Activity review

              Inside this issue...

ABS Guidelines............................... 2

Board Meetings............................... 4

Certificates Issued .......................... 4

Compilation Standards ................. 6

Exam Statistics ................................ 5

Intangibles Tax Deadline .............. 5

Licensing Activity .......................... 4

LLPs Must File Annual Reports ... 7

Notice of Address Change ............ 8

Proctors Needed for Exam............ 4

Proposed CPE Standards .............. 7

Activity Review

North Carolina State

Board of Certified Public

Accountant Examiners

Suite 104, 1101 Oberlin Road, Post Office Box 12827, Raleigh, NC 27605- 2827 ( 919) 733- 4222 No. 3 2000

www. state. nc. us/ cpabd

On February 14, 2000, the North Caro-lina

State Board of CPA Examiners

released for comment its proposed

Alternative Business Structure Guide-lines.

The guidelines— which define, in-terpret,

or explain currently applicable

statutes and rules for licensees who

wish to practice through a registered

CPA firm and also participate in an

alternative business structure ( ABS)—

were developed in response to the

growing interest in ABS entities that

was sparked by changes in North

Carolina’s accountancy rules, as well

as changes in other states’ accoun-tancy

regulations.

The guidelines do not constitute

approval or disapproval of any spe-cific

ABS.

The Board is requesting that all

CPAs, especially those who wish to

participate— through employment by,

ownership in, or other affiliation

with— an ABS, submit their written

comments on the proposed guidelines

to the Board no later than June 1, 2000,

for discussion by the Board at its June

19, 2000, meeting. The Board is also

seeking comments from the business

community and the general public on

the guidelines.

Requests to speak at the June

meeting regarding the guidelines

must be received by the Board no later

than June 1, 2000. Comments or re-quests

to speak that are received after

the deadline will not be accepted.

Alternative Business Structure Guidelines

Released for Comment

( Please see page 2 for text of the

proposed ABS guidelines.)

Pursuant to 21 NCAC 8J .0108, all CPA

firms must register with the Board

within 30 days after opening a North

Carolina office or beginning a new firm

unless the CPA firm is a professional

corporation, professional limited liabil-ity

company, or registered limited li-ability

partnership in which case those

CPA firms must register prior to for-mation

pursuant to 21 NCAC 8K .0104

and .0301.

In addition to the initial registra-tion,

all CPA firms must register annu-ally

by January 31 with the Board using

forms provided by the Board.

However, 21 NCAC 8J .0107 re-quires

that all certificate holders and

CPA firms notify the Board in writing

within 30 days of any change in ad-dress

or business location.

For CPA firms, this means that any

change in the CPA firm information,

Notifying the Board of Changes in CPA Firm Information

such as a change of address ( including

telephone number), addition or dele-tion

of an office location, or any amend-ment

to the CPA firm name must be

reported to the Board.

An individual practitioner who

wishes to amend his or her CPA firm’s

name, must submit a letter to the Board

which states the changes to be made in

the name and also submit a sample of

the CPA firm’s new letterhead. There is

no fee due for these changes.

Professional corporations or pro-fessional

limited liability companies

seeking to change the CPA firm’s name

are required to submit to the Board two

( 2) copies of the Articles of Amend-ment;

a sample of the CPA firm’s new

letterhead; a letter to the Board stating

the names, CPA certificate numbers,

Information

continued on page 5

2

Pursuant to North Carolina General

Statute ( NCGS) 93 and 21 North Caro-lina

Administrative Code ( NCAC) 8,

the North Carolina State Board of CPA

Examiners ( the Board) has the respon-sibility

to enforce NC statutes and rules

regarding Certified Public Accoun-tants

( CPAs).

