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2005 Max Block Award Winners Recognized

JULY 2006 - The winners of the 2005 Max Block Distinguished Article Awards were announced and presented at the NYSSCPA’s 109th Annual Election Meeting and Dinner on May 18. The presentations were made by NYSSCPA 2005/2006 President Stephen Langowski. The award recognizes excellence in three categories that reflect The CPA Journal’s mission. The winners are as follows.

Best Article in the Area of Technical Analysis: “Basic Principles in the New Accounting for Stock Options: A Roadmap for Navigating SFAS 123(R),” by Robert A. Dyson, September 2005.

Robert A. Dyson, CPA, is with American Express Tax & Business Services Inc. and a member of the CPA Journal Editorial Board. He is also immediate past chair and a current member of the NYSSCPA’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee and a current member of the FASB Small Business Advisory Committee.

SFAS 123(R), Share-Based Payment, requires public companies to recognize compensation cost associated with modified stock option awards rather than account for them as variable options under FASB Interpretation (FIN) 44, Accounting for Certain Transactions Involving Stock Compensation.

Best Article in the Area of Informed Comment: “The Evolution of U.S. GAAP: The Political Forces Behind Professional Standards,” Parts 1 & 2, by Stephen Zeff, January/February 2005.

Stephen A. Zeff, PhD, is the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Accounting at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University, in Houston, Texas.

This historical commentary discusses the rising importance of financial accounting standards in different sectors of the U.S. economy, which has led to increased special-interest lobbying for accounting standards designed with predetermined outcomes. It also traces FASB’s efforts to implement an asset-and-liability approach to recognition and a fair-value approach to measurement.

Best Article in the Area of Policy Analysis: “Accounting at a Crossroad: Preserving an Independent Profession,” by Eugene H. Flegm, December 2005.

Eugene H. Flegm, CPA, CFE, was the general auditor for General Motors Corp. before his retirement. He now resides in Bonita Springs, Florida.

At the start of this century, top-level management frauds at a number of major corporations resulted in substantial losses for employees and investors. Behind these scandals is a culture of greed, the root cause of which, according to Flegm, is the general decline of ethical behavior in our society. Flegm also blames accounting standards setters and Congress for neglecting to stem the opportunities that a would-be fraudster might seek to take advantage of.

The editors thank the following Max Block Award voters who, in addition to members of the CPA Journal Editorial Board, provided invaluable input by judging the nominated articles: Neil Gibgot, Mark Hettler, Janice Johnson, Mary Ellen Oliverio, Marilyn Pendergast, Walter Primoff, Allan Rabinowitz, Barry Seidel, L. Murphy Smith, and Jeffrey Weiner.

About Max Block

Max Block (1902–1988), a founding partner of Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, is described by many who knew him as a visionary whose ideas have formed the basis for many reporting and practice-management concepts in use today. Block was managing editor of the NYSSCPA’s Journal (now The CPA Journal) from 1958 to 1972. Each year since 1975, The CPA Journal has recognized his contributions and achievements by bestowing the Max Block Distinguished Article Award on the most outstanding articles. Although the judging and selection procedures continue to evolve, the criteria remain: “An innovative and stimulating article which is of current significance and which is likely to be of lasting value.”