APA's Last Venture in Vegas

It's been four years since a record number of payroll practitioners gathered at Bally's Las Vegas to attend the 17th Annual American Payroll Association Congress, May 18-22. Numerous reports were filed by BNA's Payroll Administration Guide editors and posted daily on an Internet site dedicated exclusively to the Congress (this year will see similar coverage). The site also included results from a joint BNA-APA cyber survey of Congress participants (which later that year was expanded into a larger survey of APA members and BNA subscribers).

The BNA site's special, "APA Congress: By the Numbers" feature noted that there were 2,100 total participants to the Congress in 1999 (a record then, but one which has already been broken), 868 attendees to the pre-congress program, 106 vendor booths, 20 corporate sponsors (including BNA), and . . . one elephant at the toga party!

The then-Commissioner of Internal Revenue Charles O. Rossotti spoke during a general session about the new structure of four main divisions being formed at IRS. He described his agency's preparations for transitioning to the Year 2000. He thanked APA for its efforts with regard to implementing the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), citing it as "a good model" for how IRS should conduct its business.

The Social Security Administration's Deputy Commissioner Yvette S. Jackson pointed out in her speech to the APA Congress that SSA's biggest challenge is in processing W-2s that do not have accurately matched names with their corresponding Social Security numbers. An SSA program, the Enumeration Verification Service, allows employers to submit names and SSNs to the agency for verification, she said. BNA also hosted a special workshop on the importance of having good and accurate interactive forms. IRS and SSA representatives were on the panel for that workshop.

Keeping abreast of legislation and regulations posed a major challenge for the vast majority of payroll professionals in 1999, according to the joint "Cyber Survey" conducted by BNA and the American Payroll Association at APA's 17th Annual Congress in Las Vegas. Almost nine out of 10 responding payroll practitioners (87 percent) listed "laws and regulations" among the greatest challenges facing the payroll profession today. No other topic area was cited by more than 35 percent of the survey respondents. APA Congress participants lined up at BNA's booth to answer the survey online. The results were tabulated overnight, announced by APA, and posted to the BNA site the following day.

As for activities, in addition to the opportunity to take in a special Vegas show, the night events included performances by Eartha Kitt, and a wear-your-own toga party held at the pools of Caesars Palace. APA's Dan Maddux, executive director, made a dramatic entrance to the party on the top of a huge elephant.