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Fiscal year 2002–2003 NYSSCPA Annual Report

Welcome to the New York State Society of CPAs’ Annual Report for 2002–2003. The Society entered its 105th year with a strategic plan that influences almost everything that it does, as you will read in the Governance section immediately below. Part of this effort included making the NYSSCPA members’ voices heard through its Government Relations efforts, which were critical in shaping legislation and rules.

You will read about the progress the Foundation for Accounting Education has made in bringing quality education programs to its members, coordinating the annual Leadership Conference and searching for a new home for Society headquarters.

In Member Relations, you will read about the vital increase in member activity at the local level through the Society’s 17 chapters. Newer chapters followed the lead of veteran chapters in offering CPE sessions and networking opportunities, while established chapters reinvigorated their committees, held charitable events and fundraisers, and generally continued to make their presence felt in their communities, among CPAs and non-CPAs alike.

Committees saw a jump in activity, as members tapped into their expertise to write comment letters and to author articles for The CPA Journal and The Trusted Professional. Committee members stepped up their participation in regular meetings and CPE sessions and ran many successful conferences that featured prominent guest speakers.

The Society’s Fiscal Information shows the budget changes the board of directors made to fulfill many of the goals of the Strategic Plan.

The Society maintained a notable public presence through its Public Relations efforts, which included op-ed submissions and member-meetings with editorial boards of many major publications.

Finally, the Society’s online and print publications all saw expansion through the year. The website saw new sections devoted to CPA recruitment, and new useful features for the membership. The CPA Journal actively participated in the dialogue over accounting reform, while The Trusted Professional beefed up its chapter and committee coverage, in line with the strategic plan.

Governance

No governance project has encompassed so much energy and instigated so much activity as the continued implementation of the Society’s strategic plan. Originally drafted in June 2001 and approved by the board of directors later that same year, the strategic plan defined general areas that would be refined and concentrated over the 2002–2003 fiscal year to serve as a pole star in steering the Society in the future.

Leaders fleshed out the finer details of four strategic interests—education, committees, chapters and advocacy—during the Annual Leadership Conference at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut in July 2002. Moderators led nearly 200 members in intense workshop discussions that resulted in a comprehensive strategic plan and supporting resolutions.

The board of directors opened the strategic plan to member comment and in November adopted a detailed document. (A final version can be viewed on the Society’s website at www.nysscpa.org, clicking on the “About Us” link.) Under the auspices of three main goals—professional competency, advocacy, and recognition and visibility—the plan calls for specific action, including strengthening peer review and ethics, having a greater impact on legislation and policy, and strengthening NYSSCPA publications to increase visibility.

The strategic plan has informed a substantial part of governance activity, spawning proposed changes to Society bylaws and a revamping of the budget process to fit long-term goals. The 2002–2003 budget was written in accordance with the strategic plan, as will be the case for all future budgets.

In November, the board established the Ethics and Peer Review Task Force that addressed the Society’s professional competency goal. Under Chairman Brian Caswell, the task force was formed to scrutinize the possible expansion of the Society’s limited and voluntary peer review program. The nine-member team met frequently in the spring, engaging in lively conversation, but without proposing anything about the complex issue prior to the end of the fiscal year.

“The discussion has been ‘What can we do as a society to provide members with value that would make them want to choose practice quality programs like peer review,’” Caswell told The Trusted Professional in May.

A separate group, the Bylaw Revisions Task Force, under Chair Sharon Fierstein, proposed more than 50 changes to the bylaws that consciously dovetailed with the strategic plan in strengthening committees, opening Society membership to more undergraduates regardless of their major, and formalizing how statements are issued in the name of the Society to foster a unified public voice, among other things. The changes also called for the sharing of professional ethics violations by NYSSCPA members with state or federal regulatory authorities.

The Executive Committee endorsed the proposal in March, and the board of directors approved the bylaw changes the following month, putting into motion a Society referendum on a proposal that ultimately (though not during the 2002–2003 fiscal year) received approval from the membership.

Key to the bylaw changes was the notion of creating more flexible governance. For instance, the task force suggested that the Nominating Committee be expanded to 11 members, and be subject to board-approved protocols, to keep deliberations consistent from one year to the next without binding members’ hands to rules that may become less pertinent as the Society evolves over time.

Other changes included limiting terms for all officers to one year—except the secretary, treasurer and executive director—as a means of circulating fresh blood through the leadership; assigning the treasurer to chair the Finance Committee; and assigning the secretary to chair the Committee on Committee Operations (COCO), illustrating a dedication to strengthening the ties between these committees and the Society’s board and Executive Committee.

