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Foster's tenure as State Board chair ends on high note

By Bill Sheridan
MACPA Electronic Communications Manager

A lot has changed for Maryland CPAs over the past six years, and Alicia Foster has played a role in all of it.

Since she joined the State Board of Public Accountancy in 1996, Foster has helped guide the state's profession through the implementation of a 150-semester-hour requirement for CPA candidates, the development of an experience requirement for licensure, and a well-publicized debate with the SEC over auditor independence.

Now, with the profession facing what might be its biggest challenge yet, Foster is facing a change of her own. After six years of service (the final two as chair), she is bringing a distinguished chapter of public service to a close as she vacates her seat on the State Board.

"My years on the board have been truly educational," said Foster, audit director and a founding partner of Abrams, Foster, Nole & Williams in Baltimore. "I've been privileged to work with a level of the profession that, to me, epitomizes why we do what we do. Everyone brings a different aspect of experience to the board, and I hope I've added the benefit of my experiences, too."

Praise from the top

There's little doubt of that. At the board's Aug. 1 meeting, Foster was awarded two citations — one from Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and one from Gov. Parris N. Glendening — in recognition of her 11 years of service to the DLLR. (In addition to her six years with the State Board of Public Accountancy, she also served five years with the Maryland Real Estate Commission.)

In making the DLLR's presentation, Assistant Secretary Mark Feinroth said there is "no more generous and gracious person to work with than Alicia," but Foster says she received as much as she gave during her time on the board.

"It's been a fulfillment of sorts," she said. "I can't say enough about how this experience has impacted my career. It made me understand why we do what we do and how important it is to do the right thing. It's just been a delight."

Though, at times, a challenging one.

The board's work in getting the controversial 150-semester-hour requirement implemented in Maryland was a particularly trying episode in Foster's tenure. Many people — including CPA candidates, professors, and CPAs trying to staff their practices — offered resistance, and it took an extensive education campaign to convince them that the requirement had merits.

The campaign worked — for the most part. Some CPAs still object to the requirement. But Foster says the requirement has brought Maryland's laws in line with those in most other states. "There are very few places you can go now where you don't have to have (150 hours)," she said.

Other challenges — the experience requirement among them — were similar opportunities for Foster and the board to bring Maryland's accountancy laws in line with the rest of the country.

"In some instances, we were trying to get our laws to look like national laws, because our candidates go to other states and work," she said. "We're looking at transferability of CPA license to other states."

And yes, the possibility exists that Maryland's state board could consider issues that surfaced in the recently passed Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, a corporate reform bill that includes many provisions that impact CPAs directly.

"So far, Maryland hasn't begun that process yet," Foster said. "But the door is open for us to look at the possibility that we might need to revisit our independence rules. I believe there may be something coming up within a year — I could be wrong, but that is my sense. We have no choice but to evaluate what we may need to do to affect legislation in our state."

Though no action will be taken toward that end during the upcoming 2003 legislative session, said Foster: "Who knows what will happen from there?"

Looking ahead

Whatever happens will be in the capable hands of new chair Jacob Cohen and the rest of the state board. As for Foster, her commitment to public service will continue with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. She is now a member of the NASBA's Computer-Based Testing Implementation Task Force, which is trying to iron out any problems related to the implementation of a computer-based CPA Exam in May 2004.

Her most important task, though, is one that every CPA faces — doing her part to restore the public's faith in the profession.

"We have to make these reforms work, rather than fight them," she said. "If the public has perceived these things as being problems, then they are problems we must overcome.

"Whenever possible, we should promote the fact that we as professionals believe the regulatory requirements we are facing are necessary, and when we determine there is a need to fix a situation, we fix it," she added. "We don't run away from our responsibilities — we face them head-on and do what needs to be done. And I believe the lessons we've learned from all this will go a long way toward improving the profession."