Firms on the move: AAFCPAs pledges Day of Service to local farm

CONNECTICUT

The Connecticut Society of CPAs installed its Board of Directors for the 2017-18 activity year: Bradley Kronstat as president, Susan Martinelli as president-elect, Dennis Cole as treasurer, Edwin Muenzner as secretary, Marie Benedetto as member-at-large, Mitchell Insero as member-at-large, Michael Jordan as member-at-large/advisory council chair.

ILLINOIS

RSM US, Chicago, announced a $250,000 gift from the RSM US Foundation to the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Of the total, $150,000 will be earmarked to support the school's new Business Innovation Hub by funding the primary student waiting area in the school's Chase Career Center and the remaining $100,000 will be earmarked to endow the RSM Student Scholarship. In other firm news, RSM released the recent RSM US LLP Middle Market Business Index, with the full report available here.

MASSACHUSETTS

AAFCPAs, Westborough, participated in the Massachusetts CPAs’ seventh annual Day of Service June 15, with two teams of AAFCPAs’ volunteering for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at the organization’s Nevins Farm location, and with Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester Chapter as an Operation Playhouse sponsor. At Nevins Farm, AAFCPAs volunteers mucked stalls and barn cages, and helped Nevins’ staff relocate items into the farm’s newly renovated loft space. For Operation Playhouse, AAFCPAs employees honored a local veteran’s family at the company’s Westborough office and donated $2,500 to Habitat for Humanity.

MICHIGAN

Plante Moran, Southfield, received the seventh annual ACG New York Champion's Award for CPA Firm of the Year from the Association for Corporate Growth New York and M&A Advisor. Winners were determined by an independent panel of judges evaluating factors such as the firm's completed transactions, unique attributes, industry impact, and the detail of their accomplishments.

NEW JERSEY

The New Jersey Society of CPAs, Roseland, named the 27 winners of its 2017 Diversity & Inclusion Impact awards. The full list, and information on the winners, is available here.

WithumSmith+Brown was awarded three of the Association of Accounting Marketing’s Marketing Achievement Awards, for: the Breaking Stereotypes video spotlighting its culture and expertise; the #StrengthStory social media campaign, an external extension of the firm’s internal Strength Awards program; and the We AAM to Serve award recognizing firms with strong community outreach initiatives.

NEW YORK

The CPA Journal, published by the New York State Society of CPAs, announced winners of its Max Block Distinguished Article Awards, chosen by the magazine’s editorial and editorial review board members. Winners are: Howard Levy, principal and director of technical services at Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern, Las Vegas, for Outstanding Article in the Area of In Focus/Feature for his article, “Unsolved Problems in Auditing: A Half-Century Retrospective and Update;” Sridhar Ramamoorti, an associate professor in the department of accounting at the School of Business Administration at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, and Barry Epstein, a principal with Epstein + Nach LLC, Chicago, for Outstanding Article in the Area of News & Views/Opinion for “When Reckless Executives Become Dangerous Fraudsters: Reward Structures and Auditing Procedures Need to Be Reformed to Deter ‘Dark Triad’ Personalities;” Allan Afterman, author of numerous treatises on financial reporting and SEC practice and a former adjunct professor in the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, for Outstanding Article in the Area of Departments/Columns for “FASB's Proposal to Change the Definition of Materiality: The Unexpected Uproar.”

The Bonadio Group, Rochester, was one of 12 CPA firms named on the list of the 2017 Best CPA Firms for Women by the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance and the American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants through the Accounting MOVE Project.

The American Institute of CPAs announced that 98 students graduated from 2017 Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop program, a three-day program, held this May in Houston, designed to strengthen the students' professional and networking skills, and help them prepare for the CPA Exam.

NORTH CAROLINA

Elliott Davis Decosimo, Charlotte, was designated a HITRUST CSF Assessor by HITRUST, approving the firm to provide services using the HITRUST CSF, a comprehensive security framework developed in collaboration with health care and information security professionals.

OHIO

The Ohio Society of CPAs has partnered with Deloitte & Touche, which committed a gift of $25,000 to The Ohio CPA Foundation, OSCPA’s philanthropic partner, to further its goals of introducing and supporting racially underrepresented students on accounting career paths. (Read the full story.)

HBK CPAs & Consultants, Youngstown, was named to the 2017 list of the Best Employers in Ohio for the eighth consecutive year by the Ohio Society for Human Resource Management’s State Council.

TENNESSEE

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, Nashville, announced the recipients of its Accounting Education Research Grants for 2017, including: the team of Kimberly Swanson Church from the University of Missouri - Kansas City and Pamela J. Schmidt from Washburn University for their work, “The Landscape of High School Accounting Education and the Impact on the Future of the Accounting Profession.” Their team will be awarded a grant amount of $7,165. Brandis Phillips of North Carolina A&T State University will receive a grant amount of $8,125 for his work on, “Stereotype Threat and Mindset Orientation: Psychological Barriers to the Accounting Profession.” The team of Reza Espahbodi of Washburn University and G. Thomas White of College of William and Mary will receive a grant amount of $9,710 for their research determining, “Is Success on the CPA Exam All About Opportunity?”