202002.25
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Art of Accounting: Black History and Women’s History Months | Accounting Today

By Edward Mendlowitz February 24, 2020, 12:48 p.m. EST February is Black History Month and March is Women’s History Month. Here is some information about the first black CPA and the first woman CPA. John Cromwell Jr. became the first black CPA in 1921 in New Hampshire. He was a native of Washington, D.C., which had an experience requirement in order to become a CPA, as did all of the surrounding states. He wasn’t able to get a job with any CPA firm in that area. New Hampshire did not have an experience requirement, so he took the exam there and was successful. Cromwell was a member of one of the…

202002.17
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Art of Accounting: Barry Melancon updated | Accounting Today

By Edward Mendlowitz AICPA president and CEO Barry Melancon gave his annual update at the Accountants Club of America on Feb. 4. This was a can’t-miss program for me and likely for all of the other attendees at the sold-out breakfast. An excellent article by Michael Cohn appeared that day reporting on the presentation. However, my interest in what Barry said is less global and pretty specific to small firms, so I am adding my views on what he said. There are really big issues confronting public accountants, but most of the firms are small and they face issues getting through the day, hiring and retaining staff, trying to keep up with…

202002.13
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AICPA’s Melancon Addresses Need to Keep Pace with Technology, Warns of Licensing Threats | The Trusted Professional

By: Ruth Singleton Published Date: Feb 7, 2020 At the Accountants Club of America’s (ACA) “Annual Issues Breakfast,” Barry C. Melancon, the president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs, discussed how the profession needs to evolve to match the pace of technology and warned of threats posed by some state governments to unwind the basic licensing regime. Melancon began by addressing the tremendous impact of technology on the profession. “I get to spend a lot of time with people who are futurists,” he said, and thus has gained insights on what to expect from technology. He spoke of 2012 as the year when the power of artificial intelligence really took…

202002.04
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AICPA CEO Melancon: CPA Licensing Under Threat | Accounting Today

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon talked about the need for CPAs to learn new skills as hiring of accounting graduates has slowed and the CPA licensing model has come under threat in some states. “There’s a lot of action in the states,” Melancon noted during a speech Tuesday at a meeting of the Accountants Club of America in New York. “There are major forces at work, and lots of big money, to unwind in the states the basic licensing regime that exists in this country. It’s not just targeted to CPAs, but it’s targeted to all licensing. Now that doesn’t mean it’s manifested itself in every…

201912.07
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NCCPAP Honors Two With Gold Award | Accounting Today

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners announced that Karen Giunta and Sanford (Sandy) Zinman are the recipients of its 2019 Gold Awards. The lifetime achievement award recognizes CPAs with successful careers who are also “contributors, advocates, and selfless volunteers” to NCCPAP. Giunta has previously served as membership chair, treasurer, and president of the NCCPAP at the national level, as well as serving as a vice president and president at the chapter level. She has also served on the Long Island Tax Professionals Symposium Committee for over 17 years since its inception. She is a self-employed sole practitioner who was introduced to both accounting and the NCCPAP through her late husband….

201912.06
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Accountants Work to Counter Climate Change | Accounting Today

Michael Cohn, Editor In Chief, Accounting Today Accounting groups are reacting to the latest reports about the accelerated pace of climate change as global warming reaches record levels. Against the backdrop of the United Nations’ 25th annual Conference of the Parties, or COP25, in Madrid, the International Federation of Accountants published a Point of View on climate action to highlight the role of the global accounting profession in addressing what many experts are calling a “climate emergency.” “Ignoring the impact of climate change is not an option – nor is business as usual,” said IFAC CEO Kevin Dancey in a statement Tuesday. “As instrumental members or advisers of every government, business, and…

201911.07
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Voices Art of Accounting: A day in Manhattan | Accounting Today

By Edward Mendlowitz November 04, 2019, 12:12 p.m. EST Last Wednesday I spent the day in Manhattan and some things occurred that I would like to share here. My primary reason was to attend a lunch meeting of the Accountants Club of America with a speaker I thought would be interesting. I also arranged to drop into the office of a new client with whom I was doing some valuation and succession planning consulting. I also planned the “route” so I could walk everywhere and allow time to do some window shopping. The day ended up far better than I could ever have hoped for. I was early so I decided…

201908.07
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Accounting Profession Leader Stuart Kessler Has Died

Stuart Kessler, CPA, PFS, a former president of the New York State Society of CPAs and the Accountants Club of America, chairman of the American Institute of CPAs, founding partner of Goldstein Golub Kessler and senior tax director at CohnReznick, has died. Stuart Kessler Kessler was frequently named among Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession. He was known as one of the top personal financial planning professionals in the U.S. and was the first living member of the New York State Society of CPAs’ Hall of Fame. In addition to being a past NYSSCPA president, he also presided over the NYSSCPA’s Foundation for Accounting Education Committee, and…

201906.25
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Stuart Kessler Receives American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’s PFP Lifetime Achievement Award

LAS VEGAS, Nevada, June 11 — The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued the following news release: Stuart Kessler, CPA/PFS, has received the American Institute of CPA’s(AICPA) Stanley H. Breitbard Lifetime Achievement in Personal Financial Planning Award. This is only the third lifetime achievement award in personal financial planning ever given by the AICPA. The presentation took place at the AICPA’s Advanced Personal Financial Planning (PFP) Conference in Las Vegas. Kessler, a Senior Tax Director specializing in estate and financial planning at CohnReznick in New York, NY is being honored for the key role he played in launching the AICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Division over 30 years ago as well as his continued contributions advancing the profession today. He led the…

201903.30
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Art of Accounting: Tax Season Crunch Time Suggestions To Keep Staff Motivated | Accounting Today

By Edward Mendlowitz Published March 25 2019, 2:02pm EDT We are down to the last three weeks of tax season. Think about how many clients you will be helping, how much your younger staff will be learning, how many clients you will be speaking to, and how much money you will make. How much better can it get? Part of managing a business is to leverage all of your resources, and I think we can agree that your most important resource is your staff. That being so, motivated and excited people are more effective than those who are not, so might I ask what you are doing to inspire them…