NYSSCPA in ‘Strong Position’ as Directors Approve 2009 Budget

NYSSCPA in ‘Strong Position’ as Directors Approve 2009 Budget

By Melissa Hoffmann Lajara, Trusted Professional Staff

NEW YORK—The Foundation for Accounting Education exceeded expectations in course attendance and revenue last year, reducing the need for a contribution from the NYSSCPA, according to the NYSSCPA’s 2009 budget, which was recently approved by the Society’s board of directors.

FAE’s success put the Society in a strong position for the upcoming fiscal year, said Richard E. Piluso, chair of the NYSSCPA’s Finance Committee and Executive Committee treasurer.

“There are monies set aside [in the 2009 budget] for FAE which may not be necessary, primarily because FAE has improved its operations over the years,” Piluso said. “That may give us a little bit of a surplus that could provide the Society with [the ability] to address new and unknown circumstances.”

It was FAE’s best year in recent history, said FAE Board of Trustees President Peter K. Maier.

“We’re very pleased,” he said. “We had a successful year and kept costs under control.”

Maier said FAE offered more courses this year, drawing more participants. The course takers responded with “strong, positive feedback results.”

The amount of contribution FAE needed from the Society to break even was reduced this year. Maier said he hopes to reduce it further next year.

Budgeted gross revenue for FAE’s 2009 seminars and conferences is also healthy, which will allow the Society to develop even more continuing education programming, he said.

“We’ve had a nice improvement of performance,” he said.

The Society’s budget, projecting a net income of $122,000, also includes two new components in the advocacy realm—committee advocacy and public awareness—as well as an expansion of The CPA Journal.

“The budget is always based on what management and the board feels is needed to meet the strategic goals of the Society,” Piluso said. “Thankfully, dedicated volunteers supported by a great staff help us meet our strategic goals.”

The budget process incorporates several levels of input and approval. Piluso said the Finance Committee first reviewed the budget in January and “suggested some changes … we thought were important.”

It was approved at the Finance Committee’s second meeting this year, then approved by the Society’s Executive Committee before being passed on to the board.

Advocacy

The Society’s legislative role “may out of necessity expand” this year, Piluso said.

“There’s money in every year’s budget relating to legislative efforts,” he said. “But for several years now, we’ve been trying to push through the accountancy [reform] bill.”

Sens. Kenneth P. LaValle (R-Suffolk) and Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Queens) are cosponsors of a New York state accountancy reform bill recently introduced in the State Senate at the request of the State Education Department. The Society has supported accountancy reform in New York for the past nine years.

“Hopefully this year it will go through,” Piluso said.

Committee advocacy represents the increased activity of committees in issuing comment letters to regulatory agencies, government bodies and other entities that impact the accounting profession, according to the budget presentation.

The public awareness component of advocacy reflects a greater emphasis on increasing the exposure of the CPA profession to the population at large and includes a full-time position dedicated to increasing awareness of the profession among high school students. Chapter activities also increased during the 2007-08 fiscal year

Additional Society Endeavors

It is a strategic goal of the Society for its members to have access to resources to realize their full potential as competent, educated, ethical and trusted professionals. Notable changes include a committee budget resulting from the expenses of additional services to facilitate Web-enabled meetings for Society committees.

During the upcoming fiscal year, peer review will maintain the same fee structure as fiscal year 2008. A decrease in the ethics budget reflects a shift to a paperless process already employed in peer review, which is expected to reduce paper and labor expenses.

Striving to ensure the value and contribution of CPAs are universally recognized, the Society will continue expanding its publicity activities in print and on the Web in 2009.

Melissa Hoffmann Lajara, Associate Editor, can be reached at mlajara@nysscpa.org.