An NYSSCPA Year in Review

New York is getting a snowy end to 2009 -- a year of new rules, recovery and reform. The last day of the year is a good time to look back at what the past 12 months have brought to the nation, to the individual ... and to the noble profession of accountancy.

The year 2009 kicked off with a major shift in the rules regulating the profession, while at the same time the nation welcomed its first black president. Collective agony over the Madoff affair was still fresh, and the price of Yankees tickets was a major topic of discussion. Effects of the financial crisis born in 2008 had begun to level off.

Here's a look at some of the other milestones we reached on the road to 2010:

January

• The accountancy reform law is approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. David A. Paterson.
• The nation gets a new president.
• The GAO criticizes the Treasury for its lack of oversight of the TARP program.
• The FASB formally defers FIN 48.
• Everyone's upset about the Madoff fraud and other Ponzi schemes.
• National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson speaks at a FAE conference.
• Former Senate Majority Leader Bruno finds himself in hot water.

February

• A monitoring board seeks to reduce political influence on the IASB.
• The IFRS roadmap comment period is extended.
• The SEC gets lots of heat for missing Madoff.
• The NYSSCPA explains the accounting reform law at a wine and cheese event.
• A panel seeks to answer questions about tax relief for Madoff victims.

March

• The IRS decides to take over its own debt collections.
• Major bailouts from the government decimate the stock market.
• The so-called "millionaire's tax" is announced as a revenue-raising measure for the state.
• Actor Ashton Kutcher, of all people, takes to Twitter to speak out against fair-value accounting.
• Madoff auditor David Friehling is formally charged.

April

• New York state misses its budget deadline.
• Tax day arrives on schedule.
• The PCAOB addresses fair value questions.

May

• The NYSSCPA honors excellence in financial reporting.
• One MTA "doomsday" is averted.
• We hung out at the Accounting and Business Expo.
• Obama seeks better regulation of derivatives.
• The constitutionality of the PCAOB is called into question before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• The NYSSCPA inducts a new president.
• An NYSSCPA past president testifies before a state senate committee on tax reform.

June

• We redesigned our Web site.
• The FASB approves its codification.
• Albany goes nuts after a Senate coup.
• Obama announces a regulatory reform proposal.
• Emergency regulations are approved for the state's new accounting reform law.
• Michael Jackson dies.

July

• Madoff auditor David Friehling pleads not guilty.
• McGladrey & Pullen decides to separate from embattled H&R Block.
• The new accounting reform law goes into effect.
• UBS and the U.S. government reach an agreement regarding tax havens.

August

•  Eli Mason, a past president of the NYSSCPA, dies at 88.
• Sonia Sotomayor becomes the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Supreme Court.
• Some people think the recession is over.
• The SEC appoints James Kroeker as its chief accountant.

September

• The IRS gets a taste of its own medicine.
• The NYSSCPA's outreach efforts regarding the accounting reform law are making news.
• The SEC promises post-Madoff reforms.
• We look back at the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy.
• Comedian Will Ferrell is spotted outside the NYSSCPA headquarters, shooting a movie where he plays an accountant.

October

• The SEC releases its strategic plan for comment.
• CNN Money tells us what we already know: being an accountant is awesome!
• The Dow goes back up to 10,000 for the first time in a year -- then falls back down.
• An NYSSCPA panel addresses the retirement crisis.
• "Largest hedge fund insider trading case in history" is discovered.
• Madoff victims sue Big Four firm KPMG.

November

• Madoff accountant David Friehling pleads guilty after a cooperation deal.
• Health care reform legislation passes the House.
• Unemployment spikes above 10 percent.
• The AICPA sues to shield CPAs from the "red flag rule."
• Voluntary disclosure brings forth nearly 15,000 tax evaders.
• New York state lawmakers approve increased oversight of public authorities.
• The IRS lends a hand to small businesses.

December

• The state's new tax preparer registration law no longer applies to out-of-state CPAs.
• The NYSSCPA's CPA.Blog is honored as a "Superstar Finance Blogger."
• We find out about a pirate stock market.
• The IRS makes news for auditing a poor, single mother.
• Former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno is convicted.
• We meet New York City's new comptroller.
• An NYSSCPA member attends an industry roundtable with President Obama and community bankers.
• Health care reform legislation passes the Senate.
• Again, CNN Money says an accounting career is tops.
• Thanks to the estate tax mess, people are waiting to die until 2010.