AICPA Extends Melancon’s Tenure

AICPA Extends Melancon’s Tenure
President and CEO Now to Serve Through 2010

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Melancon, whose current contract would have expired in 2005, will now continue to serve as AICPA president and CEO until 2010.

The board voted on Feb. 6 to renew Melancon’s contract by a 21-to-1 vote.

Melancon became AICPA president in 1995, serving through often trying times for the national organization, most notably the aftermath of accounting scandals that began in late 2001. Federal legislation passed in response to the accounting crisis altered the landscape for the Institute, transferring some of the AICPA’s standard-setting responsibilities to a federal-mandated, private body, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

But the AICPA board’s overwhelming vote in favor of renewing Melancon’s contract signaled the Institute’s faith in his leadership.

“Those of us who have worked closely with Barry know firsthand his capabilities and thorough knowledge of the profession,” AICPA Chairman S. Scott Voynich stated in an AICPA press release. “He will continue to serve the profession with the same passion and dedication as he has done in the past, and at this juncture these skills are needed more than ever.”

Others have seen the AICPA as drifting from its traditional role as a professional, not a trade, organization. The New York State Society of CPAs Board of Directors last October sent a letter to then chairman William F. Ezzell urging the AICPA to “return to its professional association roots.”

“I hope Barry Melancon does a fantastic job for the AICPA and the profession,” NYSSCPA President Jeff Hoops said. “I think right now they are responding; I think they’ve recently taken a lot of steps to make them a professional organization.”

Hoops pointed to the AICPA’s audit center as an example of its efforts. The AICPA last year replaced its Securities and Exchange Commission Practice Section with a Center for Public Company Audit Firms, a voluntary membership group that would support—via education, communication, representation and other means—member firms that practice or are interested in practicing before the SEC and the PCAOB.

“I think it’s fair to say we try to listen carefully to all our members,” AICPA spokesman Robert Becton said. “And when we looked at renewing his contract, what Barry has done and continues to bring to the Institute eclipses past issues.”

The AICPA did not release any other details about the contract.

Voynich said in a statement that Melancon and the AICPA would focus on reliable, timely, transparent financial reporting and transparency in peer review; quality audits; fraud; enhancing ethics; improving transparency in peer review; new professional centers designed to build stronger CPA communities and competencies; and advocacy for small businesses and firms that represent the heart of the U.S. economy.

In a separate statement submitted to The Trusted Professional, Melancon emphasized advocacy of the profession.

“The men and women in our profession are a truly outstanding group of people and they play a critical role in the economy,” he said. “We have an obligation to make sure that is known, not only for the attraction of new people into the profession, but also for the services provided to a wide range of businesses.”