Falling under the advocacy goal, the Legislative Task Force, chaired by Kevin McCoy, and the Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee, headed by David Ashenfarb, had a busy year, drafting letters and meeting with state officials and politicians. Their activity had a noticeable impact on proposed regulations and bills prompted by Enron aftershocks and coming out of the state board of accountancy, the New York State Attorney General’s Office and the state legislature. (For more detailed information, see the section on “Government Relations.”)

The Society undertook other advocacy-driven efforts as well, expanding its recruitment capacity with the creation of a staff recruitment specialist position, and adding another campus to the annual Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession (COAP) program. Through COAP, the Society members and staff team up with five schools around the state to expose promising minority students to the advantages and opportunities of the accounting profession.

The Society mandated The Trusted Professional, under the goal of recognition and visibility, to increase coverage of committee activity, an especially important initiative as committees increased their comment letter-writing campaigns on a wide variety of issues, among other things.

While Society leaders took great strides in implementing the strategic plan, the board of directors honed its governance capability with the introduction of the Society’s first board of directors manual for the 2002–2003 board, which was later revised for the 2003–2004 board. The Society also implemented a legal review and administration system for its contracts.

Steps to improve NYSSCPA governance appear to have made a meaningful impression on the membership. For the first time in 10 years, the NYSSCPA Nominating Committee attracted enough interest to cause a membership vote. Thirteen members were seeking the seven available seats. The surge in petitions to sit on what was then a nine-member committee, which nominates directors and officers and includes two seats designated by the board, showed an increased interest by the membership in the future direction of the Society and professional leadership in general.

Government Relations

Passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act last summer marked the beginning of a new phase of the post-Enron era. Federal action in accounting reform for publicly traded companies shifted the focus to the states, where the licensing, regulation and discipline of CPAs occur. California enacted major reform legislation based in part on Sarbanes-Oxley, and New York state officials had a concrete foundation on which to base their own reform-minded goals.

Thus the Society continued to concentrate its government relations efforts on continued cooperation with state Sen. Kenneth LaValle, chair of the Senate’s Higher Education Committee; Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, chair of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee; Attorney General Eliot Spitzer; the State Education Department; the State Board for Public Accountancy, and other interested parties to help reshape the regulatory landscape. A telling effect of NYSSCPA efforts was the introduction by LaValle of a bill in January that incorporated substantial aspects of Society-drafted legislation.

“I’m pleased to report that the Society was an active participant in the efforts that produced the Senate bill,” former President Jo Ann Golden wrote at the end of her term. “An important part of the foundation for the Senate bill was the Society’s proposed legislative package that was approved by the board of directors early in the year.”

LaValle introduced the bill (S302-D), which calls for mandatory registration of all CPA firms regardless of form of legal entity; regulation of all services within the CPA’s scope of practice, including services by CPAs in private industry; mandatory peer review; expansion of qualifying experience for licensure; temporary practice permits, and clarification on nonattest commissions and referral fees. The Senate would later unanimously approve this bill, making it the first piece of accountancy reform legislation to pass in the post-Enron era. The House has yet to vote on the bill.

The Society became involved in other legislation, notably Spitzer’s recommended legislation to overhaul governance and accountability in the nonprofit sector (this proposal was introduced in the Senate as S4836 by Sen. Vincent L. Liebell). After Spitzer announced his bill at a Society conference in February, Not-for-Profit Organizations Committee member Julie Floch and Chair David Ashenfarb conferred twice with staff from the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau to express their concerns over the proposal.

In April, the Society submitted a comment letter to the attorney general, who subsequently requested amendments to S4836 that included some language along the lines of Society concerns. Liebell amended the bill to S4836-A, but it was not reported from committee in the Senate nor introduced in the Assembly.

Earlier, the Society responded to a far more sweeping Sarbanes-Oxley–based initiative by Spitzer with an 18-page point-by-point critique and a memo stating that his legislative proposal didn’t adequately address some existing problems in the state’s laws regulating the profession and applied Sarbanes-Oxley in a way that would unduly burden CPAs who serve nonpublic clients, as well as small businesses throughout the state.

The Society worked with the state board of accountancy as the regulating body recommended adoption of a sweeping range of proposed rules for the Board of Regents in the Sarbanes-Oxley era, while Gov. George Pataki proposed transferring the State Education Department’s Office of the Professions to the State Department. The legislature did not pass the governor’s budget bill that included provisions for this transfer.

