NJCPA Members Approve Bylaws Changes

In October, eligible NJCPA members were invited to participate in a bylaws vote affecting membership categories and the professional conduct suspension/ termination process. The vote, conducted by third-party vendor AssociationVoting, resulted in 1,546 member votes. The adoption of proposed amendments required an affirmative vote of the majority of votes cast. All of the proposed changes to the membership categories and the professional conduct process were approved.

CHANGES TO MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

The approved changes to the membership categories address the profession’s CPA pipeline challenges along with anticipating the ongoing changes in the profession impacting the Society. The approved changes are as follows:

* The CPA Candidate and Associate membership classes will merge into a new membership class named Affiliate (approved by 79 percent of voting members). The following individuals will qualify for Affiliate membership:

• Those who have completed the academic requirements to become a CPA and are pursuing further requirements necessary to become a CPA (the previous CPA Candidate qualifications)

• Professional staff working in an accounting or finance position under the supervision of a CPA

• Any chartered accountant or its equivalent in any country other than the United States (the previous Associate qualifications)

• Instructors of accountancy in schools of collegiate standing

• Non-CPA owners, partners, shareholders or principals of firms licensed by the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy

Affiliates will not be allowed to vote on ballot measures presented to the membership but may be eligible for limited leadership positions including chapter board positions, committee chairs, group leadership and appointed committees. When an Affiliate becomes a CPA, he or she shall be elevated to CPA member.

* The definition of the Student member class will change to “An undergraduate or graduate student who has an interest in accounting, finance, business or information systems” (approved by 85 percent of voting members).

* The Fellow member class will be renamed CPA member; eligibility remains the same (approved by 80 percent of voting members).

“The NJCPA and the profession are at risk of losing talent, influence and opportunity,” said Kathleen Powers, CPA, CGMA, PSA, 2022/23 NJCPA president and CFO at The Matheny Medical and Educational Center. “The approved bylaws changes update terminology and simplify and consolidate categories, making it as easy as possible for graduates/new professionals to remain NJCPA members and start taking advantage of the benefits of membership.”

CHANGES TO PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT PROCESS

The other approved changes to the bylaws relate to the professional conduct process for implementing what are known as “automatic” suspensions and terminations. The two amendments, which were approved by 63 percent of voting members, remove the requirement that the NJCPA Board of Trustees approve all suspensions and terminations of members in order for the NJCPA to conform to the requirements of the AICPA Joint Ethics Enforcement Program (JEEP). Under the JEEP program, the AICPA investigates cases and refers its findings and recommendations to the NJCPA Professional Conduct Committees (PCC).

Certain disciplinary actions issued by various government agencies require automatic NJCPA termination or suspension without a hearing. However, in the previous version of the NJCPA bylaws, Board approval was required, which contradicts the JEEP’s automatics provisions and slows down the PCC processing of these cases.

“These changes to the professional conduct section of our bylaws will expediate the processing of certain cases involving suspension or terminations of membership and will have no impact on the severity of disciplinary actions,” added Powers.

The bylaws changes will go into effect June 1, 2023. The Affiliate category will be open for applications at that time.

For more details on the changes to the bylaws, visit njcpa.org/bylaws.