These guidelines are intended to

serve as guidance for licensed CPAs

who practice through a registered CPA

firm and also have employment by,

ownership in, or other affiliation with,

an alternative business structure ( ABS)

and for licensed CPAs who have em-ployment

by, ownership in, or other

affiliation with, an ABS. These guide-lines

do not constitute approval or dis-approval

of any specific ABS. These

guidelines describe standards relat-ing

to an ABS that should be met by a

licensed CPA who is involved with

an ABS. Every licensed CPA involved

in an ABS, who directly or indirectly

participates in offering to perform or

performing services to the public,

must comply with the same require-ments

that apply to a licensed CPA

offering to perform or performing

services to the public in a CPA firm.

These guidelines do not constitute rule

making and are not intended to create

rights enforceable at law or in equity.

As provided by NCGS 150B- 2( 8a) c,

the Board sets forth these guidelines as

a “ non- binding interpretative state-ment”

in order to “ define, interpret, or

explain the meaning” of current appli-cable

statutes and rules. To the extent

these guidelines might describe some

restrictions upon participants in an

ABS that are not expressly articulated

in current statutes or rules, these re-strictions

are to be regarded by licens-ees

as specific guidelines that the Board

considers necessary to ensure compli-ance

with 8N .0402’ s pre- eminent re-quirement

for independence “ in fact

and appearance” in a business structure

that seems otherwise potentially am-biguous.

Many regulatory and professional

issues have yet to be identified regard-ing

CPA firms and ABSs. The Board

will continue to monitor the operation

of CPA firms and the conduct of CPAs

who have employment by, ownership

in, or other affiliation with, an ABS

and may adjust these guidelines, pro-pose

legislation, and adopt or amend

rules as needed.

All CPAs licensed by the Board

have the responsibility to comply with

NCGS 93 and 21 NCAC 8.

Administrative

A CPA firm and the related ABS

shall ensure that the client and the

public know that the two entities are

separate and distinct in nature and

operation so that neither the client nor

the public are confused by the rela-tionship

between the CPA firm and

the ABS. The CPA firm and the related

ABS must have the following:

• Separate and distinct names

and logos;

• Separate mailing addresses,

telephone numbers ( sepa-rately

answered), and web

sites;

• Separate and distinct signage

on and in the building;

• Separate and distinct

stationery, envelopes, mail-ing

labels, business cards,

brochures, marketing mate-rials,

and advertising;

• Separate books, accounts,

billings and collections;

• Separate engagement letters

for clients of the CPA firm

and clients of the ABS; and

• Separate proposals to pro-spective

joint clients.

A CPA firm in a relationship with

an ABS shall have the resources in-cluding

net worth, realizable assets,

and/ or liability insurance, necessary

to provide assurance of financial au-tonomy

and financial accountability

for its professional services. All per-sonnel

contracted from an ABS to as-sist

the related CPA firm in perform-ing

its services shall be compensated

at fair market value and paid directly

by the related CPA firm.

The engagement letter for any en-gagement

involving the CPA firm or

the related ABS shall include the CPA

in charge of the engagement as an indi-vidual

party in the engagement letter.

Each engagement letter with a joint

client must disclose the relationship

between the CPA firm and the ABS

and the limitations on the services pro-vided

by each.

All client and business records of

the CPA firm are confidential and shall

be kept separate from the client and

business records of the related ABS.

Access to those records is limited to the

CPA firm unless the client has con-sented

to access to his or her records by

the ABS.

A CPA firm and the related ABS

shall each have written quality con-trols

relating to ethical standards, com-petency,

and services to ensure that the

same standard of services are provided

by the CPA firm and the related ABS.

There should also be an internal man-datory

disciplinary policy for an

individual’s failure to follow the writ-ten

quality controls.

The ABS and other sources of con-tracted

personnel must require and

make available relevant continuing

education for the personnel who are

contracted to the CPA firm.

A CPA employed by the related

ABS may use the CPA title on his or her

stationery and business cards, and he

or she may sign documents, except

attest service documents, using the

CPA title.

Ethical

A CPA firm shall not provide any

attest services to the related ABS or to

any affiliate of the related ABS. An

ABS may not offer to perform or per-form

any attest services including

audits, reviews of financial state-ments,

compilations of financial state-ments,

examinations of prospective

financial information, or agreed- upon

procedures engagements.