The accountancy board sought in the summer of 2002 to establish new work-paper retention rules that would force CPAs to retain records for any work they perform, beyond auditing and attestation, for a minimum of seven years. The Society’s Legislative Task Force urged the board to focus “on the statutory responsibility of CPAs for audits and on their other attestation engagements,” among other requests.

The board conceded, and the rule that went into effect in January 2003 applied only to documentation and retention of attest and compilation work papers for seven years. The rule also required all firms and sole practitioners to form a written policy on record retention.

Throughout the year, according to current President Jeff Hoops, much of the “heavy lifting” in government relations and advocacy was done by the this task force, which included Jo Ann Golden, Vincent Love, Stephen Langowski, and task force Chair Kevin McCoy.

Another major regulatory initiative by the Regents was proposed in April 2003 to bring Sarbanes-Oxley language for publicly traded clients into the professional misconduct rules for the practice of public accountancy, imposing a series of reportable events on CPAs whereby failure to report would constitute professional misconduct, and other requirements. The Society commenced a state-wide letter-writing campaign to the Regents on the adverse impact of these proposed rules and urged them to defer to the state legislature, which was actively considering accountancy reform legislation.

FAE Continues Making Process

The Foundation for Accounting Education finished the fiscal year $1 million ahead of the prior year. Some statistics include:

Total registrations 23,032
Web NYSSCPA.org 2,614
Walk-In 4,531

All others were through phone/fax/mail

Cancellations 743
Transfers 953

These figures represent approximately a 15 percent increase in registration over the prior year. FAE continued to expand its offerings in several new cities within the local chapters upstate and downstate, including Batavia, Elmira, Glen Falls, Ithaca, Lake Placid and Rockland.

Annual Leadership Conference

The Society’s second Annual Leadership Conference took place at the Mohegan Sun Hotel in Uncasville, Conn., in July 2002. Society leaders from every level of the organization attended, including the board of directors, the FAE board of trustees, members of NYSSCPA CPAPAC, statewide committee chairs and chapter officers, among others. During the conference, attendees continued work on development of the Society’s strategic plan, which ultimately was adopted by the board of directors later in the fiscal year. Conference attendance totaled 165 members plus 45 spouses or children.

NYSSCPA Office Relocation Project

Under the leadership of NYSSCPA past President Steven Baum, the Real Estate Task Force recommended the retention of GVA Willams to serve as the Society’s exclusive broker in a search for office space. The current lease at 530 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan will expire on Oct. 31, 2004.

Once the board of directors unanimously approved the task force’s recommendation during its meeting in July 2002, GVA Williams began an analysis of New York City real estate options to meet office needs for the projects and activities that had been developed and established within the Society’s strategic plan. Williams’ work included an analysis of existing office usage and the special relationships among various departments. With that data collected, the broker began to identify possible locations within the midtown area of Manhattan that might be suitable for the Society’s needs. As the fiscal year drew to a close, the task force members began to receive the results of Williams’ analysis and began preparation for recommendations that would be presented to the new board of directors at a meeting during the next fiscal year.

Member Relations

Since its creation, the Society has always understood that its essence and success resides in the membership, and this past fiscal year was no exception. In fact, under the direction of the strategic plan, the membership took on increased importance in 2002–2003. This renewed focus encompasses immediate and long-term objectives to better serve member needs, offer them more networking opportunities, recruit more members to the Society, help develop the next generation of CPAs, and ensure that the profession continues to play a positive and significant role in the business world, the local community and all points in between.

In May 2003, NYSSCPA membership stood at 29,544. The Society ended the fiscal year with a slight but encouraging membership increase over the previous year. The Society recruited more members in almost every membership category, with growth in the associate student and associate public/employee categories leading the way.

As part of the recruitment drive, the Society developed a special staff position to help attract new members and generate interest in the activities and objectives of the organization.

Chapters

A meaningful and worthwhile membership in the NYSSCPA begins at the grassroots level, which is where the Society’s 17 chapters play such a crucial role. Just as the membership is the lifeblood of the Society, the chapters are the conduits through which social and networking opportunities, outreach efforts, educational events, and professional initiatives pass. During 2002–2003, the chapters continued with, and in some cases improved upon, the work performed the previous year. With two years under their belt, the Society’s newest chapters—Adirondack, Brooklyn, Central Southern Tier (now called Finger Lakes), Manhattan/Bronx, Queens and Rockland—have found their footing and emerged as vital and fully functional chapters.

