In attendance: Karen Pincus (President), Stan Biggs (Vice President-Academic), Mark Beasley (Treasurer), Jack Robertson (Historian), Tim Bell (Past President), Abe Akresh (incoming Vice President-Practice), Jean C. Bedard (Secretary).

Guests: Tom Powell (Chair, Practice Advisory Council), Linda McDaniel (Chair, 2001 Midyear Meeting Program Committee), Lyn Adair (Webmaster), Craig Polhemus (Executive Director, AAA), Arnie Wright (Editor, AJPT), Joanna Ho (Chair, 2000 Midyear Meeting Program Committee)

Karen Pincus called the meeting to order at 8:05 AM.

Tim Bell moved and Mark Beasley seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 17, 1999. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

Mark Beasley distributed the Treasurer’s Report and outlined the major differences in cash flows from the prior year. In 1999, the Section received less royalties through the AAA. This source of funds appears to be higher every other year, but we cannot predict that this pattern will continue. Also, there was an increase in charges from the AAA for publications, which is a permanent change in the journal cost per page. Also, there is an additional $5,000 to the AJPT Editor’s school, in recognition of the costs of supporting the editorial process. On this plus side, AAA now allocates interest earned, which was $3,000 in FY 1999. Going forward, we assume that the Midyear Meeting breaks even due to KPMG involvement, that the Waterloo AJPT Supplement is reimbursed, and that membership is stable. Given these assumptions, there is a permanent deficit of $7,000-$8,000 on an annual basis. Mark proposed increasing dues to $20.

Mark Beasley moved and Jean Bedard seconded a motion to recommend to the membership an increase in individual full (not associate) memberships from $15 to $20 beginning in 2000-2001.

In discussion on the motion, the issue of institutional memberships was raised. Mark Beasley should investigate whether increasing dues to members will affect pricing to institutions. The vote on the motion was unanimous.

Karen Pincus asked if the registration charge for the meeting should be increased. At this point, our $100 charge is lower than any other section, and is not covering the food costs. Also, we have added the Doctoral Consortium this year, with no charge to participants. Our support from KPMG has allowed us to maintain the low rate. Tim Bell noted that KPMG is very pleased to be associated with the meeting, but that the three-year contract is up this year and needs to be renegotiated. Stan Biggs noted that a $120 charge is very reasonable and that we need to set guidelines for the Chair of next year’s Program Committee. Karen Pincus suggested waiting until the August meeting, when we will know more about the outcome of the current meeting.

Stan Biggs should renegotiate the contract with the KPMG Foundation for support of the Midyear Meeting, prior to the Annual Meeting in August.

Stan will also develop a draft timeline for planning the Midyear meeting, including policies and parameters, and circulate it to the XC.

Mark Beasley should provide financial information from the current meeting to the XC when available.

Karen Pincus report on the committee liaison system. The primary logic behind the system is that we all work better with a deadline, and so regular communication by XC members with their liaison committees should stimulate activity by the committees. She reminded the XC that the next report is due in April.

Karen brought a request from the Annual Meeting Program Committee for suggestions on a luncheon speaker. The XC discussed several possibilities, and Karen will communicate these to the Program Committee Chair.

Tim Bell reported on activities of the Research Committee. He noted that Ken Trotman had investigated the possibility of a methodology monograph, which he felt would benefit the international research community. This idea was downsized to an article for an international journal about the portfolio of methods used in auditing research. The XC discussed whether this information would be more available if it were placed on the Section’s web site rather than in an international journal, which few members may subscribe to.

Stan Biggs reported on the activities of the Outstanding Dissertation Committee. Karen noted that the deadlines for all four awards are July 1 and that the word "single" should be inserted in the call for the Dissertation Award. Karen should receive the Outstanding Educator and officer nominations. Stan receives the Outstanding Dissertation Award nominations. The Chair of the Notable Contribution Committee should receive nominations for that award. Abe receives nominations for the Distinguished Service Award.

