September 2001

XYZ Forums Wrap Up, New York Members Still Opposed

NEW YORK—The last of 12 XYZ educational seminars held at selected NYSSCPA chapter meetings recently concluded and members remain overwhelmingly opposed to the proposed global credential.

Jointly sponsored by the New York State Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs, the meetings were arranged in response to a directive of the AICPA Council in May 2001 for the AICPA to better educate its members on the pros and cons of the controversial credential. To accomplish this objective, the Society’s leadership organized meetings in chapters across the state. The AICPA accepted six of the 12 invitations. Approximately 500 CPAs attended the sessions to listen and to voice their comments.

Members attending the Aug. 22 Staten Island forum said the XYZ “dilutes the CPA profession” and is a “slap in the face” to those who hold a CPA license. According to NYSSCPA staff who attended the Queens forum held on Aug. 27, not one of the 16 Society members left the session with favorable comments about the credential.

And at the Aug. 23 Buffalo Symposium, held the same night as the Buffalo XYZ seminar that drew 19 people, 60 additional members took advantage of the opportunity to discuss the credential with their peers and subsequently held a vote on the controversial designation. Though two people abstained, no one supported the credential.

Members also expressed anger that the materials distributed by the AICPA were not objective representations of the pros and cons of the issue, but were promotional marketing materials that were biased.

Members at the Brooklyn, Nassau/Suffolk, Rochester, Southern Tier, Manhattan/Bronx, Westchester, Adirondack, Mid-Hudson and Central Southern Tier chapter meetings yielded similar sentiments and concerns.

“What I think did come out of it was useful dialogue,” said Marc Schain, president of the Mid-Hudson chapter. “If anything, people’s opinions became clearer. I didn’t hear too many people (at the start) who were for the credential, and, if anything, the people (who attended) were a little bit more adamant in their position.”

Other Organizations Respond

Additional societies have gone on record as opposed to the credential. The Nebraska Society of CPAs has joined the ranks of societies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Jersey, North Carolina, Washington and Illinois in opposition to the credential.

When asked whether the Nebraska Society should “use its resources to support the AICPA’s efforts to establish a new global interdisciplinary credential,” 618, or 94.2 percent, of the 650 Nebraska members who responded to the one-question survey mailed on June 8 said no. Thirty-eight, or 4.8 percent, voted yes. The vote represented 25 percent of the total membership.

“…The Nebraska Society will not expend any more time or funds on promoting the global interdisciplinary credential, and the AICPA is urged to direct its available resources to better educating the public about the CPA credential,” stated a motion passed by the Nebraska Society’s Board of Directors on Aug. 24.

Just days after the Nebraska Society’s announcement on XYZ, Chicago-based accounting and auditing firm BDO Seidman, ranked the seventh largest accounting firm by Public Accounting Report in 2000, called the proposed credential “ill-conceived” and asked the AICPA through a letter mailed on Sept. 5 to drop the initiative. Big five accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers publicly opposed further development of the credential this past spring.

“Finally, and of paramount concern, the AICPA’s promotion of the XYZ credential denigrates the image of the CPA…As such, we believe the AICPA has undermined its constituents,” reads the BDO Seidman letter (see full text in adjoining letter).

Meanwhile, the board of directors for the Michigan Association of CPAs voted on Aug. 3 to support XYZ, an Association representative said. Michigan is the only state to formally vote to come out in favor of the credential, according to www.xyztalk.com.

“Comprehensive research (conducted by the Interpublic Group of Companies and The Taylor Research and Consulting Group) on the proposed global credential indicates strong acceptance of the credential among the pool of potential credential holders as well as a positive impact on potential student enrollment in accounting programs,” states a press release on the Michigan Association website.

A second release summarizes the findings of the Interpublic Group survey conducted on behalf of the international consortium of accounting organizations. The survey found that a majority of respondents said the credential would enhance the CPA license; more than 60 percent of CEOs said XYZ would improve their impression of the CPA. The findings do not include the number of CEOs and human resource professionals who participated in the survey.

Though AICPA representatives who attended several of the NYSSCPA seminars contend the credential would expand the professional scope of the CPA and ensure accountants a strategic position in the evolving marketplace, opposing parties argue that the added credential fails to offer any advantages that CPAs don’t already enjoy.