The following is a brief summary of the activities and initiatives of the NYSSCPA’s newest chapters in 2002–2003:

Adirondack

The Adirondack Chapter made some significant advances in its second year by hosting several CPE sessions. Led by President Mary E. MacKrell, the chapter also held a CPE session on business valuation and a Lake Placid tax seminar covering U.S.-Canadian individual and corporate income tax issues, installment plans and the Offer in Compromise program. To accommodate all members, the chapter hosted meetings in different areas of its large region, ultimately determining that Lake Placid serves as the most central location for meetings.

Chapter Membership: 153 (as of May 30, 2003)

Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Chapter stayed particularly active, holding eight CPE sessions during the course of the year. Under the leadership of Myrna L. Fischman, who served in her second term as president, and executive board member Philip Wolitzer, the chapter co-sponsored a five-day tax conference in Monticello, N.Y. The attendees were able to earn 25 CPE credits and enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the Catskill Mountains.

The chapter, along with Long Island University’s Accounting Society and Office of Admissions, hosted its first Careers in Accounting Day in the fall. With more than 80 high school and college students, parents and faculty in attendance, the speakers emphasized the opportunities in the accounting profession and ways to make them happen. Later in the year, the chapter, in conjunction with the IRS, held its Second Annual IRS Conference. The chapter also played a major role in helping to host the first Brooklyn session of the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession program, held at the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University.

Chapter Membership: 698 (as of May 30, 2003)

Central Southern Tier

The Central Southern Tier Chapter made a concerted effort to reach out to its members, creating and mailing out a survey intended to gauge activities of interest to the membership and determine possible topics for chapter-sponsored CPE as well as meeting locations. Chapter President Arthur M. Lustgarten organized a meeting with Southern Tier President Cheryl M. DiStefano to discuss legislative issues and strategies pertaining to the accounting profession in New York state. NYSSCPA Executive Director Louis Grumet spoke about how federal laws could trigger legislation at the state level and the importance of establishing ties with a state legislator. The chapter hosted its annual Student Awards Night on April 22 at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. (The board of directors recently renamed the chapter the Finger Lakes Chapter.)

Chapter Membership: 110 (as of May 30, 2003)

Manhattan/Bronx

The Manhattan/Bronx Chapter achieved a steady increase in services to its members in 2002–2003. Under the leadership of Robert F. Brauer, the chapter hosted six well-attended CPE sessions that ranged from an IRS tax update to small business employment issues for CPAs. Outreach also kept the chapter very busy, as it organized several young CPA events, including two networking mixers, with the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the New York City Alliance of Insurance and Finance Professionals, that drew over 230 individuals. Members also visited a number of high schools to talk with students about accounting careers.

Chapter Membership: 9,065 (as of May 30, 2003)

Queens

Led by President Robert Sypolt, the Queens Chapter added considerably to its roster of activities this past fiscal year. CPE sessions included a Small Business Administration lending program seminar with Banco Popular, an update on benefit plans for business owners with the Forest Hills Financial Group, and an eight-hour tax conference at St. John’s University. The chapter met with the Queens County Bar Association to establish stronger professional ties between the two groups, and held a business mixer with the Queens Chamber of Commerce. For the second year in a row, the chapter put together a Career Day for 150 high school students and their teachers. Held at St. John’s University, the event paired college students with high schoolers to give them an inside look into the life of an accounting major. A number of experienced professionals also spoke about their careers as a CPA.

Chapter Membership: 927 (as of May 30, 2003)

Rockland

Strong leadership helmed by President Steven M. Kaplan and a firm commitment by its board of directors kept the Rockland Chapter on pace with the momentum it generated in 2001-2002. Networking events, a family outing to a minor league baseball game, a golf tournament, young CPAs get-togethers, CPE sessions on value pricing and sales tax issues, among other topics, dotted the calendar. Professor and member Samuel A. Dyckman led a tax update seminar, and ethics expert and member Francis J. Borelli gave an insightful presentation on corporate accountability in a joint meeting with Provident Bank.

The chapter participated in the Rockland Business Association’s Business Expo, discussing the impact of financial reporting scandals on the CPA profession, fostering close relations with area businesses and institutions, and attracting some new members to the NYSSCPA. During the expo, representatives from local colleges and universities approached the chapter requesting assistance with internship programs for their accounting students.

Chapter Membership: 352 (as of May 30, 2003)

Fortunately for the newer chapters, they have a proven model of success to follow: the 11 veteran NYSSCPA chapters. In keeping with a longstanding tradition, these chapters also remained very active in 2002–2003, providing their membership with numerous social, professional and educational opportunities, as well as serving their local communities.