Karen noted that we have traditionally notified the winner of the Outstanding Dissertation Award at least by October 1. The XC agreed that we should notify award winners by October 1 preceding the Midyear Meeting at which the award will be given.

Karen reported that a final decision on this year’s Distinguished Service Award had not been reached. Karen moved and Mark Beasley seconded that this Award go to the first Practice Advisory Council. The vote of the Committee was unanimous in favor.

Stan should appoint a Chair for the Notable Contribution Award Committee by January 21, and communicate to Jean for preparation of the announcement.

Jean will prepare all four announcements and send them to Gary Braun by January 21 for inclusion in the Winter newsletter. Further, Jean should send an electronic notice of the calls for nominations about May 1.

Stan reported that staffing of the Regional Coordinator positions remains difficult, and that the regions allow different levels of participation in planning of regional meeting sessions. Karen asked whether the XC should suggest to the membership that we change the by-laws to allow expanding the set of candidates from which members of the Nominating Committee are drawn, perhaps to include committee chairs.

Tom Powell, Chair of the PAC, reported that the Council’s goal is to increase practitioner involvement, foster collaboration between academics and practitioners, and increase resource sharing. The PAC has accomplished a lot in its short history, including the E-commerce presentation primarily done by Deloitte &Touche, presentations by several PAC members, Jane Mutchler’s internship at the World Bank, etc. Tom noted that Graham Josceleyne has said that the World Bank highly values this connection with the academic auditing community, and that the Bank has begun to see the benefits of this connection and of Jane’s visit in particular. Tom asked that the XC consider other individuals that might want to do an internship at the World Bank.

Tom recommends that going forward, the XC should clarify goals for the PAC, targeting relationships with individual practitioners or organizations and/or specific target projects. Tom offered to help by facilitating initial contact in establishing ties with any target organization(s). Karen reminded the XC that Abe, as VP-Practice, is a member of the PAC and is our liaison to that group.

The XC discussed the need for a PAC session at the meeting in August. Several possible topics and speakers were discussed, and a consensus reached that the broad topic of risk management might be of most interest to members.

Karen will contact the Chair of the Annual Meeting Program Committee to ensure that a session is available to the PAC in August. An announcement of the session should be made in the Winter issue of the newsletter.

Jean Bedard noted that there are no reports from the Membership or Communications Committees. Karen noted that important work remains to be done by the Communications Committee, whose charge it is to organize electronic and paper communications. The Section needs guidelines for what can automatically get on the web page and what should need clearance, and who should give clearance if clearance is needed. Have been investigating converting archival issues of AJPT to electronic format, and AAA took that over. Tim asked about the proposed change in the position of the Webmaster to be content-oriented, especially as Lyn Adair wants to end as of August. We may want to consider having AAA be the source that uploads materials to the site. Further, we need to investigate charges from AAA.

Mark Beasley reported on the CPE Committee. The CPE session preceding this meeting has at least 30 signed up. The Committee has also run a call for ideas for potential CPE sessions at future meetings.

Mark also reported that the Education Committee is meeting here on Friday.

Stan Biggs proposed a Section task force on changes in auditing education. Given the rapid changes in the profession, we need to share information on how auditing is being taught. He asked whether the Education Committee or a subgroup could do a survey and compile the findings into a report. This might fit well with the 25^th anniversary theme for the next Midyear Meeting.

Linda McDaniel reported on progress in planning the 2001 meeting, which will be held in Houston on January 11-13 at the JW Marriott in Uptown/Galleria area. The Committee is seeking guidance on special activities for the 25^th Anniversary presentation. Linda was urged to issue invitations to all past Presidents, Vice Presidents-Practice, other officers and award winners.

Lyn Adair presented the rationale for redesign of the web site. She asked about updating of previous material, some of which is dated. The XC decided that the Mission Statement and Operating Manual should be available, but not the Strategic Plan.

Lyn also noted that the Tax and Information Systems sections are putting full text journal articles on the AAA web site. Discussion was deferred to the visit by Craig Polhemus.

