April 2001

It’s finally over. Tax season is done and now that the last tax return has been filed, or at least the last extentions, we can put our pencils down and take a look at some of the things the New York State Society of CPAs has been doing for its members.

While our noses were buried in tax returns, the Society has been very busy working for you. Just a few weeks ago the Society’s board of directors unanimously voted not to support the global credential, also known as “Cognitor” or “XYZ,” that the American Institute of CPAs has been pushing. This decision was based on your feedback to the survey that the Society sent to all members earlier this year.

The results of the Society’s survey show that the vast majority of members, 77.2 percent, would not seek a global credential like the one the AICPA is working on, while only 19.7 said they would seek an additional credential that was international in scope.

Well, the board of directors decided to listen to the membership and voted unanimously back on March 28 to oppose further development of the global credential. The text of the resolution is reprinted on page 19.

New York, however, is not alone in its opposition to the international credential. Back on March 19, the Illinois CPA Society also decided to oppose the XYZ credential. Coincidentally, Illinois said the results of their random survey of ICPAS members are nearly identical to the NYSSCPA results.

Our opposition and the AICPA’s response seems to have generated a lot of media attention. In an article called “Risking Ridicule, Some Accountants Talk of Becoming ‘Cognitors’,” New York Times reporter Jonathan Glater wrote a story about the global credential that appeared on the front page of the business section and mentions the NYSSCPA survey and stance on the issue.

The AICPA, however, does not seem deterred in their pursuit of the global credential. During a press conference held earlier this month, the AICPA said they were still planning to go forward with the credential and plan to bring the results of their own survey of 400 members to the next AICPA Council meeting on May 1 in Washington, D.C. The New York delegation also plans to bring the results of our survey to the AICPA Council meeting, and we plan to oppose any additional steps to further the global credential.

Another story that seems to have generated a bit of media attention involves a letter I wrote to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. About two dozen news reporters have interviewed me about the letter that asks the attorney general to look into H&R Block’s misleading advertisements that claim Block does “more ‘complex’ tax returns than any CPA.”

In March, the Albany Times Union ran an article about my letter, and the fact that Block claims their ads are not misleading or deceptive. Even though Block meant to say their entire organization did more tax returns that include schedules than any CPA, and their television ad did include a disclaimer, I take issue with the way Block’s message was presented to the television viewer. Further, that disclaimer was not on the television long enough for anyone to read.

H&R Block is no stranger to misleading ads. Does anyone remember the refund anticipation loans that H&R Block advertised last year—the ones that say that their customers would get their refund amount back quickly? Well H&R Block was recently ordered to pay $506,477 of their profits as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees to Liberty Tax Service for running those “deceptive” ads.

United States District Court Judge Jackson of the Eastern District of Virginia said Block acted intentionally and maliciously to mislead the public about the truth of their loan program, even though Block denied any intentional deception in those ads, just as they are claiming in the recent CPA ads.

The Society is also gearing up to take our case for updating New York state’s accountancy rules to the state Assembly and Senate. NYSSCPA Director of Governmental Affairs Dennis O’Leary is working diligently with both houses of the state Legislature to make sure New York passes our version of the Uniform Accountancy Act, a model act developed by the AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

Yet, while support for the legislation continues to grow in Albany, we can still use your help. So, I’m encouraging all CPAs practicing in New York to let their state representatives know how much you support the UAA bills (Assembly bill A. 4445 and Senate bill S. 2456).

For more information on the UAA and why the Society supports the legislation, you can visit our UAA center at www.nysscpa.org/legislative/priorities.htm.

Finally, on a lighter note, as the tax season ends the continuing professional education (CPE) season begins. The Foundation for Accounting Education and the Society have a lot of interesting and informative courses for those of us looking to keep up with our CPE requirements. Not only is FAE offering large CPE discounts at www.nysscpa.org/fae.org/discountsnew.html, but the Society is also making it easier to join with online signup for most FAE courses. Just visit the continuing education webpage at www.nysscpa.org/continuingeducationa.htm.

Members can also quickly and easily pay their membership dues online at www.nysscpa.org/members/. All you have to do is sign in with your member number and password, then you can view your personalized CPE/FAE info, manage your member profile, or pay for dues online.