A CPA firm, including its owners,

employees, and contractors, shall not

allow the related ABS to have any di-

Exposure Draft: Alternative Business Structure Guidelines

3

rect or indirect control or influence

over the governance, structure, or op-erations

of the CPA firm or over the

performance of any services by the

CPA firm.

Each agreement between an ABS

or its affiliate( s) and the related CPA

firm or any owner, manager, employee

or contractor of the related CPA firm,

must include an express provision

which stipulates that there must be

compliance with NCGS 93, NCGS 55B,

NCGS 57C and 21 NCAC 8 ( statutes

and rules) as applicable, and in the

event of any conflict with the statutes

and rules by any provision of the agree-ment

or the application of any provi-sion

of the agreement, the statutes and

rules shall prevail.

As required by rule, a CPA firm

shall participate in a peer review pro-gram

and the related ABS shall cooper-ate

with the CPA firm by providing

records and personnel during the peer

review of the CPA firm.

The CPA firm, and its CPA own-ers,

in its relationship with the related

ABS and the CPA employee of the

related ABS, in his or her relationship

with the clients of the ABS, shall com-ply

with NCGS 93, NCGS 55B, NCGS

57C, and 21 NCAC 8, as applicable, but

not limited to the following which spe-cifically

affect CPAs, the CPA firm,

and the relationship with the ABS:

• 8H .0105 Use of CPA Title;

• 8J .0108 CPA Firm

Registration;

• 8N .0103 Responsibility for

Compliance;

• 8N .0201 Integrity;

• 8N .0202 Deceptive Conduct

Prohibited;

• 8N .0203 Discreditable

Conduct Prohibited;

• 8N .0205 Confidentiality;

• 8N .0206 Cooperation with

Board Inquiry;

• 8N .0207 Violation of Tax

Laws;

• 8N .0208 Reporting

Convictions, Judgments

• 8N .0209 Accounting

Principles;

• 8N .0210 Forecasts;

• 8N .0211 Responsibilities in

Tax Practice;

• 8N .0212 Competence;

• 8N .0213 Other Rules;

• 8N .0301 Professional

Judgment;

• 8N .0302 Forms of Practice;

• 8N .0303 Objectivity and

Conflicts of Interest;

• 8N .0304 Management

Consulting Services Stds.;

• 8N .0305 Retention of Client

Records;

• 8N .0306 Advertising;

• 8N .0307 CPA Firm Names;

• 8N .0402 Independence;

• 8N .0403 Auditing Standards;

• 8N .0404 Accounting and

Review Services Stds.;

• 8N .0405 Governmental

Accounting Standards;

• 8N .0406 Attestation

Standards; and

• 8N .0407 Competitive Bidding.

A CPA firm, the related ABS, and

all owners, employees and contractors

of each, shall comply with all State and

federal laws and regulations includ-ing,

but not limited to:

• 26 USC 7216, Disclosure of

Information;

• 26 CFR 1.6695- 1, Signing Tax

Returns; and

• Treasury Circular 230,

Admission to Practice before

the IRS.

A CPA firm, the related ABS, and

all employees and contractors of each,

shall comply with the standards of the

Board, as well as all professional stan-dards

promulgated by the American

Institute of CPAs ( AICPA), the Na-tional

Association of Securities Deal-ers

( NASD), and any other applicable

professional governing bodies.

CPAs and their employees and/ or

contractors providing attest services

shall sign separate independence con-firmations

with respect to their inde-pendence

in relation to all attest clients

of the CPA firm and the related ABS.

Independence standards pertaining to

clients of a CPA firm, its owners, its

employees, and its CPA contractors,

shall not be circumvented by the pro-vision

of services through the related

ABS or an affiliate of the related ABS.

Accordingly, the CPA firm must treat

the related ABS and its affiliates as

affiliated parties for purposes of ap-plying

independence rules.

