State Board ReportOctober 2016When I started my term as your Chair, I told you that I envisioned us as having a ladder of success which needs to rest on a solid foundation and, a year later, I hope you agree that we have added to the foundation and climbed several rungs. My focus as Chair of NASBA was in three areas that I believed would help us all become more successful Board members. They were to: build trust; be forward thinking; and enhance use of all tools available for success. Build Trust This past year, we have also taken steps to enhance relations with State CPA Societies, who are an integral part of the Boards’ stakeholder group. NASBA’s State Society Relations Committee continued to strengthen relationships, as evidenced by both State CPA Society executives and Board of Accountancy executive directors holding a joint conference, that will take place again for the third time this year. With the assistance of NASBA’s Communications team a number of State CPA Societies and Boards of Accountancy work collaboratively to communicate to common stakeholders, i.e., Examination candidates, licensees and the public. NASBA continued to advocate for the Boards of Accountancy with other crucial stakeholders, such as: federal regulators, accounting educators, the AICPA and national and international accounting bodies. We have been positive, transparent and trusting on the Boards’ behalf. We were willing to compromise, but we never hesitated to disagree when it was in the public’s best interest. This year we proactively advocated against the use of potentially misleading credentials. As I said to you during my inaugural address, one major step in protecting the public is to ward off confusing titles. The U.S. CPA continues to be the first and foremost credential for quality, credibility and ethics. Be Forward Thinking Use Tools for Success In March, we signed one of the largest contracts in NASBA’s history to build an intuitive, safe and reliable CPE audit tool for all interested Boards of Accountancy, at no cost to the Boards. We also completed a major renovation to “reboot” our Nashville office, focusing on light, transparency, collaboration and opportunity, and to quote Ken Bishop, “It will allow us to ramp up our capabilities to provide greater service to the Boards of Accountancy.” A major concern voiced by our Boards was the threat of anti-trust financial liability due to the North Carolina Dental Board case. We have endeavored to provide the Boards with tools so they could successfully deal with this important issue: we presented speakers at our Regional Meetings; produced a webinar on the implications of this case; added a webpage on nasba.org; provided constant communications with the states who had legislation and litigation; and joined a coalition with other professional licensing boards to spearhead a federal effort to eliminate the threat. I hope that during my tenure as Chair, NASBA gave the Boards the tools they needed to be successful. Because if NASBA is to “enhance the effectiveness and advance the common interests of the Boards of Accountancy,” we cannot be successful unless the Boards are successful. Thank you for all of your great collaborative efforts this past year to keep climbing that ladder. – Donald H. Burkett, CPA, Chair |
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