Tradition is one of the defining characteristics of the Nassau Chapter, which celebrated its 50th anniversary during its annual installation dinner and dance on May 9, 2003. Current President Richard Zerah discussed the chapter’s decades of success, noting that its membership has always answered the call in the face of professional adversity, as witnessed over the last two years. Of course Nassau is not the only chapter to have enjoyed a long-lasting and productive association with the Society; the Staten Island Chapter earlier celebrated its 50th anniversary on May 17, 2002. During the event, which also coincided with the installation dinner, chapter historian Charles P. LaCagnina showcased highlights of the chapter’s 50-year history.

CPE offerings, from two-hour courses to multi-hour events such as the day-long tax conferences and updates held by Adirondack, Rochester, Southern Tier, Syracuse and Westchester, among others, or Nassau’s 21st Annual Estate and Personal Financial Planning Conference, continue to be a mainstay of chapters’ services. But many of the chapters determined that 2002–2003 should also be spent focusing on industry members, young members and high school and college students. The Westchester Chapter’s CFO and Senior Financial Officers Committee consistently held meetings throughout the year for their industry members to seek advice and exchange knowledge. The Nassau Chapter’s CFO and Financial Executives Committee held several evening technical sessions of interest to industry members in 2002–2003. The Utica Chapter formed a Members in Industry and Commerce Committee to better serve the needs of this vital group.

The Northeast Chapter, with a great deal of assistance by Stephen J. Obermayer, is working hard to revitalize its industry committee. The fourth annual Western Regional Members in Industry and Commerce Conference, chaired by Rochester’s Jerry A. Daggs, Buffalo’s Thomas Kittell and Utica’s John J. Lauchert Jr., took place in Rochester, and made for a very successful multi-chapter event. Attendance at this conference increases with each passing year. The Buffalo chapter’s Members in Industry Committee cosponsored a joint dinner meeting with the Buffalo chapter of Financial Executives International, holding a CPE program earlier in the day. The chapter’s Young CPAs Committee held its second annual accounting panel discussion for high students, teachers and guidance counselors.

On July 25–26 the Syracuse Chapter hosted the Second Annual Young CPAs Forum to help foster career development for young CPAs and CPA candidates entering the profession. The Nassau Chapter’s Cooperation with Educational Institutions Committee held Mentor-a-Student Night, while Mid-Hudson Young CPAs Committee members visited freshmen and sophomore students at Saint Mary’s College in Newburgh, N.Y. The committee also held its first Young Professionals Networking reception. Staten Island reached out to more than 100 college students at its annual Education Night on Oct. 3. The Rochester Chapter members even conducted mock interviews for aspiring CPAs, and the Northeast Chapter launched its Cooperation with Educators Committee, which held an Educators Night on Feb. 13.

Community service tops the lists of the chapters’ priorities too, and this past year many of them rose to the occasion. The Syracuse Chapter’s Young CPAs Committee participated in a race to help people with developmental disabilities and sponsored a food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Central New York. On Sept. 19, Nassau held its annual blood drive and its inaugural “CPAS for a Cause” 5K charity run/walk to raise thousands of dollars to benefit local Long Island charities through the Long Island Community Foundation. The chapter also provided pro bono auditing services to the county. Rochester conducted a fundraiser to help the March of Dimes in its mission to prevent birth defects and infant mortality.

Westchester threw a Christmas party for sick children at the Westchester Medical Center. The chapter also participated in a business hotline and a tax hotline to answer questions from local business entrepreneurs and the public, respectively. Staten Island hosted a charity bowl-a-thon to fight Batten’s Disease, a neurological disorder. The Mid-Hudson Chapter organized its most successful Toys-for-Tots drive to date, while Suffolk members, with money donated from businesses and firms around Long Island, purchased over $2,400 worth of toys for the same cause.

Networking also is a key component of chapter life as members are always looking for ways to make meaningful inroads with their professional counterparts. The Northeast, Mid-Hudson, Suffolk and Utica chapters were just a few of the chapters that held cooperative dinners with bankers and attorneys. Westchester partnered up with the Westchester County Association and the Bank of New York to hold its first annual regional economic outlook and networking forum.

The chapters also worked very hard to keep members informed of the issues and developments surrounding their profession. Suffolk Chapter’s Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee did just that by organizing a very successful event featuring former Securities and Exchange Chief Accountant Lynn E. Turner. The Nassau Chapter’s Joint Committee of Attorneys and Accountants invited then New York State Tax Commissioner Arthur J. Roth to speak at one of it meetings.