Access to, or transfer of, any CPA

client records from the CPA firm to the

ABS and from the ABS to the CPA firm

shall occur only pursuant to the volun-tary,

advance consent of the client.

If any owner of a CPA firm termi-nates

his or her relationship with the

CPA firm or if any CPA employee of

the related ABS terminates his or her

employment with the ABS, the client

records of the CPA firm and the client

records of the CPA leaving the related

ABS shall remain with the CPA firm or

CPA employee, respectively, until the

client decides who shall retain the

records.

The ABS and its personnel who

provide services to the CPA firm must

agree in writing to keep all informa-tion,

with respect to clients of the CPA

firm, confidential except as may be

permitted by the client’s consent.

Legal

The CPA firm and the related ABS

shall be separate and distinct legal en-tities.

Office space, equipment, adminis-trative

personnel, or other services pro-vided

by the ABS to the related CPA

firm shall be through a legally binding,

non- exclusive contract at fair market

value. A CPA firm must have the con-tractual

right to contract, to the extent

it deems appropriate, for office space,

equipment, administrative personnel,

or other services, from a source other

than the related ABS without direct or

indirect financial costs or penalties

under any contract between the CPA

firm and the ABS or its affiliate( s).

Exposure Draft

continued on page 5

4

Certificates Issued

Jonathan David Adinolfi

Terry Amose

Emily Elizabeth Arrington

Eugene Albert AuBuchon, II

Monica Reid Bailey

Mary Franklin Baldwin

Brandon Wright Beaver

Debra Benson

Rebecca Jean Box

Hope Elizabeth Brackett

Barbara Ranell Bridges

Amy Jarman Brinkley

Ryan Scott Brosius

Leslie Crane Covington

Shirley Davis Crowley

Drew Steven Deaton

Guy Richard DeCarlucci

John Michael Del Greco

Shu- Guo Diao

Carl Willard Duyck

Heather Ann Edson

Julie C. Ferguson

Janet Leigh Franco

Joel Martin French

The following certificate applications were approved by the Board at its

February 21, 2000, meeting:

Gary M. Greer

Amy Murphy Hannen

Michael Brant Hollar

L. Bradley Hurrell

Seby Russell Jones

David L. Keel

Susan Mikels Kress

Katy S. LaBarbera

Brandee Anne Lighthall

Alan Thompson Lindley

Melissa Ann Looney

Christopher Luke Luper

Brandon Heath Mercer

Gregory Scott Modlin

Dharmpriya Ramanlal Patel

Marcia Jean Schornak

Michelle B. Smiles

Bentley F. Smith

Darin Shad Spencer

April Clark Taylor

Tara Lookabill Trexler

Stephanie Leigh Ward

Cynthia Chesson Young

Licensing Activity

February 2000

Reinstatements

Andrew John Addison # 21167

N. Ruth Rushing # 22833

James Ronald Walsh, Jr. # 19095

All Board meetings are open to the

public. However, under State law,

some portions of the meetings are

closed to the public. If you wish to

address the Board regarding a

specific issue, please contact

Robert N. Brooks, the Board’s

Executive Director, at ( 919) 733-

1425 at least two weeks prior to

the Board meeting date.

April 24

May 22

June 19

July 17

August 21

September 11

October 9

November 20

December 18

Board Meetings

Proctors Needed for Uniform CPA Examination

Remember sitting for the Uniform

CPA Examination and thinking how

lucky those proctors were? After all,

they weren’t sitting in those hard

chairs, forced to be quiet for hours on

end, and struggling to answer all

those really hard questions. Well, here’s

your chance to be one of those lucky

proctors. If you have been licensed in

North Carolina for at least one year

and live in the Raleigh or Winston-

Salem areas, the Board needs your

assistance with the administration of

the semiannual exam.

Working under the supervision of

Chief Proctors John Beegle and David

McLemore, proctors ensure that the

examination is administered fairly,

efficiently, and securely by monitoring

and patrolling the exam site to keep the

site quiet and free of distractions and

to guard against candidate misconduct.

