Two venerable NYSSCPA traditions are back again for another year, and the Society is looking for volunteers to help keep them going. These ventures not only burnish the NYSSCPA's image, but help others outside the accounting community as well.
Honoring Financial Journalists
The NYSSCPA Excellence in Financial Journalism (EFJ) Awards is now accepting submissions from journalists and reporters for its 2014 contest. The Society is also putting a call out for active NYSSCPA members who’d like to volunteer and join this year’s expanded panel of judges.
The EFJ Awards honor professional and student journalists for distinguished reporting that cultivates, promotes and disseminates an understanding of accounting, finance and business topics. This year marks the 31st annual contest.
A panel of judges from the NYSSCPA and the New York Financial Writers Association recognizes reporters from the national and local press whose work—print, broadcast or online—was published or broadcast in 2013; contributed to a better and balanced understanding of accounting, business or financial topics; and was ranked on accuracy, quality and thoroughness of research.
Judging will begin in March, winners are announced in April and a formal awards ceremony will be held May 1.
Past winners of the contest include Kirsten Grind, author of The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual—The Biggest Bank Failure in American History; David A. Kaplan of Fortune magazine; Rob Cox and Robert Cyran of Reuters Breakingviews; David Voreacos of Bloomberg News; Brian Ross of ABC News; and David Kocieniewski of the New York Times.
If you are interested in being considered as a volunteer judge for the 2014 EFJ Awards, please email Alonza Robertson at arobertson@nysscpa.org.
Tax Season Means the Return of the Tax Hotline
The NYSSCPA is again teaming up with local newspapers to offer tax advice to state residents via the Society’s popular tax hotline program.
The Society’s local chapters, working in tandem with its Communications Department, are organizing the various events; booking the dates with newspapers; and soliciting teams of CPA volunteers to answer questions received from the public via telephone, email and online Web chats.
For more than 20 years, the tax hotline program has allowed the Society’s members to provide a public service to those in need of some person-to-person assistance with preparing their tax returns before the April 15 individual tax return filing deadline. In addition, the program also allows members to subtly market themselves and their firms, as the newspapers traditionally publish news stories including the names and photos of those certified public accountants who participate in the events.
More than 60 volunteers from the NYSSCPA’s Buffalo, Manhattan/Bronx, Mid Hudson, Nassau, Queens/Brooklyn, Staten Island, Suffolk, Utica and Westchester chapters participated last year, fielding more than 1,600 calls in February and March.
The 2014 dates for the Newsday hotline on Long Island are Feb. 18–19; in Westchester County, the event date is March 1. Other times and locations around the state are in the process of being confirmed, but all will be held in late February and March.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact your local NYSSCPA chapter president or email Public Affairs Manager Robert Busweiler at mailto:rbusweiler@nysscpa.org or Media Relations Manager Alonza Robertson at mailto:arobertson@nysscpa.org for more information.