The XC also discussed the nature of the Webmaster position, including duties, choice of individual to serve, etc. This is important given that most people interested and capable tend to be untenured faculty. One possibility is to split duties of the position, or assign that responsibility to the AAA. Karen suggested that we follow up for the 2001 meeting to see how much AAA would charge, or to appoint someone to handle the meeting materials. This needs to be documented as one of the Midyear Meeting guidelines. Papers from the Midyear meeting should be cleared off at least prior to the following Annual Meeting, but the program should stay up for several years, without links.

Lyn also asked if there should be pictures of officers on the site, and the XC agreed. Lyn will get these from Gary or the AAA.

Jean Bedard will communicate material relevant to the Communications Committee to Ted Mock.

Jack will send to Lyn Adair the latest version of the Operating Manual and Mission Statement.

Lyn and Ted Mock should write a position description for the Webmaster/Web Editor.

Craig Polhemus noted several improvements in service provided to members. One of these is the availability of true electronic registration, which is coming soon. Another is the availability of journals in electronic form. Full text of five journals is currently available, but at this point members can only search within an article. Search across articles within a journal is planned shortly, and search across journals is the ultimate goal. Members currently get electronic access to all three Association-wide journals for $20 (currently $15 for the hard copy, so this is only an increment of $5). AAA has offered to the Sections to have the Section journals available electronically for a $5 per member fee. The ATA and Information Systems Sections have accepted this, and the Public Interest section intends to have an electronic-only journal.

Arnie Wright provided an update on the journal after 6+ months of his term. Arnie noted that submissions are strong and that electronic transmission of manuscripts has gone well. The average review time is 40 days, and his goal is 60-day complete turnaround. The Waterloo issue is near completion, and the ISAR deadline coming up on 1/15. Arnie noted several initiatives during his term. First, practice summaries will accompany each article. The Editor of the Journal of Accountancy is interested in publishing one of them every month in a column. Also, dates of submission and acceptance will appear with each article published.

Arnie recommended that the Section offer members an electronic version of the journal through the AAA. Craig noted that the AAA should be providing 1999 as part of the launch. The goal is to add back issues later as AAA resources are freed up. If the Section wants this done quickly, there may be an additional charge. A drawback is that people may give out the password and enable free access to others. Craig noted that about 25 percent of members chose the electronic option at the Association level.

Karen moved and Stan seconded that the Section participate in the electronic journal option of AAA so that members can subscribe electronically, starting with the registration for the 2000 Annual Meeting, subject to all the AJPT journals from 1999 forward being available, site to be password protected, and searching across articles within AJPT being available, all by May 1. The vote was unanimous in favor.

Karen needs to contact the ISAR sponsors, and to commit the agreement for Section sponsorship in writing.

Joanna Ho reported on the 2000 Meeting. There were 57 submitted papers, of which 30 were accepted, plus 7 more in the Forum. Coordination of activities with the Section’s Doctoral Consortium Committee went very well. Stan noted that the research domain of the Consortium Coordinator should switch from year to year. Karen said that we need to tell the Coordinators that the attendees may repeat, so we should not have similar presentations from year to year.

Karen reported on the Auditing Standards Committee. Kay Tatum (Vice Chair) is holding a meeting of that Committee here. The group is going to start honing in on some of the projects in the inventory of current standards topics. Abe Akresh (liaison to the Committee) will attend that meeting.

Karen reported on the by-laws revision, which was to go before the membership at the upcoming Business Meeting. The article explaining the proposed changes was omitted from The Auditor’s Report. Because timely notice was not adequately given, our options are to have a mail ballot or to vote on the proposal at the next Midyear Meeting. The advantage of postponing is that we could also introduce some substantive changes. Karen will ask for other suggestions at the Business Meeting and put a notice in an upcoming The Auditor’s Report. If necessary, she will appoint a By-laws Committee which will look at other possible changes.

Karen suggested that due to the low number of nominations for the Notable Contributions Award, we may want to change the wording of the policy to say that it is not necessary to give an Award every year.

