September 2001

Society Assists in Wake of Terror Attacks

NEW YORK—The New York State Society of CPAs has launched initiatives to assist members dealing with the terrorist attacks that flattened the World Trade Center, killing untold numbers of people and sending ripples of grief and trouble through the country at large and financial industries in particular.

Just two days after terrorists hijacked commercial planes on Sept. 11 and flew them into prominent symbols of American power and aspiration, the Society launched a web page aggregating contact information for services to find survivors, grief counseling and places to contribute to the ongoing recovery and rebuilding effort. The Society also is offering small, interest-free loans from its 50-year-old benevolent fund, and has established a database to link CPAs in need of office space with others able to donate space as accountants pick up the pieces of a fractured world.

“CPAs around the state have reacted like the rest of the American public and are helping in many ways,” said Nancy Newman-Limata, NYSSCPA president. “It’s heartwarming…everyone wants to help.”

As emergency workers and volunteers undertook the grueling search for survivors, clearing tons of debris and sifting through mountains of rubble, the Society sought “small and concrete ways” to help by capitalizing on the expertise of the 30,000 members of the NYSSCPA, Executive Director Louis Grumet said. This includes soliciting volunteers from the NYSSCPA to help small businesses directly affected by the disaster with financial planning and applications for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Grumet urged NYSSCPA staff and members in the meantime to show that terrorist actions failed to disrupt business.

“The most important thing we can do is move on and live our lives,” Grumet said, echoing the words of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Grumet said that despite at least one building-clearing bomb scare, NYSSCPA staff worked following the attack and committees met at Society headquarters.

As of this writing, Society officials reported that a dozen firms have volunteered their space to other CPAs in need, and at least one member requested to use such space.

On Monday, Sept. 17, officials opted to open the NYSSCPA Benevolent Fund to members who were directly impacted by the tragedy. The Society will lend out of the fund up to $2,500 for six months at no interest to anyone directly impacted by the tragedy. Grumet called for members to donate to the fund, and said the California Society of CPAs in a show of solidarity offered to contribute to the fund as well. The moves have been part of an effort to help return to a sense of normalcy and to defy any sense that the terrorist act had any major impact on life.

“There were almost a dozen people here today (Monday, Sept. 17) for the Manhattan/Bronx Chapter meeting,” Grumet said. “The staff is here. We’re trying to follow the example of the fire department, the mayor.”

Efforts on behalf of the Society to return to normalcy began almost immediately. Staff launched a special web page located at www.nysscpa.org featuring emergency information as well as news on the Internal Revenue Service’s decision to extend deadlines on tax payments, defer criminal action and provide other relief to individuals and businesses affected by the disaster. Qualifying taxpayers that faced filing, estimated payment and extension deadlines received various extensions to fulfill their obligations.

Any scope of how much the incidents affected members was impossible to determine, but an NYSSCPA estimate showed that about 400 members worked in buildings destroyed or damaged during the attack on the skyscrapers, including about 100 who worked in three of the seven World Trade Center buildings.