July 2001

NYSSCPA Board Votes Not to Join SSNI

NEW YORK—Last month, the newly seated New York State Society of CPAs Board of Directors voted not to sign an interim agreement that would have allowed the State Societies Network, Inc. (SSNI) to gain additional terms from NYSSCPA in the launch of the AICPA’s CPA2Biz project.

Citing the fact that information required to make an informed decision was too hazy, the board, in its first regularly scheduled meeting on June 10 at the Annual Leadership Conference in Hershey, Pa., voted not to join an interim agreement that would have integrated the Society’s membership list into the CPA2Biz e-business venture of the American Institute of CPAs.

“I would never advise a client to agree to such a contract, based on the limited information we have, so we certainly would not vote in favor,” said NYSSCPA President Nancy Newman-Limata.

Originally launched in 1999 by the CPA Societies Executives Association as a vehicle through which state societies could share costs in areas such as printing, accounting, technology, and dues collection, SSNI is the legal entity that formed a joint venture with the AICPA called Shared Services LLC to provide shared services to both state societies and the AICPA.

The NYSSCPA vote came after nearly two hours of discussion on the SSNI’s proposal, including a presentation by members of Shared Services Network.

Under the proposal, the Society would have given its member list to SSNI, to be made available to CPA2Biz. The Society would have also been required to pay over to CPA2Biz income from Society affinity programs during the second phase of the CPA2Biz project. In return the Society would have received a share of profits from CPA2Biz, with Society members receiving a discount on CPA2Biz publications.

The CPA2Biz project has two phases. The first involved creating a database for CPA2Biz to use in Phase II.

Phase II involved making CPA2Biz operational, which did not occur by June 1, requiring an extension of Phase I. The Phase I continuance agreement, however, contained items not included in the original Phase I agreement.

Some board members expressed reservations about SSNI’s insistence on additional conditions over those in the original agreement that the board accepted in joining SSNI last year.

The NYSSCPA board was unable to accept the additional items in the Phase I continuance agreement, and remained opposed to entering Phase II based on the information available. However, the board unanimously voted to continue its participation in the project on the terms of the original Phase I agreement.

A motion to reject the SSNI proposal passed by a vote of 15-10 with three abstentions. When asked why he abstained, one board member said he did not have enough information to make an informed decision.