On June 7 the Rochester Chapter held a luncheon that addressed Enron-related legislation. The occasion allowed chapter members to hold one-on-one discussions with their state lawmakers about legislation that could significantly impact their practices. The Mid-Hudson Chapter also met several times with their local legislators, only during those occasions it was over breakfast.

Chapters also took part in the overwhelmingly popular annual NYSSCPA Officers Visitation and Ethics CPE event that is held in cooperation with the Society-endorsed professional liability insurance carrier, Camico. President Jo Ann Golden, President-Elect Jeff Hoops and Executive Director Grumet visited every chapter to discuss issues facing the Society and the accounting profession and to seek input from the membership. Attendees also were able to earn two free CPE credit hours on ethics through the Camico presentation titled “Where Ethics and Liability Cross Paths, Part II.”

But it wasn’t all work and no play. Golf outings, clambakes, barbecues, ballgames, steamboat cruises, performances of Kiss Me, Kate and Chicago, a dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a handful of happy hours rounded out a tremendously busy year.

COAP

A weeklong summer program that introduces minority high school students to the CPA profession and the business world, Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession expanded in 2002 to include Westchester Community College in Valhalla and Long Island University-Brooklyn campus. Featuring an impressive array of guest speakers, workshops and field trips, COAP began in 1987 at Pace University in Pleasantville and joined with Hofstra University in Hempstead in 1996. (The program further expanded in 2003 to Le Moyne College in Syracuse.)

Students at Pace and Hofstra stayed on campus in dorms during their sessions, while those attending the Westchester and Long Island programs commuted to their respective campuses. The following are highlights from the 2002 COAP programs:

Long Island University: Twenty-six students attended the program, which included a field trip to Ernst & Young, where partners discussed aspects of the profession and how to obtain internships at the firm. A field trip to Keyspan Energy gave the students a look at career options for CPAs working outside of public practice.

Westchester Community College: Twenty-four students attended the program, which included field trips to CIBA S.C., a specialty chemical corporation in White Plains, the Federal Reserve Bank and BDO Seidman.

Pace University: Forty-five students attended the program, which included visits to KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Mastercard’s headquarters.

Hofstra University: Forty-six students attended the program, which included trips to a number of accounting firms, the New York Stock Exchange and Computer Associates.

All four programs culminated with a banquet dinner for the students— who received COAP certificates of completion—their parents and COAP board members. These same students, as well as COAP alumni, counselors and volunteers, got a chance to reconnect about six months later during a holiday party thrown for them by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Dec. 26.

All Things Committees

Doing their share, and then some, to help realize the objectives of the strategic plan, the Society’s committees issued a record number of professional comment letters in 2002–2003. In all, the committees sent out 23 letters to organizations, agencies and legislators critical to the accounting profession, as compared to six in 2001–2002.

The letters, which usually are drafted by select committee members, reviewed by the appropriate oversight committee, and then approved by the Society president, covered the very broad to the very specific, from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to individual accounting rules. The following is a sampling of the issues on which NYSSCPA committees commented and helped to shape legislation, standards, rulings and other professional policies:

These letters and others can be found by going to www.nysscpa.org/commentletter/main.htm.

Given the increase in comment letters, it comes as little surprise that committee attendance, both in person and through conference calls, ramped up in the 2002–2003 year by approximately 5 percent from 2001–2002. This helped lead to a spike in membership and participation as well. At the same time, committee direct expenses were reduced by approximately $54,000 from the prior year as the result of cost-saving initiatives.

Earlier this year, Committee Operations Committee Chair Spencer L. Barback helped explain the boost in meetings, attendance and comment letters.

“I think people are just more interested in becoming involved after 9/11, after all that’s happening to our profession,” said Barback, who also credited the work of committed committee chairpersons. “People don’t want to be on the sidelines.”
Greater member involvement played a big part in the successful presentation of committee-sponsored conferences that featured an impressive array of high-profile speakers and topics and brought in a large number of attendees. Some of the year’s most notable conferences included the following:

Informative committee events also took place on a smaller scale during monthly meetings, technical sessions and annual luncheons and dinners.

The Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee hosted an annual luncheon that featured New York City Department of Small Business Services Director of Business Incentives Donald Giampietro. Meanwhile, IRS Director of Taxpayer Education and Communication Ellen Murphy continued to be a familiar face at the Society’s headquarters, meeting with the Tax Division Oversight Committee’s task force on E-filing. The brainstorming session focused on ways that the IRS and the Society could work together to ease the transition toward electronic filing in the state.

The Cooperation with Community Businesses Committee hosted a technical session on payroll taxes that had five speakers who discussed the complex nature of payroll filing, the workings of a payroll services bureau and the use of professional employer organizations to outsource employee management and administer compliance regulations. The New York, Multistate and Local Taxation Committee met with New York City Department of Finance Commissioner Martha Stark to discuss cooperation over tax issues as the city faced a gaping budget deficit. Members asked Stark to review a number of items of concern to their clients such as the 4 percent UBT, while suggesting that they could help the department educate city tax agents on tax law and review tax forms, especially for the purpose of electronic filing.

Nearly 100 participants came out for a CPE session on performance measurement held by the Management Tools and Techniques Committee. And the Chief Financial Officers Committee held a successful CPE session that outlined professional ethics and enforcement and how they specifically apply to CPAs in industry.

The 2002–2003 year also witnessed the establishment of three new committees: the International Accounting and Auditing Committee, the Relations with the Legal Community Committee, and the Technology Assurance Committee, which replaced the Emerging Technologies Committee.

Fiscal Information

Society Finance Chair David A. Lifson presented the 2003–2004 combined NYSSCPA and FAE program budget, which the board of directors approved in April. It includes a forecasted $204,400 surplus. Highlights of the budget include:

The audit for the fiscal year ending May 31, 2003, shows an increase in our net assets of $1,235,000 for the year, compared to a loss of $896,000 in the prior year. Included in the consolidated audit are the Society, FAE, CPA PAC and the Benevolent Fund.

Public Relations Runs Full Court 'Press'

Last year, in the wake of a string of corporate scandals culminating with Enron, the Society had a lot of questions to answer from a particularly scrutinizing media. As a result, much of the 2002–2003 fiscal year was spent making sure those answers held strong and that the media portrayed, and thus the public received, an honest impression of the accounting profession.

The Society continued its series of post-Enron editorial board meetings and ran op-eds in daily newspapers. Some other top media spots included a 15-week series on taxes with Eyewitness News, regular appearances on Fox News Tax Tuesdays, a weekly tax column in The Daily News and tax panels at The Post-Standard (Syracuse) and The Daily News. In addition to print and television media, 168 radio stations in New York state received three NYSSCPA public service announcements on taxes. Society leadership and members also participated in 344 media interviews focusing on taxes, retirement planning, accounting reform legislation, financial statements, auditing and the expensing of options.

The big wave of press for the profession helped inform and establish a more thorough understanding of the accounting scandals that have unfolded in recent years. And to make sure that key point people within the Society felt confident facing the press, members of the board of directors, chapter presidents and committee chairs took part in media training sessions. In these sessions, the officers and chairpersons, as well as certain staff members, practiced role playing and effective communications tactics for talking with the press. Chapter presidents also received individual updates on the Chapter Public Relations Plan, which seeks to build stronger media relations within the chapters and to maintain a strong public image.

To help the press discuss accounting news more intelligently, the Society increased its “Understanding Financial Statements” sessions for journalists. Attendance at these sessions tripled in 2002–2003. Interns from colleges around the country participating in a Wall Street Journal program also attended a basic finance and business session at the Society’s headquarters.

While busy assuaging post-Enron doubts, the Society also responded to the buzz generated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Media attendance at FAE conferences addressing aspects of the legislation increased greatly, most notably with 15 reporters at the Nonprofit Conference featuring Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who discussed stronger governance oversight of the nonprofit sector.

In an effort to capture young people’s interest in the accounting profession, the Society reran in 14 college newspapers a recruitment advertisement created and launched the previous year.

While keeping tabs on all these projects, the Society mailed to a random sampling of more than 3,000 members its Year-end Economic Poll, which, for the first time, the New York University Stern School of Business created and tabulated. As in past years, the Society also presented Excellence in Financial Journalism awards, honoring reporters whose work promotes a better understanding of business topics. This past year, in an effort to increase journalists’ participation, the Society tapped officers from the New York Financial Writers Association to join them in judging the awards.

NYSSCPA Website: Exceeding Expectations

The Society’s website underwent a dramatic overhaul in 2001-2002, and improvements and enhancements to the site continued in 2002-2003. The growing popularity of www.nysscpa.org as a place that offers immediate and extensive coverage of all things Society- and accounting-related served to fuel the cyber fire, resulting in the creation of an even more attractive, informative and navigational site.

Changes are evident from the moment that a user logs on to the site. The website staff launched the new home page and template, complete with a more streamlined and efficient appearance, a universal Search box, and a Member Search on the home page. All pages subsequently were placed in the new template. Finding a member is now easier than ever, as users can search by county and chapter. The same is true for searching archived news, The CPA Journal, membership and governance information, and conferences, thanks to new categories that were added to an expanded Advanced Search engine.