Proctors also assist the Board staff

with site set- up; identification, ad-mittance

and seating of candidates;

distribution of materials; and collec-tion

of test materials for shipment to

the American Institute of Certified

Public Accountants ( AICPA) grading

service.

“ Proctors are the critical link be-tween

the Board and the examinees,”

says Judith Macomber, Examinations

Manager for the Board. “ We try to

‘ humanize’ the exam process by using

CPAs as proctors because we feel

that someone who has actually been

through the exam process can better

relate to what the candidates are

going through,” continues Macomber.

It is important that proctors are

not involved in any activities which

may give the appearance of impropri-ety

or indicate a conflict of interest. For

example, you cannot proctor someone

in your household or immediate

family, nor may you proctor a friend

or coworker.

Proctors are remunerated for

working approximately 23 to 24 hours

which includes a brief orientation ses-sion

Tuesday afternoon as well as all

day Wednesday and Thursday. Break-fast

and lunch, as well as refreshments,

are furnished Wednesday and Thurs-day.

Proctors are asked to dress profes-sionally

and wear comfortable, soft-soled

shoes such as tennis shoes dur-ing

the exam.

If you would like more information

on becoming a proctor, please contact

Judith Macomber or Phyllis Elliott

in the Board’s Examinations section at

( 919) 733- 4224.

5

The CPAs and/ or the CPA firm shall

bear all legal and financial responsi-bilities

imposed by the Board for viola-tions

of any statutes, rules, or profes-sional

standards and the ABS may not

indemnify the CPA firm for any such

responsibilities.

A CPA firm shall have the contrac-tual

right to hire, or contract for, its

own personnel who are not associated

in any way with the related ABS, to

provide its services and to recruit and

hire as its own personnel, individuals

who have been, or are employed by the

ABS, without any direct or indirect

financial costs or penalties under any

contract between the CPA firm and the

ABS or its affiliate( s).

The CPA firm shall have the con-tractual

right to hire, contract for, or

terminate, any particular employee( s)

from the related ABS or from any other

source. The CPA firm shall have the

exclusive authority to supervise any

contracted or hired personnel.

A CPA firm shall have the sole

discretion to decide which clients it

will accept and which engagements it

will perform and how accepted en-gagements

will be handled.

Written comments on the Exposure

Draft must be received by the Board no

later than June 1, 2000. Requests to speak

on the guidelines at the June 19, 2000,

Board meeting must also be received by

June 1, 2000. Comments or requests to

speak received after the deadline will not be

accepted. Please submit your written com-ments

to the Board via the following:

US Postal Service:

Exposure Draft Comments

State Board of CPA Examiners

PO Box 12827

Raleigh, NC 27605

Fax:

( 919) 733- 4209

Exposure Draft Comments

Attn.: Robert N. Brooks

E- Mail:

communications@ mindspring. com

Exposure Draft from page 3

May 99 Nov 99

Applications

Initial Candidates 676 629

Re- exam Candidates 1092 1295

Other States’ Candidates 38 44

Total 1806 1968

Successful Candidates

Initial Candidates 108 90

Re- exam Candidates 203 256

Total Successful Candidates 311 346

CPA Exam Statistics

and percent of ownership/ number of

shares owned by each owner prior to

and after the name change; and the

appropriate fee payable to the Secre-tary

of State. The Board will forward

this information and the fee to the Sec-retary

of State.

Partnerships or limited liability

partnerships that want to amend the

CPA firm’s name must submit to the

Board a letter which states the amend-ment

to the name and includes the

names and certificate numbers of the

partners and their percent of owner-ship

before and after the name change.

In addition, these CPA firms must sub-mit

a sample of the CPA firm’s new

letterhead to the Board. There is no fee

due and if necessary, the Board will

forward the information to the Secre-tary

of State.

If you have questions regarding

changes in CPA firm information,

please contact Marie Moss in the

Board’s Licensing Section by telephone

at ( 919) 733- 1423, or by e- mail at

cpe_ firm_ sqr@ mindspring. com.

