STATE OF MARYLAND

BOARD OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTANCY

MINUTES

DATE: August 3, 2010

LOCATION: 500 North Calvert Street

Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Third Floor Conference Room

MEMBERS

IN ATTENDANCE: H. Terry Hancock

Elizabeth S. Gantnier

Tim Murphy

Raymond C. Speciale

Ella Pierce

Marjorie Root

DLLR OFFICIALS/STAFF: Dennis L. Gring, Executive Director

Linda L. Rhew, Administrative Officer

Matthew Lawrence, Counsel

Norbert Fenwick, CPE Consultant

OTHERS PRESENT: Ken Bishop, NASBA

Tom Hood, MACPA

Sandy Steinwedel, MSA

Shirley Buchanan, MSA

Bobby Buchanan

Holly Shipley

The August 3, 2010 meeting of the Maryland Board of Public Accountancy was called to order by Chairman H. Terry Hancock at 9:00 AM. Mr. Hancock welcomed Mr. Ken Bishop, Chief Operations Officer for the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy who was in attendance at the meeting.

Upon a motion (I) by Mr. Speciale, and seconded by Ms. Pierce, the minutes of the June 30, 2010 meeting were approved, with corrections, unanimously.

Chairman’s Report

Mr. Hancock did not present a Chairman’s Report.

Executive Director’s Report

Mr. Gring reported that the number of individuals who are applying to the Board of Public Accountancy to take the Uniform CPA Examination has increased by more than 80% over the past five years, with 42% of that growth occurring over the past 2 years. Many individuals make application to the Board following spring graduation in the months of May, June and July. To date, during these months, the Board received 390 applications. The Board has 4,208 eligible examination candidates.

The Second Quarter 2010 Examination Window examination scores have been reported to the Board. Ninety-four candidates successfully completed the exam this quarter. So far in 2010, 185 candidates have passed the exam.

CPA Board Minutes

August 3, 2010

Page 2

Remarks by Mr. Bishop

Mr. Hancock invited Mr. Bishop to make some remarks on behalf on NASBA. Mr. Bishop commented on the following matters:

·  Status of the Prometric contract

·  Mr. Costello’s pending retirement

·  National Exam Statistics - pretty much mirror Maryland

·  College Accounting Programs are full. Shortage of PhDs in Accounting

·  International CPA Exam

·  National movement toward safe harbor language that has been endorsed by NSA

Mr. Hancock thanked Mr. Bishop who stayed for the rest of the meeting for attending and for his remarks.

Education Report

Mr. Speciale reported one (1) transfer of grades application approval. There were two (2) regular reciprocal applications that were denied as follows:

File RD-08-10-01, the applicant was denied licensure as the result of lacking three semester hours devoted primarily to ethics.

File RD-08-10-02, the applicant was denied licensure as the result of lacking three semester hours devoted primarily to ethics.

Mr. Speciale recommended that the Board reconsider its denial of a reciprocal applicant in RD 06-10-01, who at the time lacked three (3) semester hours in ethics. The applicant subsequently provided documentation of the three semester hours in ethics and is qualified for licensure.

Upon a motion (II) by Ms. Root, and seconded by Mr. Murphy, the Board unanimously approved the Education Report.

Experience Committee Report

Ms. Pierce presented the Experience Committee Report. Twenty-one (21) Maryland applicants and eight (8) reciprocal (4 in 10) applicants were approved during the period June 30, 2010 through August 3,, 2010.

Upon a motion (III) by Mr. Murphy, and seconded by Ms. Root, the Board unanimously approved the Experience Committee Report.

Firm Permit Committee Report

Ms. Root presented the firm permit committee report. There were no firm applications denied during the period June 30, 2010 through August 30, 2010.

Upon a motion (IV) by Mr. Speciale, and seconded by Ms. Pierce, the Board unanimously approved the Firm Permit Report.

CPA Board Minutes

August 3, 2010

Page 3

Peer Review Committee Report

Ms. Gantnier presented the Peer Review Committee Report. She advised that the Peer Review Oversight Committee (PROC) met in July and devised several documents governing the relationship between the PROC, the Board and the Administering Entity.

These documents have been reviewed preliminarily by Mr. Lawrence and are ready for final review by the Board to review and make any final changes. Ms. Gantnier will email the documents to the Board members after the Board meeting and request that any comments be forwarded by the end of the month. It is planned that the “finalized” documents will be sent to the MACPA to start their review process and implement the process during September.

