Committee Work Flourishes During Summer Months

Committee Work Flourishes During Summer Months

By Nereida R. Gomez and Ernest J. Markezin, Committee Services

With four comment letters issued in the four weeks between mid-July and mid-August, New York State Society of CPAs committee members appear to be unaware that summer is a time for relaxing. Tax Division Oversight Chair Stephen Valenti said NYSSCPA committees are committed to “rekindling the active role the Society plays in offering constructive comments” on accounting legislation, exposure drafts and proposed standards and rules, even if it comes at the expense of vacation plans.
“Our membership consists of 30,000 CPAs and as a group we can be a strong voice on various issues,” Valenti said.

NYSSCPA committees recently made their voices heard in the following four areas:

E-Filing

The Tax Division’s Task Force on E-Filing submitted comments on a proposal before Congress to extend the tax filing deadline for taxpayers filing electronically to April 30 from April 15.

Though the task force is committed to encouraging members to embrace e-filing, it provided clarification to Senate Finance Committee members that the proposal in its present form would cause confusion for both taxpayers and practitioners and would not foster additional electronic filing.

FASB Statement 140

The Financial Accounting Standards Committee responded to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s exposure draft “Proposed Amendment to FASB Statement 140, Qualifying Special Purpose Entities and Isolation of Transferred Assets.”
While in favor of the need for the FASB to respond to specific accounting abuses, the committee considers the exposure draft merely one effort to close loopholes, and is at odds with FASB’s proposed “principles-based” approach to accounting. The committee offered an alternative comprehensive approach.

Comments Pursuant to IRS Announcement 2003-29

The Exempt Organizations Committee responded to Treasury’s request for “Comments Pursuant to Internal Revenue Service Announcement 2003-29: Considering Further Guidance on How Charitable Groups Can Meet Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) Requirements With Regard to Various International Grant Making Activities.” The committee suggested some modifications to existing requirements and encouraged the IRS to embark upon an education campaign to raise awareness of efforts to prevent unintentional funding of terrorist organizations.

AICPA Standards for Performing and Reporting on Peer Reviews

The Peer Review Committee responded to American Institute of CPAs’ exposure draft “Proposed Revisions to the AICPA Standards for Performing and Responding on Peer Review.” The consensus of the committee is that the proposed changes would constitute a significant improvement to current standards, and it noted the prospect for further improvements.

The full text of these four comment letters may be found on the Society’s website at www.nysscpa.org/commentletter/main.htm.

SSARS Proposed Update

The Accounting and Review Services Committee discussed at its Aug. 12 meeting changes that the AICPA’s Accounting and Review Services Committee are proposing to the Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) review reports. In addition to some technical corrections, the topic of fraud (including the interview of the owner and personnel as well as inclusions in the representation letter) and the expansion of procedures and documentation of analytical procedures are on the AICPA’s agenda.

The committee will keep members apprised of future developments.

Annual Golf and Tennis Classic

The Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee, chaired by Adam Reiss, held its Annual Golf and Tennis Classic on July 21 at the Elmwood Country Club. More than 100 CPAs and bankers waited out the rain and spent the rest of the day on the courts and the course, along with Society President Jeff Hoops. An awards dinner followed.