Pub. 1 2019 Issue 2

11 nebraska society of cpas W W W . N E S C P A . O R G Over the years, I have reported to you that your State Board and the Nebraska Society of CPAs have worked together on various initiatives including CPA mobility, experience and peer review requirements, and others that impact the CPA profession in Nebraska. Your State Board has strived to keep this relationship strong as they have learned while attending National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) meetings how things can go very wrong when the Board and the Society do not get along. As a public administrator and regulator, I can also assure you your Board has not been “captured” by any organization and remains a strong independent agency within state government with the main goal to protect the public while ensuring the CPA profession remains relevant and well regulated in Nebraska. The offer by Nebraska Society leadership to allow the State Board to place an article in the new Nebraska CPA journal is another example of the ability of your State Board and Nebraska Society to work together to assist in providing you another avenue to keep abreast on State Board requirements. We very much appreciate the offer by Society President Joni Sundquist to submit an article in upcoming magazines. I envision articles to update you on requirements to keep your CPA status with the Board current and regular updates and initiatives of the State Board. Additionally, guest articles by State Board members and staff, NASBA representatives, and others will keep you informed of current events involving your chosen profession. Over the course of the last year, your State Board and the Society have worked together in the development of LB49. As reported, LB49 is an initiative to allow for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) by Nebraska CPA firms. This organization structure was initially exposed to the State Board in a request led by Joan Cannon, an ESOP expert and attorney withMcGrath North. ESOPs would allow for non-CPA ownership already allowed in Nebraska and by the vast majority of other State Boards, but questions arose on how this type of entity fits into current requirements. Jim Titus, former chairman of the State Board and an attorney with Morris & Titus, was called on by the State Board to review the request and determined that the structure of ESOPs did not fit current requirements. It would have been easy for your State Board to take the bureaucratic route and simply deny the request and move on! However, your Board’s Licensing Committee, led by current State Board Chairman Lori Druse, CPA, researched what other State Boards are doing, articles in the Journal of Accountancy, and the use of ESOPs as a succession planning tool for CPA firms. Based on this research, it was apparent no overriding harm of allowing ESOPs was noted, so the State Board approved Mr. Titus to work with Ms. Cannon in the development of changes to the Public Accountancy Act (PAA) to allow for ESOPs in Nebraska. Ms. Sundquist joined the discussions and later Society leadership offered to bring the initiative to the Legislature to amend the PAA. She led the effort before the Legislature and to have Appropriations Committee Chairman John Stinner, a retired inactive CPA and state senator fromGering, Neb., carry LB49. After a public hearing before the Banking, Commerce & Insurance Committee, LB49 was placed on Select File, then passed on Final Reading 47-0-2. Governor Ricketts signed the bill on March 6, 2019. This a great example of how your State Board and Society can work together on initiatives and to show you it is not just talk! t ENSURING RELEVANCY, WORKING TOGETHER & LB49 BY DAN SWEETWOOD , EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY S TAT E B O A R D R E P O R T Never hesitate to contact the State Board office with any questions and/or concerns at (402) 471-3595 or dan.sweetwood@nebraska.gov. BY DAN SWEETWOOD , EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY