Dear Friends,

Our several years of efforts on the Mobility front finally led to a much anticipated public hearing on that pending legislation last week on June 1st. The GWSCPA was well represented, with 15 members from diverse accounting backgrounds represented and providing testimony in favor of Mobility.

The Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs was able to hear how Mobility would benefit not only CPAs and the rest of the business community but better protect consumers as well. Additionally, they heard loud and clear how not passing this bill could really hurt DC CPAs.

I had a chance to represent the rest of our members in a question and answer panel between the GWSCPA and the DC Board of Accountancy, which unfortunately continues to oppose the bill.

Finally we had tremendous turnout from interested members and the sight of a room full of CPAs in support of the bill was not lost on the Councilpersons present. We are feeling very good about successful passage of the bill following the hearing, but it's not quite over yet. Our hope is that the bill will move to mark up in the next week and then we will be working on moving it through the full Council.

You can view all or part of the hearing here (Scroll down to PUBLIC HEARING, COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICES & CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Yvette Alexander, Chairperson) and if you want to discuss with me or offer your help with the final push, please let me know.

Thanks again to all who have been helping with this effort and stay tuned for further updates.

Kari Bedell

Executive Director 

202-464-6001

kbedell@gwscpa.org  

Upcoming events  

Greater Washington Society of CPAs 88th AnnualMeeting

June 14, 2011 

Please join us for the 88th Annual GWSCPA Membership Meeting. Come and network with your fellow CPAs at this annual event featuring an overview of recent and planned Society activity and featuring keynote speaker Jim Dinegar from the Greater Washington Board of Trade. To purchase a table of 10 for your firm, please contact Ashley directly at (202) 464-6001 or aworthington@gwscpa.org. 

Register 

GWSCPA's Night at the Movies

6/16/2011 

The Greater Washington Society of CPAs is proud to present our first "Night at the Movies." Join us at GWSCPA headquarters as we do a screening of "The Accountant," Winner of the 2002 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. Snacks will be provided.

Register  

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Commitee Meetings 

Government Auditing & Accounting Committee Meeting  

GWSCPA 23rd Annual Not For Profit Symposium Dates Announced

Accounting Profession Predicted to Continue Growth

The fastest growth will be in areas that require years of specialized training or higher education. Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce calls that the shift to a college economy.(Boston.com)

The Accounting Profession Needs You!
As a minority accounting student or young professional, you represent the broadening cultural diversity of the CPA profession's future. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) wants your insights. CPA Horizons 2025 is a profession-wide initiative led by the AICPA to gather the insights of current and future CPAs across the country in an effort to examine global trends and predict and help shape the accounting profession's future. Your participation in this project is vital to its success. The AICPA wants to know about your unique experiences and perspectives so that together we can create a vision of the profession that represents the diversity of the CPA community. Share your insights by completing this interactive survey on the CPA Horizons 2025 website and visit the website to find out how you can participate in online and live discussion forums.   

IRS Return Preparer Office Gets Social

The IRS Return Preparer Office, building on its partnership with the tax professional community, has opened another communications avenue that it hopes becomes a two-way street. Yes, we're talking Facebook. The Return Preparer Office is entering a strange world of "friends" and "likes" and other words we're not used to hearing. Join us at

Facebook. 

Calling CPAs to Assist Veteran Entrepreneurs

The AICPA has joined forces with SCORE in the Veteran Fast Launch Initiative, working to connect veterans with CPAs across the country who are willing to provide up to five hours of free financial advice on starting a business. CPAs who are interested in volunteering for this program should e-mail the AICPA at PCPS@aicpa.org.

George Washington University seeks new professors

The George Washington University's Department of Accountancy is accepting applications for positions as part time instructors.  Specific teaching needs vary from semester to semester.  We offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in accountancy, and therefore, offer a range of daytime and nighttime courses.  Please indicate the courses and times of day you might be interested in teaching.  A listing of courses taught in the Masters program can be found at http://business.gwu.edu/maccy/academic/, and courses taught in the undergraduate program can be found at http://business.gwu.edu/ugrad/academics/fouryear/baccy.cfm.

If interested, please send your resume to Dr. Robin Tarpley (rtarpley@gwu.edu).

U.S. patent No. 7,698,194 isn't an ingenious new machine or a break-through medical treatment. It is a method of analyzing taxes related to college-savings plans.

It also is one of 144 patented tax strategies and 162 pending applications, as of late May, that tax preparers say have burdened their job and made it harder for citizens to pay their taxes.

Consumer and tax groups have pushed since 2007 to get such patents banned. When it returns from recess this week, the U.S. House is expected to vote on an overhaul of the patent system that would effectively prohibit patenting tax strategies. (Wall Street Journal)

IRS Requesting Public Comments 

Notice 2011-48 was issued by the IRS and they are requesting public comments on the content and administration of the upcoming registered tax return preparer competency exam.  A copy is attached.  Comments are requested by July 7.   Information regarding where to direct comments, questions, and/or inquiries are included in the Notice.

IRS Finalizes Circular 230 Regulations

The IRS issued final regulations Tuesday (TD 9527) implementing components of the IRS' initiative to register and regulate all paid tax return preparers. The regulations, which finalize proposed regulations issued in August 2010 (REG-138637-07), revise regulations under Title 31, part 10, commonly known as Circular 230, which govern the practice of taxpayer representatives before the IRS. (Journal of Accountancy)  

Audit: IRS Erroneously Gave Out $151 Million In Auto Tax Breaks

The Internal Revenue Service stumbled in handling a tax incentive designed to promote automobile sales, handing out more than $151 million in erroneous deductions, as well as 473 credits given to people who were imprisoned, dead or underage, a Treasury Department report said Wednesday. (Nasdaq)

Find daily links to news like this on the *NEW* Legislative/Regulatory News section of the GWSCPA website.  Sinly login to access this members only professional resource.

Member News 

The GWSCPA would like to welcome the following new members who have joined in the past month:

Shimla Anderson, TRX Systems, Inc.

David Batlan, Bernstein Management Corporation

Sheila Bedford, American University

Joan Beitel, Intercom Federal Systems

Stuart Elkin, McGladrey & Pullen, LLP

Kevin Friel, Aptify 

Rose Gazarek, Oceus Networks Inc.

Paul Gracy, iGov

Michael Huffman, Telcom Insurance Group

Corinne Laine, Troy Vision Center

Wendy Margolis, BOMA 

Alexander Marshall, Student

Joseph Melookaran, CMA Group LLC

Victoria Moore, MicroPact, Inc. 

Liem Nguyen, Siemens Government Services

Hunter Rice, Hunter Rice P.C.

Kathleen Sobieralski, University of Maryland University College  

Jane Usavage Johnson, Gryphon Technologies, LC