Board Issues Resolution on Global Credential

In advance of the American Institute of CPAs’ Council meeting held on Oct. 21-23 to discuss the proposed global, interdisciplinary credential (see above story), the Board of Directors for the New York State Society of CPAs in September drafted a resolution opposing the controversial designation. The resolution served as guidance for the New York members of Council who attended the meeting.

The resolution, which can be found on the Society’s website at www.nysscpa.org, restates the Society’s outright opposition to the credential and further urged the New York members of Council to resist any attempt to halt or delay the authorized vote. At the meeting, Council voted to proceed with the referendum, which must occur between 90 and 180 days of its authorization.

Last May, Council granted the AICPA permission for a membership referendum on the credential scheduled to take place after the October meeting. Prior to the meeting, however, Council instructed the AICPA to conduct a campaign better educating its members on the pros and cons of the credential, formerly known as XYZ and Cognitor. The findings of the campaign were the subject of much discussion at the October meeting.

“Under the circumstances, we want the vote to occur to bring the strife and division felt by the CPA profession over this credential issue to an immediate and permanent conclusion,” said NYSSCPA President Nancy Newman-Limata who believes the vote will not garner the two-thirds approval it needs.

The board’s resolution also restates the Society’s conviction that more must be done to educate the public about the “capabilities, quality and diversity of CPA services.”

“Perhaps the most disappointing aspect about the global credential is that it shows some key leaders in our profession have come to believe that the CPA credential is becoming passé,” Society Secretary Sharon Sabba Fierstein said. “With this resolution the Society’s board hopes to reverse that impression. There is a great future for the CPA profession; we just need to give potential clients and employers a better understanding of what are our capabilities and potential.”

Other actions taken by the board in September included a recasting of the Society’s Hall of Fame. During Alan E. Weiner’s 1999-2000 NYSSCPA presidency, the board established a hall of fame to recognize the outstanding careers of eminent New York CPAs. The board formed a selection committee and asked that it abide by strict criteria to choose inductees.

Most prominent amongst the proposed changes is the elimination of the selection committee, assigning the task of choosing inductees to the Awards Committee, which in turn has been completely redesigned. Under the new structure, the committee will be comprised of the NYSSCPA oversight committees chairs (except for the Executive Committee chair), two additional past presidents, the vice president for chapters, representatives from two upstate and two downstate chapters (on a rotating basis), and the immediate past president who will serve as chair.

“I am very pleased that the hall of fame will continue. As the years proceed, the hall of fame will undoubtedly be a source of great pride for the Society, the firms that benefited from the leadership of its great inductees, and the CPA profession in New York,” Weiner said of the board’s actions.

The board also appointed board members Sandra A. Napoleon-Hudson, director as Westchester representative, and Raymond M. Nowicki, director as Buffalo representative, to the 2002-03 Nominating Committee, which is comprised of two board members and seven members from the membership at large. Ten or more CPA members of the Society who sign petitions propose the at-large committee members. When more than seven at-large members are proposed, a special election is held.

Lastly, the board directed staff to develop a new high school outreach program, approved the 2000-01 audited financial statements, transferred St. Lawrence County from the Syracuse Chapter to the newly formed Adirondack Chapter, and reappointed Richard A. Eisner and Company as the Society’s auditors.

The next meeting of the NYSSCPA Board of Directors will be held Dec 3-4 and will consist of a strategic planning session. Additional information about the September board meeting can be obtained from jwoehlke@nysscpa.org.