February 2011 Newsletter

John Rodgers, CPA

President

2011 Annual Meeting and Alaska Specific Ethics Seminar

Plan to attend this year's Annual Meeting on May 12th and 13th at Alyeska Resort.  The Alaska Ethics seminar is scheduled for May 12th.  Larry Stein has developed an Ethics course specific to Alaska Statute and it will qualify for the 4 hour Alaska specific ethics requirement.

Many of you know Larry, he has taught CPE courses for the Alaska Society of many years. Larry has generously offered to contribute a percentage of his earnings to the Paul Hagelbarger Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Watch for further details and registration forms.

2011-2012 Election Results

Congratulations to the new and continuing Board members

•    Bethe Davis, President-elect

•    Cindy Hulquist, Treasurer

•    Dixie Retherford, Secretary

•    Jason Bell, Director

•    Bridget Lujan, Director

•    Rebecca Martin, Director

Continuing their terms:

•    Marja Beltrami, President

•    John Rodgers, Past President

•    Amy Cooper, Director

•    Cathleen Hahn, Director

•    Janet Younger, Director

Also, congratulations to Jane Lanford who was elected to serve as a director of the Hagelbarger Memorial Scholarship Fund.

2011 CPE Calendar at a Glance

Check out the course selection on the society website at

http://www.akcpa.org/cpe/calendar.

Members Only!

Two ways to save on CPE!

Early Registration: Register on line by  May 15, 2011 and receive a $25 discount on each seminar.  Early registration helps avoid course cancellations.

Season Pass: Register for the Season Pass for $1,300 and sign up for up to six (6) eight hour seminars for a total of 48 continuing professional education hours. Joint members of both the AKCPA and the AICPA are entitled to a discount of $100 on the price of the Season Pass.

NOTE:  The Annual Meeting CPE and the Ethics courses are NOT included in the Season Pass.

AKCPA Committee and Task Force

Your participation on an AKCPA Committee or Task Force will bring you together with other professionals to accomplish tasks designed to increase technical knowledge of members, enhance the image of the profession or enhance the role of the CPA in the marketplace and community.  A list of the committees and their objectives can be found on the website under the ABOUT tab under committees. Take a moment to sign up for a committee!

COMMITTEE TASK FORCE  APPLICATION

Join a Committee/Task Force by completing and returning to:   akcpa@ak.net

Name ___________________________________

Firm ____________________________________

Phone __________________________________

Address _________________________________

City ____________________________________

State _________________Zip________________

Email ___________________________________

Committee Preference ___________________________________________________

Task Force area of Interest ________________________________________________

Nominations Sought

for Public Service and Jay A. Ofsthun Distinguished Service Awards

The Board of Directors is seeking nominations for the Public Service Award and the Jay A. Ofsthun Disthinguished Service Award.

Public Service Award: We are looking for individuals who have an on-going commitment of service to the community.  They must hold CPA certificates in good standing and be members of both the Alaska Society and the American Institute of CPAs.

Jay A. Ofsthun Distinguished Service Award: Periodically, the Alaska Society of CPAs honors a member who has served the accounting profession with distinction.The purpose of the award is to recognize a members dedicated, long, meritorious and/or special service to the Society.

The awards are presented at the Annual Meeting.  A link to the nomination forms are on the home page of the website under the AKCPA News section or contact the society office akcpa@ak.net and request a copy.

Private Company Financial Reporting Initiative Achieves Another Milestone

The past year’s focus on the lack of relevance and increased complexity of too much of the information in private company GAAP financial statements has culminated in the Blue Ribbon Panel on Private Company Financial Reporting presenting its recommendations to the Financial Accounting Foundation (the oversight body of the Financial Accounting Standards Board). FAF’s Board of Trustees is scheduled to discuss the report at a meeting on February 15. Passing of the report from the panel to FAF represents a significant step in the process to bring historic change to private company financial reporting, making it more meaningful for owners, lenders, investors and other users of private company financial statements.

The panel proposes two major shifts:

• A separate board with standard-setting authority under FAF’s oversight. The new board would consist of 5-7 members with private company constituent experience and work closely with the FASB, which would continue to set accounting standards for public companies and not-for-profit organizations and report into FAF.
• Changes and modifications to existing U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, where appropriate, for private companies to reflect their financial statement users’ unique needs. All such changes would reside in the one GAAP Codification.

The blue ribbon panel was formed in early 2010 by the AICPA, the FAF and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy to explore how to address problems with standard setting for private companies. The panel’s 18 members came from a top level cross-section of financial reporting constituencies, including lenders, investors, owners, preparers and auditors. AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon, CPA, also served on the panel. The panel’s mission was unlike other prior committees or groups created to study the issue over the past few decades because it looked at the standard-setting process from a policy level, rather than at specific changes to individual standards.

For many years, CPAs who work for private companies in the United States have been saying that the financial information needs of private businesses are different from those of large public entities. In recent years, the situation has worsened, as the paperwork associated with preparing even the simplest financial statement has become daunting, particularly for small private businesses without the resources of a larger company. Contributing to this problem is that too many standards do not pertain to private companies – they were developed in response to issues that occurred in the public company environment.

The situation has reached a tipping point.  Much of the complexity in accounting and reporting relates primarily to the 15,000 or so public companies, yet any time a new standard is issued, it also applies to many of the approximately 28.5 million private companies. The result is that too much of what’s included in private company financial statements is not useful to anyone who uses them. Users of private company financial statements need straightforward, understandable information that addresses what they need to know – no more, no less.

FAF is expected to issue a proposal for public comment in the spring. CPAs are a critically important stakeholder in transforming the panel’s recommendations into reality. To achieve success in changing private company financial reporting, CPAs should provide comment letters in support of the panel’s recommendations and urge small business owners, lenders/bankers, investors (such as private equity and hedge fund managers) and other users to respond to FAF’s proposal as well.

For more information and resources, visit the AICPA’s webpage, www.aicpa.org/privateGAAP.

CPA Crossings Best Practice Webinars

The Alaska Society of CPAs, in partnership with CPA Crossings, LLC, is offering special Accounting Technology Best Practice Webinars. These webinars are designed to offer topics that provide practical tips to improve productivity within your firm. Take advantage of these conveniently scheduled two hour live presentations that can save time and money by participating from the convenience of your office or home.

February 24

NEW 2011 Tax Update for Corporate Returns (11:00 am EST)
NEW 2011 Tax Update for Individual Returns (2:00 pm EST)

Stay focused…Save time…Save money…Avoid travel!
Take a Webinar
Visit us at http://cpe.cpacrossings.com/akcpa to access full course descriptions and schedule of CPA Crossings upcoming webinars and registration information.