Jean Bedard reported on the Assessment process. In the process of collecting data last summer, she had sought input from Committee Chairs regarding their perceptions of the value of this effort. The consensus of this group was that the costs of the data collection exceeded the benefits.

Jack Robertson asked about advertising in The Auditor’s Report. Karen said that Gary’s report showed that the incremental costs of advertising may be approximately equal to the intake. The XC decided that we should not aggressively seek advertising, but would consider it if requests came to us.

Stan Biggs reported on progress in staffing committees for 2000-2001. A call for volunteers will be made at the Business Meeting.

Stan should get to AAA the information on new officers and committees as of June.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 PM.

The meeting was brought to order by Karen Pincus, President, at 1:00 PM.

Karen welcomed members to the 2000 Midyear Meeting, and introduced the Section’s current officers: Stan Biggs (Vice President-Academic), Mark Beasley (Treasurer), Jack Robertson (Historian), Tim Bell (Past President), Jean C. Bedard (Secretary). She noted that Jerry Sullivan (Vice President-Practice) could not attend, but that Abe Akresh, the incoming VP-Practice, was present at the meeting.

Karen noted that registrations for this meeting totaled about 250, which is record attendance for a Midyear Meeting. She thanked Joanna Ho and members of the Program Committee for their outstanding work in developing the program and making arrangements for the meeting.

Tim Bell announced the candidates for election to office. For Vice President-Academic (President-Elect), the nominees are Mike Bamber and Joe Carcello. For Secretary, the nominees are Audrey Gramling and Greg Trompeter. Ballots were distributed to members and counted by Tim Bell and Jean Bedard. The winners were Mike Bamber and Audrey Gramling.

Mark Beasley distributed the Treasurer’s Report and outlined the major differences in cash flows from the prior year, including a decrease in royalties received, an increase in charges from the AAA for publications, an additional amount for support of editorial activities for the journal, and an allocation of interest on our cash balance from the AAA. Given these assumptions, there is a permanent deficit of $7,000-$8,000 on an annual basis. On behalf of the Executive Committee, Mark proposed an increase in Section dues for full members to $20, effective in 2001. The vote was unanimous in favor of the motion.

Arnie Wright provided information on his term as Editor of AJPT. In his first six months, there have been 49 new submissions, of which 10 are accepted (four inherited from the prior Editor, Bill Felix, and six new). Electronic submissions/review has reduced the turnaround time for reviews to an average of 40 days. Articles published during Arnie’s term will include practice summaries.

Arnie also announced that Section members will be offered an electronic version of the journal for an additional $5 in the upcoming year, subject to the AAA being able to offer the 1999 and 2000 volumes and provide a search function.

Lyn Adair presented the redesigned web site, telling members how to negotiate the site and indicating what information will be available there. She told the members that papers from the Midyear Meeting will be cleared off the site shortly after each meeting. Bill Felix noted that having a short term of availability is an important factor in determining that appearance on the web does not constitute publication, according to the policy of the AAA Publications Committee.

Stan Biggs, President-Elect, reported on formation of committees for 2000-2001. He noted the importance of the committee structure, and reported that he had received a number of volunteers as a result of his previous request. However, several important committees remain to be staffed, particularly the Membership and Communications Committees, and he urged members to contact him if they were willing to serve.

Linda McDaniel, Chair, reported on planning for the Meeting. The meeting will be held in Houston, Texas, on January 11-13. Linda noted that 2001 is the 25^th anniversary of the Auditing Section, and special events are being planned to celebrate that event.

Karen Pincus announced that due to an omission in giving notice to the membership regarding the proposed by-laws change, the vote scheduled for this meeting will instead take place next year. She asked that members communicate to her any other suggestions for changes in the by-laws. She noted that the Executive Committee recommends a change in procedures for constitution of the Nominating Committee, i.e., to expand the base of possible members of that Committee from the current group (Regional Coordinators only). This would allow broader representation on that Committee; for example, international members could be represented.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 PM.

Submitted by Jean C. Bedard, Secretary.