News

Sara DeSmith has headed PwC's Sustainability Assurance practice for eight years now, a tenure that takes her back to a time when many finance executives potentially in her purview didn't know what ESG stood for.

The IRS collected a single-year record of $4.9 trillion of total tax revenue from return filings in fiscal year 2022, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) said in a report on IRS compliance activities.

The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) will honor eight outstanding women at the CTCPA Women’s Awards event on January 18 at the TPC River Highlands. The program recognizes excellence in leadership and management in the accounting profession.

Alina is an Audit & Assurance Senior Manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”), with more than 11 years of experience serving large public and private clients within Deloitte’s financial services group in Connecticut. She specializes in the banking and capital markets and investment management industries. In addition, she is active in many other activities such as facilitating technical trainings, serving as a coach to several mentees, and co-chairing Deloitte’s Talent Advisory Council in Stamford.

Amber is a partner with FML CPAs, a regional accounting firm headquartered in Glastonbury, where she leads the Not-for-Profit Assurance and Tax practice alongside colleague Brian Kelleher. Amber helps guide the team of 20 professionals as they develop the skills necessary to best serve not-for-profit clients in all their accounting and advisory needs.

Isabelle is the owner of Isabelle V. Curtiss, P.C., CPA. As both a CPA and a Personal Financial Specialist (PFS), she has amassed a long list of accolades throughout her career. A former CTCPA Board member, she served as a member of or liaison to many committees and was founder of the CTCPA Personal Financial Planning Committee.

Jeanna is a partner at Ernst & Young LLP (EY), where she has worked since graduating from college 28 years ago. She is the firm’s Americas Assurance Operations Leader. She works with assurance leadership on planning, budgeting, talent, and process optimization. She also serves as coordinating partner for health clients and leads the firm’s assurance audit environmental efforts, helping more than 800 audit clients prepare for proposed new SEC rules on climate disclosures.

Kimberly is a partner in the Audit Department at Whittlesey, concentrating on nonprofits and credit unions. She co-founded and co-chairs the firm’s women’s leadership group, Women of Whittlesey (WoW), and is the firm’s Quality Control Director. She is also a member of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Nonprofit Resource Council.

Melissa Braun, CPA Whittlesey Melissa is a Manager in the Whittlesey Tax Department, providing tax and consulting services to commercial, residential, and affordable housing real estate entities, financial institutions, construction, manufacturing and closely held businesses, and high-net-worth individuals.

Noelle’s professional life today evolved from a varied journey as a CPA in public accounting, Fortune 100 corporate, and education. She now combines her passion with her experiences and shares them as a college professor, career advocate, and accounting coach for the Travelers EDGE (Empowering Dreams for Graduation and Employment) program.

Teresa currently serves as Independent Trustee and Audit Committee Chair for SSGA Select Sector SPDR Trust, an ETF complex of 11 funds covering the sectors of the S&P 500. She also serves on not-for-profit boards, including her alma mater, Saint Francis University in Loretto, Pennsylvania, and Girl Scouts of Connecticut, and on the CTCPA Investment Committee.

Some members of Connecticut’s medical marijuana community are concerned about the recreational market with sales expected to start on Jan. 10, 2023. They are also concerned about the mold threshold allowed under Connecticut law.

CironeFriedberg, LLP welcomed Dylan Walker as a Supervisor managing audit and assurance and client accounting service engagements for business and individual clients. Walker started his accounting career with global accounting firm PwC developing cash flow models utilizing detailed analytics to assess risk for clients. Prior to joining our Firm, he directed client accounting and advisory services for business clients throughout Fairfield County in Connecticut. A graduate of Central Connecticut State University, Walker holds a master’s and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting. He serves as President & Founder of the Scott T. Walker Foundation. Tony Cirone, CironeFriedberg’s managing partner, says “We extend a warm welcome to Dylan and are confident that he will make an immediate impact to enhance our client service as well as being a key contributor to our growing firm.” CironeFriedberg is a leading regional CPA firm serving middle market, closely held and family-owned businesses, high-net-worth individuals, and not-for-profit organizations in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, in Connecticut, and the neighboring New York counties of Duchess, Putnam, and Westchester. The firm provides a full range of tax, audit and accounting, and business advisory services from three offices in Bethel, Shelton and Stamford Connecticut. Learn more at https://cironefriedberg.com.

The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) is warning business owners about pop-up companies offering incorrect and misleading information regarding claiming the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). These third parties may be charging exorbitant fees, claiming to be able to pay employers the credit up-front, or providing incorrect filing deadlines, eligibility requirements, or credit computation information.

Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. These three words—and the efforts required to realize them—have become increasingly important as demographic and social shifts transform our country. In turn, the actions organizations take across these fronts are coming under more scrutiny than ever before as employees, consumers, and investors increasingly aim to align their individual values with those of the organizations they choose to work for, do business with, and support.

The Connecticut Society of CPAs (CTCPA) is sending CPAs and accounting professionals into classrooms across Connecticut from November 7-11 as part of Accounting Opportunities Week, a nationwide initiative to inspire high school students and help them learn about everything a career in accounting has to offer.

When there are vacancies on the State Board of Accountancy, the CTCPA is asked to recommend individuals to the governor for his consideration. We're delighted to announce that Stacy Farber has been appointed to the State Board of Accountancy.

Cloud technologies and other online collaboration tools have become a staple for CPA firms. These technologies and tools, along with online document management portals, provide CPA firms and their clients 24/7, on-demand, anytime anywhere, data exchange, organization and storage capabilities to manage important documentation and business needs. Just as importantly, they help reduce costs associated with in-house hardware purchases and direct software licensing and provide for easy collaboration among a CPA firm’s team members.

Paul N. Iannone, CPA, J.D., MST, and Danny A. Pannese, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, CSEP, MST, both associate professors in the Jack Welch College of Business & Technology at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, wrote the Tax Advisor magazine cover story: 10 good reasons why LLCs should not elect to be S corporations.

The CTCPA hosts Interview Day each fall, bringing top accounting students together with hiring companies for a day of interviews. Interview Day 2022 was our biggest event yet, with 28 companies interviewing 48 students for a total of 225 individual interviews in one day. Thank you to all who participated!