Career moves

Norwalk, Conn. -- The Financial Accounting Foundation, overseer to both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, appointed Girard Miller and Jan I. Sylvis to five-year terms on GASB. Their terms begin July 1. Miller and Sylvis will succeed outgoing GASB board members Cynthia Green and Edward Mazur, respectively. Miller previously served as president of Janus Funds and chief operating officer of asset manager Janus Capital Group. Sylvis currently is the chief of accounts for Tennessee's Department of Finance & Administration, where she serves as state controller.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark Everson will leave the agency to become president and chief executive of the American Red Cross next month.Everson, 52, has served as IRS commissioner since May 2003. During his time with the agency, he has publicly focused his attention on efforts to better serve taxpayers, continue the agency’s modernization of its systems and enhance its enforcement activities. In recent months, Everson has heard increased clamoring from Congress over how the agency and the Treasury Department should best work to address the nation’s growing tax gap -- estimated at $345 billion for the 2001 tax year.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that deputy chief auditor Laura J. Phillips will leave the board later this year.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has named Lawrence W. Smith, currently chairman of the standard-setter’s Emerging Issues Task Force, as a member of the board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that its six district offices will become regional offices and report directly to the commission's Washington headquarters as of April 2.

The Financial Accounting Foundation said that it will give the Securities and Exchange Commission the opportunity to propose and review candidates for open positions at either the foundation, or the board the foundation oversees, the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The Internal Revenue Service announced the appointment of David R. Williams as director of the agency’s Electronic Tax Administration and Refundable Credits division.

In a strategy designed to help modernize the business-reporting model, board members of the American Institute of CPAs’ recently restructured Center for Audit Quality will embark on a multi-city “listening tour."The aim of the tour is for members to engage investors, regulators, academics and business leaders and, subsequently, offer a series of recommendations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of the Chief Accountant has selected four professional accounting fellows to serve two-year terms beginning this summer.

Susan Sheridan-Austin, who began her distinguished career as one of the first 25 employees of Microsoft, and who later rose to the role of general manager at Sage Accpac, passed away in February after a two-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer.She was 51.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy announced the appointment of new chief operating and financial officers, as well as a new president of its Professional Credential Services Inc.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has hired Luc Lavoie to serve as executive director of its newly established Canadian office.

Independently-owned Los Angeles firm RBZ LLP has named three partners to share the firm’s managing partner position.

The Internal Revenue Service completed a round of staff cuts in recent weeks, letting go nearly 100 employees from the division that oversees gift- and estate-tax returns, according to published reports.

The Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Board has approved the nomination of James H. Quigley -- currently the head of Deloitte’s U.S. arm -- as the next global chief executive officer of the Big Four firm, though worldwide member firm partners must still vote on the appointment.Quigley, who has served as Deloitte's U.S. chief for the past four years, will succeed William G. Parrett, another former U.S. chief whose eight-year term ends on May 31.

The Government Accountability Office recently released a report on detailing some of the conclusions gleaned from a recent forum on engaging and retaining older workers.

In a return to the office’s roots, the Securities and Exchange Commission has named a director for its Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service has appointed a new head of its Office of Professional Responsibility, which was created in the wake of the Enron implosion.

The head of the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Fraud/Bank Secrecy Act will now play a key role in the agency’s efforts to halt tax fraud, after being named as the new head of the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Shareholders and board members should brace themselves for record turnover among chief financial officers this year, according to a survey from executive services firm Tatum LLC.Based on a poll of more than 150 of Tatum’s Executive Practice partners (who now provide interim or permanent leadership to client organizations), the survey results suggest that Sarbanes-Oxley-related headaches unrealistic demands from board members and chief executives will drive more than 2,300 chief financial officers from their positions in 2007.

The International Federation of Accountants is seeking nominations for members of its boards and committees in 2008.