November 1999

The tax collector is looking for untold wealth.--Henny Youngman

By Alan E. Weiner, CPA

We're still in a travelin' mode. Since we (you and I) last spoke, we've been to Mid Hudson, Seattle, New York City, Buffalo, Albany (for a meeting of the political action committee), and Staten Island. My thanks to chapter Presidents Gary Cassiello, Ray Nowicki, and Richard Prinzi for hosting their chapter meetings and bringing out the people to hear first-hand from Gerry Sokolski, Nancy Newman-Limata, Lou Grumet, and me as to what's new, exciting, and disappointing in the profession.

The Seattle meeting was the semiannual meeting of the AICPA Council. You'll read more about that elsewhere in The Trusted Professional; however, here are a few short sound bites:

The AICPA committee restructuring is complete. Many committees have been lost and will be replaced by task forces on an as-needed basis. We'll continue to monitor that on our members' behalf and speak up when necessary. Council opted to remove compilations as an attest service over the objections of Florida and New York. The AICPA is rolling out a new advertising campaign to "brand" the CPA as an integral and technology-oriented part of our clients' businesses. Council voted to adopt the current Responsibilities in Tax Practice as "standards," with a promise from AICPA leaders that there won't be standards overload.

As "standards," we're enhancing the profession in the eyes of the public and the regulators by showing that we can police and discipline ourselves when necessary. The advocates of standards maintain that they will reduce liability costs and premiums, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, if you render tax services to your clients and if you're not already familiar with the Responsibilities in Tax Practice, become familiar with them NOW! I personally supported Dave Lifson's (an NYSSCPA member and chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee) march for standards and, subsequently, our board of directors adopted a resolution approving Council's action.

For those of you who anxiously awaited the final chapter (see last month's President's Commentary unless it's currently wrapped around fish) about the Society's Professional Liability Task Force recommendation of a malpractice carrier for our members malpractice insurance, the NYSSCPA Executive Committee and board of directors have approved the task force's recommendation to go with Camico. On behalf of our 32,000-plus members, I thank Louis C. Grassi, the task force chair (who put inordinate hours on this project on your behalf) and the other members of his task force--John J. Kearney, Bernard Medoff, Edward H. Roberts, Stanley L. Sandler, and Philip A. Zimmerman. (P.S. To the members of the task force: You all videotaped very well.)

On October 18, 1999, at the Seattle AICPA Council meeting, I delivered the message of those of you who wrote letters or sent e-mails to the AICPA about Fiscal Year Reform. Here's what I said:

Polio was incurable but a vaccine was found. Cancer is incurable--today--but researchers keep working at it. I began the fiscal year effort last October; I mentioned it to you at the open forum last May. Since then, with the backing of the NYSSCPA in a resolution passed on June 4 urging the AICPA to make fiscal year reform a priority on its legislative agenda, I have spent countless hours (only my firm's timekeeper knows how many) getting out the word.

Our New York drive stops today. Remember our main objective with this effort was to alert the AICPA about the continued urgency of the workload compression problem. I hope that the AICPA has heard from enough people that it will rejuvenate the task force, with top staff people, and devote significant time and financial resources through the Institute's PAC to tell Congress what workload compression is doing to the CPA profession and, therefore, to the public. Many regard CPAs as protecting business, acting as the one independent profession between business and the public, and intervening between taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service--and assisting both in the fair administration of the system.

We, the NYSSCPA, developed our "copycat" letter to make it easy for CPAs to contact the AICPA; however, here are some quotes from your fellow CPAs who wrote their own letters:

"Though I am a full-time educator, not engaged in practice, I see first-hand the impact on practicing CPAs of heavy workload during the first four months of the year, and the related impact on accounting education and the supply of new personnel into accounting."

"As a former delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business ... workload compression should be one of the AICPA's top priorities."

"I am the CFO of an S corp. [whose] natural business cycle points us to an August 31 year-end.... Having our ... year-end on December 31, in the middle of our business cycle, causes all sorts of problems in budgeting, cash flow,... and computer costs."

"Workload compression makes it increasingly difficult to give clients the attention and high quality service their problems deserve."

"Recruiting staff ... is probably the most difficult part of my job."

"This is a public policy issue ... which inevitably will lead to inaccurate financial information being disseminated to banks, shareholders, and other users of financial data for which we are held to a PUBLIC trust."

My personal nationwide effort to let the AICPA hear from its membership ends today. I especially thank the states of Georgia, Vermont, Nevada, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Florida, and, of course, New York for either their statewide efforts or the letters of individual members. Many of them proudly wear red, white, and blue buttons supporting fiscal year reform.

I thank the professionals of some of the Big 20 and the smaller 2,000 who took the time to let the AICPA know their feelings. All state societies or institutes were contacted in this effort. If your members want their voices heard, click into www.nysscpa.org--and its subsite, the Center for Fiscal Year Reform--and enter your name and e-mail address (so that I can personally thank you which I have done for every letter and e-mail--at very strange hours--to date) and click away.

This fiscal year effort might be my most important contribution to our profession.

A point of clarification: Although it is on our Center for Fiscal Year Reform subsite, our communication did not mention the AICPA's 1994­1995 effort at fiscal year reform. At no point did we intend to minimize the AICPA's effort. We recognize that the AICPA worked the issue hard in the past. What SHOULD determine whether you pursue the issue should be your members' concern. And we have been telling you workload compression remains a serious member concern.

I trust that this effort will not end like "Raiders of the Lost Ark"--remember the warehouse scene where the ark is seen being stored among thousands of other government secrets to be hidden away forever? Rather, I ask that our effort have the gratifying results of "Dave" (starring Kevin Kline) who, as the impersonator of the President, calls on his sole practitioner CPA to find enough money by reducing wasteful government programs to fund a program benefiting children.

I KNOW that the AICPA can resolve this crisis for its members. The AICPA leadership listened and, let us hope, they heard your concern.

On October 19, the New York delegation hosted a breakfast in Seattle for the newest AICPA chair from New York. Bob Elliott follows in the footsteps of Mike Cook, Bob May, Dom Tarantino, Bob Israeloff, and Stu Kessler --all of them New Yorkers who previously and proudly led the AICPA. As I said in my introductory comments at the breakfast, New York is very proud--of the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Bob Elliott. I asked for a bio of Bob's achievements in preparation for this morning. Trees are falling and it's still being printed.

We also are pleased to congratulate Bob's wife, Lee, who will serve with him these next 12 months. In New York, I declared this to be the year of the spouse for the critical but unsung work spouses perform to make us look good in so many ways. But Lee, let me tell you that in New York, we have 32,000 members as compared to the AICPA's 336,000 members. Bob will have 10 times the work that I have--so make your appointments now to see Bob over the next 12 months.

Oh, by the way, the NYSSCPA Center for Fiscal Year Reform subsite has changed the AICPA recipient's address to Bob from Olivia--and Bob has received three pleas already.

Well Bob, you have my congratulations and the NYSSCPA's pledge to support the AICPA. We wish you luck and we have confidence that under your leadership, the AICPA will continue to grow, prosper, and prepare its members for the future. *

My name is Alan Weiner. Any questions?

President@nysscpa.org.