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The Next Piece of the Puzzle
Inaugural Internal Controls Audit, Board Standing Rules and New FAE Task Force Reviewed

By John J. Kearney

Continued from the Home Page

Before I discuss my goals for the upcoming year, I wish to extend sincere thanks and appreciation for the tremendous leadership and hard work that Jeff Hoops exhibited as president of the Society. Jeff gave of himself and was always there for the Society, doing a spectacular job in working with our members, our legislators, our regulators and the American Institute of CPAs. His professionalism gave us a positive voice in our goal of seeking effective and meaningful accounting reform. His stewardship is all the more impressive given the adversity that our profession has faced over the last several years.

I would also like to acknowledge our Society staff, led by Executive Director Lou Grumet. These folks work very hard to fulfill the charge of our board of directors and to keep our membership informed of all the various activities in the accounting world.

In keeping with the goals of the Society’s strategic plan, as adopted by our board under past President Jo Ann Golden, we need to continue to work on accomplishing our core purpose, namely to: “Represent the membership and contribute to their success, while maintaining the public trust in our members and the CPA profession.” Using that as a starting point and focusing on the three main areas of the plan—Professional Competency, Advocacy, and Recognition and Visibility—it is time for us to get back to basics and work together to accomplish our goals.

First and foremost, we need to work closely with the AICPA, the State Education Department (SED), the State Board for Public Accountancy, the Accountants Coalition and our legislators to accomplish our goal of effective accounting legislation and workable regulations that make sense for the profession while protecting the interests of the public. CPAs need to raise the bar for all to see that we are competent, honest and independent in pursuing the goal of protecting the public’s interest.

Ethics and peer review will be areas of major change as we enter this year. During her presidency, Jo Ann appointed a task force chaired by another former president, Brian Caswell. The committee has issued its report and recommendations to the Executive Committee and the board of directors. Now is the time for action in these two critical areas. The Society will join forces with the SED and the AICPA through a senior policy committee established by the board to implement a working model that reflects the provisions that future legislation and regulations may dictate.

More quality continuing professional education continues to be made available to our members in all areas, including industry. Here, the Foundation for Accounting Education plays such a crucial role to our membership. It’s important that we provide our members with the highest level of education that allows them to realize their full potential as competent and ethical CPAs. This way our members will be recognized for their value and the contributions they make to the public.

Continuing on the education process, we must continue to have a presence in our local high schools and colleges to promote our profession. You would be surprised to know that students have told me that they love nothing more than to hear from local businessmen and women about the jobs they perform. I have found over the last two years that when I speak at high schools, there is a keen interest in accounting and finance in particular.

The students want to know what happened at companies such as Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, HealthSouth and others that have made headlines. Many of the students are eager to learn of the challenges that we face and excited about the opportunities that our profession affords.

We all live in communities and cities with schools. I ask that, whenever possible, you get involved with your local chapter and work together in promoting our profession to the high schools. These students are our future. Let’s encourage them to pursue accounting.

On the same note, we should work with our local colleges, publicizing internships when available, participating in career days, guest-lecturing and cosponsoring educational programs.

The Society’s local chapters have also been critical to the success of this endeavor. For years the chapters have promoted the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Profession program. This program continues to grow and has produced students who are now members of our profession. Please continue to financially support this most worthy program.

As I said earlier, we need to get back to the basics, reinforce our core values and continue to improve our skill sets. We need to work together to promote our profession as honest, hardworking and competent. Over time, these steps will help us reclaim our role as the trusted professional.

If you have any ideas on how we can continue to strengthen our profession and its significance in the communities and the business world, please let us know.