AICPA Launches Online Resource for Financial Planners, Consumers

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently introduced a new online resource for its CPA financial planning community. The resource offers CPAs access to a comprehensive library of tools and educational materials on a full range of financial planning practice areas, from disaster recovery and investment planning to ethics and fiduciary responsibility and more. It also offers information for consumers seeking financial planning guidance.

The site offers comprehensive guidance to CPA financial planners offering Investment Planning, Insurance and Risk Management, Personal Income Tax Planning, Disaster Preparedness and Recovery, Retirement and Estate Planning, and ElderCare/Prime Plus Services. There are hundreds of articles, checklists and calculators, as well as resources on practice management topics and members' responsibilities to the public.

The Web site also includes a calendar of conferences, Webcasts and state CPA society events for AICPA members. There are links to the Web sites of several national organizations with which the AICPA has forged alliances: the American Red Cross, Foundation for Fiduciary Studies, Jump$tart Coalition, National Endowment for Financial Education, and the Project for Financial Independence.

“The PFP Community Web site is also there to assist CPAs looking to establish a niche practice in financial planning and for CPAs in business and government who want information about this important discipline,” said Joel Framson, CPA/PFS, Chair of the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Executive Committee. The Web site includes a database of all CPAs in the United States who hold the AICPA’s Personal Financial Specialist (PFS) credential, a designation granted exclusively to CPAs who practice financial planning and meet stringent qualification criteria.

The resource is available at www.aicpa.org/PFP [1].