Additional information regardin g

CPA firms is available on the Board’s

web site ( www. state. nc. us/ cpabd).

Information regarding partner-ships,

limited liability partnerships,

corporations, and profesional limited

liability companies is available from

the Secretary of State’s web site

( www. secstate. state. nc. us).

Information from page 1 Deadline Nears to

Claim Intangibles Tax

Refunds

More than 327,000 individuals, com-panies,

and trust representatives re-cently

received Claim Confirmation

Forms notifying them that they may

be eligible to claim a share of the

$ 440 million court- approved settle-ment

in a Class Action Settlement

known as Smith/ Shaver et al. v. North

Carolina.

The money will be used to re-fund

stockholders who were im-properly

taxed, between 1990 and

1994, on stocks of businesses oper-ating

outside the State. Stockhold-ers

who protested the tax were sent

refunds in 1997 and 1998. This year,

refunds will be sent to taxpayers

who failed to protest the tax for any

of the tax years 1990, 1991, 1992,

1993, or 1994 and who make a timely

claim.

To claim refunds, eligible tax-payers

must return their signed

Claim Confirmation Forms no later

than April 30, 2000. If potential

claimants have not yet received a

claim form, they should call the

administration’s toll free hot- line

( 1- 877- 939- 6648). Claims cannot be

accepted after April 30, 2000.

More information is available

from the following web site:

www. smithshaver. wcsr. com.

6

AICPA Issues Exposure Drafts on Standards for

Accounting and Review Services

In December, the American Institute of

CPAs Accounting and Review Services

Committee ( AICPA ARSC) issued two

exposure drafts on Statements on Stan-dards

for Accounting and Review Ser-vices

( SSARS).

The first exposure draft will amend

SSARS No. 1, relating to compilation

engagements, and will include con-forming

changes to other applicable

SSARS and interpretations. The expo-sure

draft addresses the communica-tion

and performance requirements of

unaudited financial statements of a

nonpublic entity submitted to a client

that are not expected to be used by a

third party.

The exposure draft would be effec-tive

for financial statements submitted

on or after September 1, 2000, and early

application is encouraged.

This exposure draft defines “ third

party” as all parties except for mem-bers

of management that are knowl-edgeable

about the nature of the proce-dures

applied and the basis of account-ing

or assumptions used in preparing

the financial statements. Management

or absentee owners could be consid-ered

third parties if they are not knowl-edgeable

about the financial state-ments.

“ Submission” is also redefined as

presenting to a client or third parties

financial statements that the CPA has

generated either manually or through

the use of computer software.

The exposure draft permits a CPA

to submit financial statements without

a report when such financial statements

are not expected to be used by third

parties.

However, the CPA must either

obtain an engagement letter signed by

management or issue a letter to man-agement

documenting an understand-ing

with the entity regarding the ser-vices

to be performed and the limita-tion

on the use of the financial state-ments.

The documentation of the under-standing

should include the following:

• Nature and limitations of the

services to be performed;

• Management’s responsibility

for the entity’s financial statements;

• Acknowledgment that no

opinion or any other form of assurance

on the financial statements is being

provided;

• Acknowledgment of manage-ment’s

representation and agreement

that the financial statements are not to

be used by third parties; and

• Acknowledgment that the fi-nancial

statements cannot be relied

upon to disclose errors, fraud, or ille-gal

acts.

In addition, the documentation of

the understanding should address the

following, if applicable:

• The omission of substantially

all disclosures and the statement of

comprehensive income or the state-ment

of cash flows, if applicable, re-quired

by GAAP;

• The possibility that material

departures from GAAP, or an other

comprehensive basis of accounting

( OCBOA), may exist and the effects of

those departures, if any, on the finan-cial

statements may not be disclosed;

and

• Lack of independence.

The exposure draft includes ex-amples

of these communications.

The CPA should also include a

reference on each page of the financial

statement, such as “ Restricted for Man-agement

Use Only,” or “ Solely for the

information and use by the manage-ment

of [ name of entity] and is not

intended to be and should not be used

by anyone other than the specified

party.”

