December 22, 2020

Whitney Aman has joined Lutz in Omaha in the firm’s audit department. She is responsible for providing credibility to clients through financial reporting. Aman previously interned with Lutz during the summer of 2019. She graduated from Creighton University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance.

The coronavirus pandemic has left CPAs with a lot of balls in the air, creating a whole new ballgame when applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

With the FDA’s issuance of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of a COVID-19 vaccine on December 11, many U.S. employers, eager to safely transition employees back to work or transition workplaces back to normal, are considering implementing vaccine recommendations or mandates in the workplace. The fluidity of the pandemic has yielded yet another decision point for employers: Can employees be required to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment?

Because of this individual’s decades of dedicated service and outstanding leadership for the Nebraska Society of CPAs, Anthony J. “Tony” Pruss, III was honored as the recipient of the Nebraska Society of CPAs’ Distinguished Service to the Profession Award during the Society’s Annual Meeting, held virtually on October 29. Pruss has been a shareholder in Auten, Pruss, and Beckmann PC of Norfolk for the past 28 years.

In an effort to honor his outstanding work and leadership with Omaha’s charitable and not-for-profit communities, Ralph Dovali, Jr. of Omaha was honored with the Nebraska Society of CPAs’ Public Service Award during the Society’s Annual Meeting, held virtually on October 29.

In recognition of her outstanding ability to educate and care for accounting students at Doane University in Crete, Professor Courtney C. Baillie of Lincoln was honored as the 2020 recipient of the Nebraska Society of CPAs’ Outstanding Accounting Educator Award during the Society’s Annual Meeting, held virtually on October 29.

Today, approximately half of the Society’s current members do not practice public accounting but instead have careers as educators, in government, or in a variety of capacities in business and industry in Nebraska. Many of those industry members have spent most of their accounting careers with one company—facilitating the growth of that business, creating new jobs, and helping to build a vibrant, expanding economy for all of Nebraska’s citizens.

Since 1976, the Foundation of the Nebraska Society of CPAs has supported the future of the CPA profession in Nebraska by sponsoring scholarships for accounting students attending Nebraska colleges
and universities.

At a Glance:
Proposed regs clarify treatment of “excess deductions” at the termination of an estate or non-grantor trust.

On August 15, 2020, Gov. Pete Ricketts signed LB 808 into law, introducing the Uniform Trust Decanting Act (UTDA) to Nebraska, with an effective date of November 13, 2020.1 Nebraska now becomes the 10th state in the union to enact the UTDA, and one of 31 states to enact specific legislation relating to trust decanting. With local decanting legislation now on the books, Nebraska practitioners are likely eager to understand the potential uses, benefits, and risks of decanting.