22 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • FEBRUARY 2022
LYNNE FUENTES, FUENTES & ANGEL CPAS LLC
ACCOUNTING FOR CHANGE
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
In addition to leading Fuentes & Angel
CPAs LLC in Jericho, Lynne Fuentes
has a new title: president-elect of the
24,000-member New York State Society
of CPAs. She talked with the Long Island
Press about the accounting profession
and gearing up to lead the group celebrating
its 125th anniversary this year.
What are your priorities as president
of the state society of CPAs? I
have two main focuses. I’d like to concentrate
on small to mid-sized fi rms.
There’s an overabundance of them. It’s
diffi cult for them to get staffi ng. We’re
competing with large-sized fi rms. Being
able to provide them with better continuing
education classes and showing
how the society is really here for them
and larger fi rms.
What’s the second priority? To continue
building the pipeline for the profession.
There are fewer students going
into the profession of accounting. To me,
it was the backbone of every business. I
always knew I’d have a job. People lost
awareness and don’t know what an accountant
can be.
Do most people know what an accountant
actually does? Most people
think accountants sit behind a desk with
tape on their glasses and a pocket protector.
And all we do is look at numbers,
put numbers on a piece of paper and
come up with a tax. There are numerous
things that accountants do. Many
go into the FBI, work for the U.S. Treasury.
Knowing numbers tells a story. If it
wasn’t for accountants, the Madoff scandal
may never have come to light. Phil
Knight, the co-founder of Nike, was a
CPA. Fred Wilpon, the former principal
owner of the Mets, is a CPA.
How has technology changed the
profession? It’s made things a lot easier.
Remote learning. You can have clients
all over the country. It’s made choosing
items to audit much simpler. The computer
systems pick out things that look
unusual.
Why are you trying to get
accounting included as a STEM
profession? The state society believes
it‘s a natural fi t. We use a lot of technology
for bitcoin, big data, blockchain. Even
doing an audit is no longer picking up a
general ledger. We run it through our
computer system. It tells us these are
the items you should look at. In doing a
company audit, you need the technology
end of it to see if their systems have the
proper controls in place.
Accounting traditionally was seasonal.
Is that still the case? I wish
it was seasonal. When I fi rst started out
in the profession, April 15 hit and I was
able to relax. Now with extensions, with
Covid, Delta, Omicron, our deadlines
have been extended. Every time they
make a tax law and say it’s going to be
easier, it becomes more diffi cult. There’s
a greater need for accountants than ever.
Why did you go into accounting?
My grandparents are from Cuba. My
grandfather came here when he was 7,
became a union organizer. My grandmother
saw the neighbor preparing tax
returns and making money off it. She
told my grandfather he had to learn
that. He was the original tax accountant
in the family. My father became
an accountant alongside his father
since he was 19 years old. I joke that
one of his clients had a vending machine
route. He would bring us a box
of M&M’s. As a 5-, 6-, 7-year old, I said,
“This is what I want to do, because I can
get free M&M’s.”
What are some big changes in taxation?
This year, they had the additional
child tax credits. For children under
17, you got $3,000 instead of $2,000 and
for children under 6, you’ll get a credit
of $3,600. It still needs to be reconciled
with the return. They received stimulus
money last year. Clients last year weren’t
remembering how much they received.
This year the IRS will be sending out letters,
saying, “This is how much you received
for your advance child tax credit
and stimulus.”
Do you think the profession can
do more to promote minorities?
We need to promote more people of color,
Latinx. That needs to increase. We’re
seeing more women as partners. Two
years ago, I did a study of women partners
in accounting fi rms. That number
barely grew in the 11 years prior to that.
In the last two years, it’s been more and
more. You see a lot of women accountants
as managers, but not necessarily
as partners. We need to keep increasing
that.
What’s your favorite thing
about being an accountant?
I love my clients.
I meet so many diverse
people from
different parts
of the country
and the world,
from your lowincome
taxpayer
to someone who
paid $35 million
in an extension.
Everyone makes
my day more interesting.
It’s the personal
aspect of it. Being
part of the
state society has been an infl uential part
of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever written
a resume.
What’s it like to be running an accounting
fi rm? It’s got its challenges,
especially this year, trying
to fi nd staffi ng. I’ve been
doing work for some clients
for so long. Some of these
people have become
like family or friends.
Having to raise fees
is the heartbreak of
doing a job. But you
need to pay people
and stay on top of the
rising costs.
CORNER OFFICE
Lynne Fuentes
“Knowing numbers tells
a story.”
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