The E-zine e-mail newsletter got a small facelift as the staff implemented a new E-zine subscribe/unsubscribe feature that automatically updates the subscriber list without any intervention from the web staff. This step drastically saves staff time and avoids duplicates that annoy subscribers. The E-zine also enjoys a new one e-mail address dispersal system that significantly cuts down on the amount of time it takes to send off the E-zine.

Given the high level of interest and activity surrounding proposed accounting reform legislation in New York state, the site also includes an updated and improved Contact Local Representatives section with more extensive automated up-to-date information. Similarly, owing to a record number of comment letters in response to exposure drafts and tax proposals, as well as the Society’s strong commitment to its strategic plan, the site includes new pages that feature these items. In keeping with the strategic plan, the site includes a new Governance section with easier navigation.

As chapters continue to offer invaluable services and advantages to their membership, it made sense to give them an opportunity to set themselves apart, so the staff redesigned and expanded all chapter websites, still within the NYSSCPA.org look and feel. In addition, all committees also have had their sites placed in the new template to foster greater information delivery and ease of use.

Drilling down from the chapter pages, individual member pages also got a fresh look with the standard template. These updated pages allow logged-in members to effortlessly carry out a number of functions, including changing their profile, accessing their CPE record, paying their dues and giving contributions, viewing their committee service record and contacting their local legislators.

Other website modifications include the following:

The CPA Journal

Over the last year, The CPA Journal has actively participated in the public dialogue about accounting reform and regulation. The Journal published exclusive interviews with U.S. Comptroller General David M. Walker, Financial Accountant Standards Board Chair Robert H. Herz, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member (formerly acting chair) Charles D. Niemeier and former Public Oversight Board Chairman Charles Bowsher.

To address the evolving educational requirements for aspiring accountants, a forum of practitioners and educators was held in March 2002, the proceedings of which became the basis for a special “CPA Education” feature in the August 2002 issue. The forum generated considerable reader response on various sides of the issue, including a pair of point/counterpoint articles published in the October 2002 issue. Other editorial content throughout the year focused on the entry-level stage of participation in the profession. Additional forums on other topics, such as the local economy, are planned for the upcoming year, and will likewise be featured in the Journal.

The annual technology issue has been moved from November to July to coincide with the NYSSCPA/FAE trade show. Last November’s issue included the Journal’s first survey of tax preparation and research software used by CPAs. This survey will be published annually. The annual high-net-worth issue (September) has been broadened to encompass the full spectrum of personal financial planning issues. The Journal’s coverage of state and local taxation, economic policy and related issues has been given more importance, through both feature articles and departments.

The Journal continues to welcome readers’ opinions and perspectives, fulfilling the magazine’s mission to support dialogue and debate within the profession. The monthly News & Views section expanded to accommodate more personal viewpoints, helping to produce more discussion during the past year over the future of the profession.

The Trusted Professional

The Society’s monthly newspaper, The Trusted Professional, entered its fifth year of production in 2002, beefing up chapter coverage, accepting more article contributions from members and launching a section dedicated to committee activity.

In its strategic plan, the Society called for bolstering the recognition and visibility of The Trusted Professional. Statistically speaking, the newspaper accommodated this goal by significantly increasing its monthly page count over the previous year. In 2001-2002, the average issue topped off at 32 pages, with about eight notices of Society and FAE events per issue. By March 2003, the average issue length was 38 pages, with about 12 notices of conferences, seminars and other CPE offerings.

A key part of this expansion was due to Chapter Newsletters, which by June 2003 included messages from chapter presidents, current events, notices and photographs from all 17 chapters on a regular basis. Members contributed heavily to this section even as their submissions to other parts of The Trusted Professional also saw a marked increase.

Members contributed regular columns or authored guest commentary pieces, committee news, letters to the editor and stories about auditor independence, record-keeping and tax relief for businesses affected by Sept. 11.

In March 2003 The Trusted Professional introduced Committee Close-Up, a monthly page devoted to current happenings among the Society’s more than 60 committees. The monthly column keeps members abreast of committee comment letters, technical sessions, guest speakers and conferences.

Expanded features aside, it was a busy year for The Trusted Professional as state officials pushed for regulatory and legislative reform of the profession, long after the accounting scandals of 2001 became front-page news. The newspaper devoted much attention to the month-by-month developments in Albany, including accountancy board and state Senate hearings, as well as featuring in-depth articles on Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s proposed not-for-profit accounting legislation, Regents rules proposals, and other developments.

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