Susan M. Cosper, previously the technical director for the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), was appointed as a FASB member on May 1, for a term that will run through 2024. As technical director, she was a driving force behind many landmark accounting standards, as well as the formation of the Private Company Council (PCC), an advisory body to the FASB on private company matters. She took the time to talk to The Trusted Professional about the transition from staff to board member, challenges to the financial accounting landscape, and the future of the accounting profession.

Sustainable business practices, once largely an afterthought in the corporate world, are growing in significance, as more companies become aware of how environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors affect their bottom line. This development has sparked a rising demand for clarity on where companies stand on these issues and what they’re doing to improve these wide-ranging practices. Seeking to meet this demand are dozens of organizations that arose to provide various frameworks for measuring sustainable corporate behavior.

This year’s tax season was one for the ages, according to practitioners at firms across the state, who were faced not only with an entirely new tax landscape, but also government shutdowns, software issues and a number of other headaches, as they worked their way through the 2019 busy season.

Three pieces of accountancy legislation supported by the NYSSCPA advanced through the New York state Legislature this session but did not make it over the finish line, in spite of intensive grassroots efforts, a Lobby Day and outreach to influential legislators. The session ended on June 21.