Happenings at February Board of Directors' meeting.

Following are some of the more significant actions and events that took place at the AICPA Board of Directors' meeting Feb. 5-6:

* The Internal Revenue Service--Office of Professional Responsibility was approved as a governmental agency for purposes of the AICPA's automatic sanctioning policy. This recommendation to the board from the Professional Ethics Executive Committee was made after PEEC had reviewed the enforcement policies and practices of the IRS-OPR and concluded that the office qualified under the Institute's automatic sanctioning criteria; the Tax Executive Committee also reviewed the matter and concurred.

* Membership requirements for the new Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center were approved. The Center, which will be launched this spring, will emphasize firm management and internal controls.

* Regarding state legislative and regulatory activity, board members heard a forecast of 2004 activity, including a dozen states expect accounting reform legislation or regulations and nearly as many states expect to introduce Uniform Accountancy Act provisions. Additionally, more than 15 states are expected to consider proposals related to a tax on professional services. In his general briefing, President and CEO Barry Melancon reported on the AICPA's updated advocacy paper on this issue which was made available to state CPA societies.

* Former Chair of the Board James Castellano, who now is chairing the Special Task Force on Private Companies Financial Reporting, discussed the task force's mission, scope, composition, tentative target constituents, proposed approach and timeline. He said that the initial focus would be on reaching out to constituents to determine whether there is an issue related to private company financial reporting.

* Continuing his outreach efforts, Chairman Scott Voynich reported on recent speaking engagements to several state CPA societies, a university and two AICPA conferences. He also met with the chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, participated in a summit of national professional accounting associations and conducted a number of media interviews regarding the profession.

* The board was briefed on the work of the Task Force on the Role and Responsibilities of Council and provided comments. The task force will present its report at this month's regional meetings of Council and to the full Council at its meeting in May.