Even if the CPA is engaged to

compile the financial statements but

not to report on them, because they are

not expected to be used by third par-ties,

the CPA must follow the perfor-mance

requirements of a compilation,

such as the following:

• Possess or obtain a general un-derstanding

of the industry;

• Possess or obtain a general un-derstanding

of the client’s business;

• Take certain actions if the in-formation

supplied by the client ap-pears

to be incorrect, incomplete, or

otherwise unsatisfactory for the in-tended

use; and

• Read the completed financial

statements and consider whether they

appear to be appropriate in form and

free of obvious material errors.

If the CPA reasonably expects the

financial statements to be used by third

parties, he or she must report on those

statements in accordance with SSARS

No. 1. In addition, the CPA is not pre-cluded

from reporting on financial

statements even when the financial

statements are not expected to be used

by third parties.

The second exposure draft exempts

historical financial statements and nor-malized

financial statements included

in a written business valuation from

the applicability of SSARS No. 1.

This exposure draft was issued

because when the purpose of financial

statements is solely to assist in devel-oping

and presenting the business valu-ation

of an entity, the users of the state-ments

don’t need the statements to

conform with GAAP or OCBOA and

departures are acceptable. This expo-sure

draft would be effective upon its

issuance.

Both exposure drafts are available

for downloading from the AICPA web

site ( www. aicpa. org). The deadline for

submitting comments on the exposure

drafts is June 9, 2000.

7 7

AICPA/ NASBA Propose Changes to CPE Standards

The American Institute of CPAs

( AICPA)/ National Association of

State Boards of Accountancy

( NASBA) Joint Continuing Profes-sional

Education ( CPE) Standards

Committee recently released for com-ment

its Statement on Standards for

Continuing Professional Education. The

comment period will end on August

1, 2000.

The proposed standards, which

took three years to develop, are con-sistent

with the current version of the

Joint AICPA/ NASBA CPE Standards

as they relate to group study pro-gram

development, sponsorship, pre-sentation,

and measurement.

However, some changes have

been made in the area of self- study

program measurement. For example,

CPE hours are now termed CPE cred-its,

and a 1/ 2 CPE credit has been

added to allow for the development

of shorter CPE activities.

New concepts in the proposed

standards include:

• A focus on increasing CPAs’

knowledge, skills, and abilities to de-velop

competencies;

• Introduction of the learning

plan, through which CPAs employ self-assessments

to determine gaps be-tween

current and needed competen-cies,

develop learning objectives aris-ing

from their assessments, and pre-pare

action plans to fulfill their learn-ing

objectives;

• Recognition of a wide variety

of learning activities that encompass

the many ways adults learn today;

• Separate standards for spon-sored

learning activities— where or-ganizations

take responsibility for de-livery

of programs to the final users—

and self- directed learning activities—

where the learning activities are un-dertaken

and accomplished without

the assistance of outside sponsors;

• Introduction of a program re-viewer

for participants who elect to

satisfy more than half of their CPE

reporting requirements with self- di-rected

learning activities; and

• Appendices with examples of

self- assessments, learning plans, learn-ing

logs, and a CPE credit record for

self- directed learning activities.

Following the close of the expo-sure

period, both NASBA and the

AICPA will review the comments re-ceived

and will take action on the

standards at their respective fall meet-ings.

It is anticipated that the Stan-dards

will become an evergreen docu-ment

similar to the Uniform Accoun-tancy

Act with future changes and

interpretations made on a joint basis

as needed.

The exposure draft is available

on the AICPA’s web site

( www. aicpa. org) and NASBA’s web

site ( www. nasba. org). NASBA has

also posted the current Joint CPE Stan-dards

as well as a comment form com-paring

the proposed standards to the

present standards highlighting what

is new, what is different, and what

remains the same.

