.

Southern Tier

By Philip G. Westcott, CPA

It has been a busy and productive year. The Southern Tier Chapter was early in the rotation to hold an open forum on the Uniform Accountancy Act. This issue sparked many discussions and was a recurring theme throughout the year. Thanks to the board of directors, officers, and Sheila Griffiths, NYSSCPA manager, meetings and conferences, I feel this year's CPE technical sessions and annual tax conference were exceptional.

After an absence of many years, the chapter hosted a technical session for Elmira area members. The turnout warrants our continued support for members in that area. I encourage next year's directors and officers to expand CPE programs to Elmira and add one in Ithaca. I also encourage our chapter to establish a newsletter committee that will establish goals and deadlines for at least three publications a year.

As the term closes, the profession is changing and being redefined. It is my sincere hope that our leadership maintains a vigilant attitude toward the values of objectivity, independence in fact and appearance, and education. In my opinion, these elements have elevated the profession, making it more successful and respected.

Success to all as we forge the groundwork for the future.

Staten Island

By Rosemarie Barnickel, CPA

The Staten Island Chapter had a busy year. It kicked off with a hit installation dinner last June where guests enjoyed a theater group performance. A fine time was had by all.

Before summer was over, the chapter met with representatives from the NYSSCPA to discuss the impact of the proposed Uniform Accountancy Act. This discussion continued into September at the Officers Visitation Dinner. These efforts gave Society leaders plenty of feedback from the Staten Island Chapter's active members.

During October, the chapter hosted a very successful education night, chaired by Frank Aquilino, with a variety of guest speakers including Frank Fusaro of Forum Personnel. Also in October, members participated in a charity competition called Brainstorm, a trivia contest that featured past presidents Gerard LoVerde and Gregory Cicero and myself. The team chose the name Trusted Pro's in honor of The Trusted Professional. The Trusted Pro's made it to the finals in flying colors, but lost in the finals to the South Shore Rotary.

In November, the chapter sponsored a charity bowl-a-thon for the benefit of Seaview Hospital. Past president Anthony Bruno, who is also actively involved with the hospital, chaired the event. The all-day tax seminar, chaired by Barbara Sandak, also took place in November. Janice Johnson was the session's discussion leader, and this was another very well attended event.

The chapter is proud to announce that during December the first Young CPAs and CPA Candidates event took place. Committee chair and chapter board member Walter Daszkowski did an excellent job of organizing the event. The hope is that this event was the first of many Young CPA activities.

Two technical sessions took place over the past few months: one on business valuations and another on forensic accounting. Both were insightful, especially to sole practitioners looking to expand their businesses.

Other chapter events include a joint meeting with bankers and attorneys, a golf outing, and the June Installation Dinner. This year's theme will be Murder at Café Noir. In addition, the chapter plans to have a charity softball game against the Staten Island attorneys.

Anyone interested in becoming involved in the Staten Island Chapter should contact Rosemarie Barnickel at rbarnick@duke.poly.edu or (718) 260-3001. There are over 600 official members of the chapter, but many have not yet taken advantage of all the benefits chapter participation has to offer.

Suffolk

By John J. Knox, CPA

This has been quite a busy year for the Suffolk Chapter. Besides our popular all-day tax and all-day accounting seminars and our 1040 workshop--featuring its tax jeopardy session, which attracted more attendees than ever--we also introduced a 990 workshop this year.

Chapter meetings featured our Society's president, president-elect, and executive director discussing implications of the Uniform Accountancy Act with our members and a presentation by Dr. Irwin Kellner on the economic outlook on Long Island.

The Young CPAs Committee held its annual networking and cocktail party, a golf outing, and a joint holiday party with the Nassau Chapter, and the committee was extremely successful in encouraging CPA firms and their employees to make donations to the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program. The Community Affairs Committee organized a food drive for the benefit of Long Island Cares, a local food bank that collected over 1,000 pounds of food.

Finally, our joint chapter meeting with Nassau in April featured a presentation by Congressman Rick A. Lazio, and our chapter sponsored its CPA/Banker Golf Outing in early May.

Syracuse

By Michael A. Mammolito, CPA

The 1998­1999 fiscal year was an eventful period for the Syracuse Chapter. At our second annual summer sizzler, sponsored by Fleet Bank, a crowd of around 175 people enjoyed good food, games, and a CPE session. This year also marked the start of a few new committees. The Young CPAs Committee sponsored events including a personal improvement discussion and a networking cocktail party. Both were well attended. The Community Affairs Committee sponsored a holiday food drive, for which our chapter contributed over 40 boxes of food to the Salvation Army. In March we answered tax questions from the Syracuse community by staffing the phones at the Post Standard newspaper. We also held other CPE sessions and social events that were well received. As always, none of this could have been done without the help of our chapter members.

Utica

By Michael J. DePietro, CPA

The Utica Chapter is pleased to share with other chapters throughout the state our accomplishments in 1998, our chapter's 40th anniversary. To celebrate our anniversary, we wanted to make 1998­1999 our best and most productive year ever. Some of the goals we met include the creation of our chapter's quarterly newsletter, the formation of a Young CPAs Committee, and greater community service, which involved a Toys for Tots campaign that collected several hundred toys.

I would like to thank all of our board and committee members, with special thanks to Jim Korfonta for his work on the newsletter, Eileen Kilty for her work with the Young CPAs, and Lynne Stewart for her involvement with the Toys for Tots campaign.

Westchester

By Marshall Asche, CPA

The Westchester Chapter has been busy with community activities this year, in addition to providing technical programs for its members. We have actively supported the Society's endeavors in the political arena with Westchester-elected New York state officials. In September we issued a sales tax study report at the request of the Westchester County executive. This May our Young CPAs Committee celebrated Christmas in May with the children at Blythedale Children's Hospital. In February we fielded tax telephone calls at the second annual tax hotline sponsored by The Journal News. We held joint events with attorneys and bankers, including keynote addresses by judges and sports celebrities. We responded to the call for discussion and debate regarding the Uniform Accountancy Act proposals. Our chapter members continually donate their time and energy to local charities.

On the technical front, our Tax Committee has offered workshops on a variety of topics and also holds monthly informal discussion groups to keep current on cutting-edge topics. We held an all-day tax and estate planning conference last Halloween. Our Business Information Technology Committee gave a Year 2000 presentation. The Practice Management and Succession committee sponsored a discussion on buying and selling a practice. The Health Care and Nonprofit committees joined to present an update in their areas of practice. Our Local Practitioners Committee offers monthly Sunday morning programs. Our Members in Industry and Personal Financial Planning committees each planned workshops this spring. For the first time, to enlist local firms to increase their involvement in chapter activities, we will offer a Summer Technical Staffing Series, a joint effort by our Federal and State Tax, Accounting and Auditing, and Young CPAs committees to provide in-depth technical education to staff members with one to five years' experience.