Let’s Make History

Let’s Make History
Contact Your Assembly Members to Update New York’s Accountancy Law

By John J. Kearney

Continued from the Home Page

For the last two years, though, the legislature has had an opportunity to bring badly needed reform to New York’s accounting profession and implement meaningful standards that are in conformity with nearly all of the other states. In June 2003, the Senate unanimously passed S302-D, which calls for mandatory peer review; a 40-hour CPE requirement for all CPAs, including those in industry, government and not-for-profits, as well as in public practice; registration of all CPAs; regulation of all services within the CPA’s scope of practice; expansion of experience for licensure; and temporary practice permits. The companion bill (A18555-A) failed to advance in the Assembly.

Again this year the Senate unanimously passed S302-D, only to have the Assembly introduce a vastly differing accounting reform bill (A11695) that omits most of S302-D’s most significant provisions, while imposing stiff penalties for misconduct and allowing for non-CPAs to offer compilation services. This bill is unacceptable, and because of strong grassroots opposition by the Society, the Assembly failed to garner a vote on A11695 before the legislature went into recess.

On behalf of the Society’s leadership, I am asking for your help again—to make your voices heard and encourage your Assembly members to work with the Senate to pass legislation this year that will raise the level of practice and provide greater protection for the public interest. To assist you in this effort, the Society has drafted and will soon make available form letters that you can use to communicate directly with your state legislators to show your support for legislation that would update the laws governing the practice of public accountancy in New York. The Society is also engaged in a major media campaign with editorial boards throughout the state to help draw the public’s attention to this critical issue and further demonstrate to the legislature the need for reform.

The time to modernize New York’s accounting statute is long overdue. As we all know, the accounting profession has changed in profound ways over the last 50-plus years. Additionally, though they involved a very small number of practitioners, Enron and the other prominent financial reporting scandals dealt a severe blow to the integrity of our profession.

The Society firmly believes that S302-D and A18555-A or some similar version of these two companion bills represent a reasoned state-level legislative response to both satisfactorily address the changes to the profession over the last half century and facilitate the restoration of public confidence in the post-Enron environment. Equally important, this legislation, if enacted, would not come at the undue expense of the small firm, nor would it impose adverse economic consequences on the many small businesses and not-for-profit organizations served by CPA firms across the state.

The Society, primarily through its Legislative Task Force, led by Kevin McCoy, has worked very hard over the last couple of years to get an accountancy reform bill that best serves the public and our profession passed through both houses. On several occasions we have met on this matter with state lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and we at the Society are very proud of the fact that S302-D incorporates many of our views and recommendations.

Unfortunately, accountancy reform legislation appears to be in the grips of a stalemate and is at grave risk of stalling out completely this year, which is why your involvement is so critical. Only several months ago, we witnessed an extraordinary grassroots movement coordinated through our leadership and key contact persons to you, the Society’s membership, whose deluge of e-mails, letters and telephone calls played a key role in thwarting the momentum of an Assembly bill that simply fails to address the concerns of all interested parties, from CPA firms to clients to the public at large.

Let us again rise to the occasion. As Society president, I know that we have the power, ability and desire to help make history and ensure that 2004 is remembered as the year that New York’s accounting statute finally caught up with the professional demands and challenges of the 21st century. Thank you for your help.