Dakota CPA Connection Produced by the North Dakota CPA Society
July 2025 | Volume XXXVII | No. 04
AICPA Spring Council Meeting 2025: Guiding a Profession Through Uncertainty and Opportunity By Clarence Sitter This year’s AICPA Spring Council Meeting was held in Washington D.C. and afforded the team from North Dakota the opportunity to interact with our congressional delegation (Senators Cramer and Hoeven and Representative Fedorchak). We were able to meet with their staff to discuss important tax topics such as the potential changes in pass-through entity taxation, disaster relief allowing the IRS to delay tax filing deadlines following a state governor’s disaster declaration, and a checklist of 12 guiding principles that help make good tax policy. We also advocated for the inclusion of accounting in the STEM definition through legislation as it is a tool for bolstering the tableting pipeline and would unlock resources for better education of our profession in K-12 schools. Lastly, we encouraged the congressional staff to sign on to legislation for expanding the use of 529 savings accounts to cover costs associated with the CPA exam, study materials, and continuing education courses. While the congressional visits were the primary focus of the AICPA’s Spring Council Meeting, we also lis-
In This Issue • 2 President’s Message • 3 New Members July 2025 | Page 1
tened to presentations from the new AICPA CEO (Mark Koziel) on the state of the CPA profession, an economic outlook on the unsettled global business climate with all the tariff policies, the continued rapid technological disruption with AI, and updates on the CPA pipeline progress. Highlights from the meeting are as follows.
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• 3 Society Awards • 4 Directors Message • 5 Management Conf
Tariffs continue to fuel business planning uncertainty, with 85% of business leaders reporting that trade restrictions have complicated their operational strategies. A CNBC survey cited at the Council meeting revealed that 75% of U.S. CFOs hold a pessimistic view of the economy, with 60% predicting a recession in the second half of 2025. The AICPA stressed the importance of CPAs remaining steady, proactive advisors to clients and employers in this volatile environment. The AICPA has responded by creating a dedicated tariff resource center to equip practitioners with guidance and support tools. IRS Modernization: Service levels remain below desired standards. • 6 Meet our Members • 8 Farm Tax Conference • 9 CPE Opportunities
The Treasury Department will support modernization efforts, but tangible improvements will take time.
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SEC and PCAOB Consolidation Debate: Discussions continue over whether the PCAOB should be rolled into the SEC via a reconciliation bill. The AICPA has refrained from taking a formal stance but Continued on page 7
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• 11 National Spotlight • 13 Ethics Corner • 13 Volunteers needed
Continued onBoard page 5 • 13 Internship • 13 Classifieds • 15 Tax Commissioner