Please send your comments and

questions to Yordanos Burney, CPA,

NASBA Manager of CPE Review,

NASBA, 150 Fourth Avenue North,

Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219- 2417,

fax ( 615) 880- 4292, or e- mail

( yburney@ nasba. org).

LLPs Must File Annual Reports

The passage and ratification of Senate

Bill 297 significantly changed North

Carolina General Statute ( NCGS) 59,

“ Partnerships,” as it relates to regis-tered

limited liability partnerships.

NCGS 59- 84( 4), “ Annual Report

for Secretary of State,” which became

effective January 1, 2000, and is appli-cable

to registered limited liability part-nerships

and foreign limited liability

partnerships whose fiscal year ended

on or after that date, states, “ Each reg-istered

limited liability partnership and

each foreign limited liability partner-ship

authorized to transact business in

this State shall deliver to the Secretary

of State for filing an annual report, in a

form prescribed by the Secretary of

State....”

The annual report must be filed

with the Secretary of State “ by the fif-teenth

day of the fourth month follow-ing

the close of the registered or for-eign

limited liability partnership’s fis-cal

year. The annual report must be

accompanied by a fee of two hundred

dollars ($ 200.00).”

Although the Secretary of State

anticipates that most LLP’s annual re-ports

will not be due until 2001, there

may be some LLPs that must file an

annual report in 2000. In particular,

LLPs whose fiscal years end during the

period January 1, 2000, through Au-gust

31, 2000, will file their first annual

reports during the 2000 calendar year.

All remaining LLPs whose fiscal years

will end September 1, 2000, through

December 31, 2000, must file their first

annual report in the 2001 calendar year.

The Secretary of State may revoke

the registration of any LLP that does

not submit its annual report on or be-fore

the date it is due.

Because the Secretary of State is

not obligated to remind registered or

foreign limited liability partnerships

of the deadline, each registered or for-eign

limited liability partnership

should arrange its own reminder of the

annual report deadline.

For additional information regard-ing

Senate Bill 297, please contact the

Corporations Division of the Secretary

of State at ( 919) 733- 4201. Information

is also available on- line at

www. secstate. state. nc. us.

North Carolina State Board of

Certified Public Accountant Examiners

Post Office Box 12827

Raleigh NC 27605- 2827

Bulk Rate

US Postage

PAID

Greensboro, NC

Permit No. 393

19,900 copies of this document were printed for this agency at a cost of $ 2,822.47 or 14¢ per copy in March 2000.

Certificate holders not notifying the Board in writing within 30 days of any change in address or business location

may be subject to disciplinary action under 21 NCAC 8J .0107.

Address Change? Let Us Know!

Certificate holder

Last name Jr./ III First Middle

Certificate number Send mail to home business

Current home address

City State Zip

Business name

Current bus. address

City State Zip

Telephone: Bus. ( ) Home ( )

Bus. fax ( ) email address

Signature Date

Mail to: NC State Board of To fax or email address change:

CPA Examiners CPA Board fax: ( 919) 733- 4209

PO Box 12827 Email address:

Raleigh, NC 27605- 2827 licensing@ mindspring. com

State Board of

CPA Examiners

Board Members

R. Stanley Vaughan, CPA

President, Charlotte

O. Charlie Chewning, Jr., CPA

Vice President, Raleigh

Michael H. Wray

Secretary- Treasurer, Gaston

Barton W. Baldwin, CPA

Member, Mount Olive

Norwood G. Clark, Jr., CPA

Member, Raleigh

Scott L. Cox, CPCU, CIC

Member, Charlotte

Walter C. Davenport, CPA

Member, Raleigh

Staff

Executive Director

Robert N. Brooks

Legal Counsel

Noel L. Allen, Esq.

Administrative Services

Felecia Ashe

Lynn Wyatt

Communications

Lisa R. Hearne, Manager

Examinations

Judith E. Macomber, Manager

Phyllis M. Elliott

Licensing

Buck Winslow, Manager

Marie Moss

Alice G. Steckenrider

Professional Standards

Ann Hinkle, Manager

Peggy Pardue