Why CPAs Should NOT Accept Commissions

These remarks represent my own feelings and beliefs. While I am an active member of the National Conference of CPA Practitioners (ncCPAp), these remarks are my own.

I am a CPA and have been in my own practice since 1971. My practice renders accounting, tax, financial and management consulting services to individuals, closely held businesses and not-for--profit organizations. These comments reflect my observations over almost thirty years of practice and my apprehensions, as well.

Why CPAs Should NOT Accept Commissions

The easy answer is: "It's not good for the profession".

It doesn't feel good; it doesn't taste good and it isn't good!

When was the last time you bought a used car (or new one for that matter)? WHERE was that salesperson's level of credibility?

Or an insurance policy. Are we really so naive to believe that the need for insurance (or the amount thereof) being suggested by the insurance salesperson is borne out of his or her altruistic sense of what the buyer needs; and not from the motivation of a commission?

Can we really trust any commissioned person as to the need for the product/service he or she is selling?

Am I painting with a broad brush? You bet I am! But that's exactly my point.

Commissions are not good for the profession (and, I submit, are not good for the individual practitioner, either except in the very short run). Can the cynical, uninformed public differentiate between the flat fee, fee-for-service (hourly) or commission product that the CPA would sell? I think not.

Selling anything on commission taints everything. And... of greater significance, it taints every other CPA whether or not he or she sells product.

Does every attorney match the stereotype? Of course not. Yet why are there volumes of lawyer jokes? Because the public paints with an even broader brush. I'm perfectly content to be the butt of "boring" jokes. I'd prefer not to join my esteemed attorney colleagues in the humor section of Barnes and Noble.

The real core issue here is credibility. Credibility and trust. To paraphrase (with apologies): Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely and commissions corrupt on a sliding scale. Without doubt there will be many ethical purveyors - those who will not be influenced by the seductive nature of the commission structure; whose judgment will not be affected, but even a small percentage of the other will taint us all - and, the profession as a whole.

The case has been made that everybody is doing it; that we must remain competitive; that to render our non-commission service effectively we must remain profitable. These are short-term concepts and somewhat hollow, at that.

Yes we are subject to dramatic forces in the economy. Yes we are threatened by the "one stop shopping" of the American Expresses. We individually, we collectively must separate ourselves from the perception of the public that we are merely the "momma-papa" version of the conglomerates.

There are almost 40 regulated professions in New York State. Once the dam is breached, one by one, each profession, in its own specific way will be looking for -product" to sell. Whether it is the physician owned physical therapy center or the architect owned building supply company these situations betray the public's TRUST! And... once that trust is gone, the independence that we enjoy and the confidence that the public puts in each one of us individually will be gone as well.

I have no issue, whatsoever, with any individual pursuing any avocation he or she wishes. I just believe that one must make a decision as to which hat he or she is to wear. The public is NOT served by the professional "Jack-of-all-trades".

The profession-wide accession to the accepting of commissions will be one more nail in the coffin of the respect and independence that this profession has fought to attain over the past century.

Charles R. Pegler, CPA, PLLC 1707-4 Veterans Highway Islandia, NY 11749
(631) 582-9090
ChuckPCPA&aol.com