Ms. Gantnier reported that Jacob Cohen and Alicia Foster have mentioned the word ‘retirement’ in their conversations with her. It is the feeling of the PROC that in the future a “part-time” consultant be retained to provide continuity. The committee feels that the amount of work may be onerous and cause the committee to have trouble keeping it staffed on a volunteer basis.

Ms. Gantnier added that she would like to revisit the non-CPA firm peer review and permit matter. After a brief discussion, the Board agreed that this matter needed additional attention. Mr. Lawrence suggested that it be taken up in Executive Session.

Upon a motion (V) by Mr. Speciale, and seconded by Ms. Pierce, the Board unanimously approved the Peer Review Report.

Old Business

Mr. Gring reviewed the project task list. He announced that the Board now participates in the NASBA Accountancy Licensing Database as of July 12, 2010. He also reiterated the Department’s approval of the 120/150 education/licensing bill for the 2011 Legislative Session. Mr. Gring also stated that the Continuing Education Reporting Task Force will begin its deliberation in September.

New Business

Upon a motion (VI) by Mr. Murphy, and seconded by Mr. Speciale, the Board denied a request by Ms. Jin Wang for a free retest for the Financial Accounting and Reporting section of the Uniform CPA Examination and extension of the conditional credit for the Business Environment and Concepts section to November 28, 2010.

Upon a motion (VII) by Mr. Murphy, and seconded by Ms. Gantnier the Board approved the extension of the peer review for the firm Sotsky and Juffee.

Executive Session

The Board, upon a motion (VIII) by Mr. Murphy, and seconded by Mr. Speciale, went into Executive Session at 10:50 AM in the 3rd Floor Conference Room, 500 N. Calvert Street,

Baltimore, Maryland 21202. The purpose of this session was to consult with counsel. This session is permitted to be closed pursuant to State Government Title Section 10-508(a), (7).

CPA Board Minutes

August 3, 2010

Page 4

Upon completion of the session, the Board resumed its public meeting at 11:30 PM, upon a motion (IX) by Ms. Gantnier and seconded by Mr. Speciale.

Complaint Committee Report

Mr. Murphy reported that the Board received six (6) complaints during the period June 30, 2010 – August 3, 2010. During this period 18 complaints were closed: CPAS 07-0027, CPAS 07-0042, CPAS 07-0055, CPAS 080008, CPAS 08-0036, CPAS 08-0039, CPAS 09-0030, CPAS 10-0023, CPAS 10-0034, CPAS 10-0044, CPAS 10-0063, CPAS 10-0069, CPAS 10-0072, CPAS 11-0001, CPAS 11-0002, CPAS 11-0003, CPAS 11-0004, and CPAS 11-0005.

Upon a motion (X) by Mr. Speciale, and seconded by Ms. Gantnier, the Board unanimously approved the Complaint Committee Report.

Upon a motion (XI) by Ms. Gantnier, and seconded by Ms. Root, the Board unanimously approved accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for a CPA Examination candidate (ref. EX-C0810).

Upon a motion (XII) by Mr. Speciale, and seconded by Ms. Gantnier, the Board unanimously voted to refer to the Complaint Committee a licensee who self disclosed a felony conviction.

Upon a motion (XIII) by Mr. Murphy, and seconded by Ms. Root the Board approved the original license application for an applicant who answered “yes” to a conduct question on the application (ref. EX-B0810).

The Board recessed the meeting at 1:15 PM to conduct a hearing in CPAS 10-0040 Board of Public Accountancy v. Andrew Walker. Upon the conclusion of the hearing, upon a motion (XIV) by Ms. Pierce, and seconded by Mr. Speciale, the Board went into Executive Session at 1:40 PM in the 3rd Floor Conference Room, 500 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. The purpose of this session was to consult with counsel. This session is permitted to be closed pursuant to State Government Title Section 10-508(a), (7). Upon completion of the session, the Board resumed its public meeting at 1:43 PM, upon a motion (XV) by Ms. Pierce and seconded by Mr. Speciale.

Upon a motion (XVI) by Ms. Root, and seconded by Ms. Gantnier, the meeting adjourned at 1:44 PM.

NEXT MEETING

Tuesday, September 14, 2010, 500 North Calvert Street, Third Floor, 9:00 AM

__ ___ With corrections ______Without corrections

______Chairman Date