EDs and Attorneys Meet in Tucson

State Board Report

April 2016

Tucson proved to be a comfortable location for NASBA’s 2016 conferences for State Board staff. Thirty-seven Accountancy Boards’ executive directors were in attendance at the 34th Annual Conference of Executive Directors and Board Staff, held March 15-17. Once again this year, the conference welcomed the Chief Executive Officers of the State CPA Societies, with 21 in attendance and a total participation of 104. Concurrently, the 21st NASBA Annual Conference for Board of Accountancy Legal Counsel included Board counsel from 25 jurisdictions, with a total of 42 attendees. Executive Directors Committee Chair James Corley (AR) and State Society Committee Chair Ralph Thomas (NJ) reported their committees had worked collaboratively to develop the program and looked forward to continuing to work together on other projects.

President Ken Bishop and Chair Donny Burkett (SC) reported on one of the projects that was suggested by the executive directors at their Annual Conference last year and is now moving ahead. "You asked and we listened," President Bishop told the conference. He reported the initial price for the new CPEtracking system being developed is $1.6 million. It is to be more intuitive and user friendly than previously developed systems and will be available at no cost to all State Accountancy Boards. "We have high hopes for this system," he said. Another major expenditure is the updating of the gateway system, which has been in operation for over ten years.

Reflecting back on his inaugural remarks, Chair Burkett commented: "I said we were going to give you tools for your toolkit, to help you do your job better. And that’s what we are doing."