AICPA's New Ads - Will the Media Get the Message?
The American Institute of CPAs (ACIPA) has announced the launch of a new advertising campaign to help restore confidence in the profession. New print ads will begin to run on March 10, 2002 in the Wall Street Journal and other major newspapers. These ads will emphasize the roles of CPAs away from the headlines, engaged in the daily routine activities of auditing financial statements, providing tax services and delivering business insight. A key message is "We depend on your trust and work to earn it each day, every day."
An upbeat message
The work-a-day image of CPAs will likely provide a startling contrast with the surrounding headlines, if the media continue to report every reform effort and change of auditors or consultants as if they were indictments. Against this backdrop, AICPA's ads will convey a positive image of a large number of professionals with ethics and strong resolve -- people who are "counted on for our integrity, passionate about getting it right, and intolerant of those who break the rules." Below this message will be the CPA logos, followed by the words "the 350,000 men and women of the CPA profession."
This positive imagery builds on recent remarks by Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt. "If you listen carefully to those who address the subject of accounting and accountants," he said, "you will note that some people refer to the accounting profession, while others refer to the accounting industry. This is not accidental, but it is significant." To illustrate the difference, Chairman Pitt quoted Horizons for a Profession: "The most important and significant aspects of a CPA's services to his [or her] clients and to the public cannot be defined as knowledge, nor even as experience, but must be described by more elusive terms: wisdom, perception, imagination, circumspection, judgment, integrity… Without them, a CPA can be nothing more than a technician, regardless of the scope of his [or her] knowledge…"
Will the media get it?
Chairman Pitt summed up his message quite eloquently, saying, "I do not doubt that accounting is, should be, and must be treated as a profession. But that requires its members to act, in all respects, in a manner consonant with professionalism. If not, the public and the profession's critics will rightly consider it an industry." He is right, of course. Actions speak louder than words. But some would say the recent press about accountants has gotten out of control. So a little gentle Madison Avenue-style persuasion couldn't hurt right about now. But will the media get the message?
-Rosemary Schlank
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rethink the cpa firm partnership law
the AICPA was quick years ago to allow non-cpa's as minority parnters & owners.
since we all know consulting fees can easily exceed accounting & audit fees, the AICPA indirectly allowed non-cpa partners to control clients through consulting & higher billing.
the problem is, non-cpa's do not live up to the same level of ethics that cpa's are required to.
maybe its time to remove non-cpa's from the ownership role?
Key to Trust is Ethics
Excerpt of e-mail I sent to Professional Ethics Team last month: The fundamental issue [with Enron] was failure to adhere tenaciously to our Code of Professional Conduct.... That’s the reason both the "Wall Street Journal" and "Business Week" have – in coverage of the Enron matter – referred to the AICPA as a “trade association,” instead of the professional association that members know and believe it to be. A renewed commitment to being “free of conflicts of interest in discharging professional responsibilities” (Article IV) and to observing “the profession’s technical and ethical standards” (Article V) is what needs to be communicated and embraced at this point. At a practical level, to prevent conflicts in fact and in appearance is difficult, if not impossible; this should not, however, diminish our profession’s efforts to insist not only on meeting such a standard, but – more importantly – on setting it. The hallmark of a profession is that its members adhere strictly and resolutely to the ethical standards established to guide their conduct. Our Code of Professional Conduct does a great job in setting forth those ethical standards for our membership with the ultimate goal to protect the public interest.