April 2001

AICPA Bullish on Global Credential Despite State Society Opposition

The American Institute of CPAs continues to support the proposed global credential termed Cognitor or XYZ, despite open opposition from the New York State Society of CPAs and a number of other accounting organizations.

The NYSSCPA board of directors voted unanimously in March to oppose the global credential and is urging the AICPA to abandon the project.

The NYSSCPA board based its action on the results of a survey earlier this year which indicated strong opposition to the proposed global credential across all membership groups.

The Society is not alone in its opposition to the global credential. The Illinois CPA Society’s board of directors voted unanimously to oppose any further development of the credential one week prior to the New York Society decision.

The Illinois Society cited four reasons for its decision: strong opposition among its membership, the obligation of the ICPAS to follow member sentiment, the need to disassociate itself from the proposed credential, and the need to minimize the possibility of “substantial member loss.”

Pointing out that the results of its random survey were nearly identical to the NYSSCPA results, the Illinois Society said its members strongly oppose the concept.

Recently, Big Five accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers expressed its opinion on the credential. In a memo to PwC members who will attend the AICPA Council meeting on May 1, PwC’s ABAS Americas leader John O’Connor “encouraged a vote against any resolution” that would enable the proposed global credential.

Arguing that the credential may have a negative impact on the CPA profession, O’Connor said that “any initiative that will possibly create new uncertainties or diminish our profession’s effectiveness should be airtight, with little or no possibility for unforeseen consequences.”

Yet, despite the actions of the New York and Illinois societies and PwC, the AICPA is still supporting the global credential, recently reaffirming its support during an informal press conference.

At the press conference, which occurred just days after the NYSSCPA published a resolution opposing the global credential initiative on its website, at www.nysscpa.org, John Hunnicutt, AICPA senior vice president of public affairs, discounted the results of the New York and Illinois surveys.

Claiming that up to half of AICPA members find that the proposed global credential is “appealing or should be brought before members,” Hunnicutt said the issue of the global credential will still go before the AICPA Council meeting in May for further discussion and a possible vote. Hunnicutt also said that only about one-quarter of members surveyed were opposed to the credential.

The ICPAS pointed out that the AICPA survey Hunnicutt referred to was misleading because the results were based on responses from a select group of 400 AICPA members, officers, leaders, and Council members, rather than CPAs in general.

An article in Electronic Accountant Week earlier this month said the AICPA spokesperson insisted that a 400-person poll was scientifically more valid than the NYSSCPA survey, “in which 4,182 CPAs said they would not apply for such a credential and 1,429 said they would.”

Hunnicutt also asserted that the NYSSCPA currently has different priorities, pointing to its current drive to pass the Uniform Accountancy Act in New York.