New AICPA chair calls for unity among CPAs

NOTE: As part of the MACPA's continuing effort to convey our members' voices to the AICPA, Ezzell met in October with some MACPA members as well as with MACPA representatives of the AICPA Council and members of the MACPA Executive Committee. During recent town hall meetings and visits with firm and corporate members, many MACPA members asked, "What is the AICPA's leadership doing on behalf of the profession?" That question prompted the MACPA to invite Ezzell to Maryland and discuss the institute's initiatives. His comments appear in this article.

By Bill Sheridan
MACPA Electronic Communications Manager

Shed no tears for Bill Ezzell.

On Oct. 22, he inherited perhaps the hottest seat in the land when he succeeded James Castellano as chair of the American Institute of CPAs — a seat made even hotter by the corporate scandals, reform legislation and public scrutiny of the past year.

But Ezzell doesn't want your sympathy. In fact, he says he's "energized" by the tasks at hand.

"I've been humbled by the commitment of our volunteers and staff, of our state societies and their leaders, and of the time and energy they devote to our profession," he said. "It's an energizing process, and I want to give back to my profession in the same way."

He'll get his wish with a couple of high-priority initiatives that have moved to the AICPA's front burner. They include:

Implementing the reforms outlined in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Preventing those reforms from morphing into "inappropriate and unwarranted" local legislation that would hurt CPAs who do work for non-public companies. "That's critically important," Ezzell said. "We have to work hard to make sure that doesn't happen."
Restoring the profession's credibility. Ezzell wants to close the "knowledge gap" between what the public thinks CPAs do and the reality of the profession. "That includes reminding ourselves of how good we are, and feeling good about the things we contribute to the capital market system and the publics we serve," he said.

In other words, it's going to be a busy year. But it will be no more busy than the previous 10 months, which saw the AICPA hustling to keep up with rapidly changing legislation while dealing harsh criticism — both outside and inside the profession — at the same time.

When Enron went bankrupt, the AICPA went public in a variety of ways — including media interviews and advertising — in an attempt to bolster the profession's image. "Everything we said was immediately discounted," Ezzell said, "so we consciously made a decision to pull back. We felt we would be much more effective in dealing with the people who were drafting the legislation (that would impact the profession)."

And for a while, the strategy worked. Lawmakers listened when the AICPA and leaders from state societies (including the MACPA) asked them to slow down and talk about the implications of their proposed legislation.

Then came WorldCom, and the dam broke. Congress, the public, even President Bush demanded that something be done immediately. The Senate and House quickly composed Sarbanes-Oxley, which sailed through Congress and was rapidly signed into law.

"At that time, to vote against that piece of legislation would have been like voting against motherhood and apple pie," Ezzell said.

Along the way, the AICPA found itself dealing with criticism from people (some of them CPAs) who questioned the profession's leadership and strategies.

Ezzell said he won't shy away from such criticism. In fact, he welcomes "healthy debate and dialogue" between the AICPA and its members.

"From time to time we may disagree on certain items or even the answers themselves, but there should be no disagreement about everyone's motives," he said. "We all should be working with the purest of motives in mind, and I think we do.

"I also think we absolutely have to be united as a profession right now. We still have some issues and we still need some discussion around those issues. That's fine. But externally, we have to be one profession. We have a lot of diversity in our membership, and that means we have a diversity of views. We have to gain strength from that diversity and not turn it into anything personal or vindictive. No matter what we may believe, I'm convinced everyone involved is doing things with the best of intentions."

These days, that means working to improve the profession's credibility. And though there may not be a single solution to that task, Ezzell says the first step is for CPAs to refocus on the profession's core values — objectivity, integrity, continued education and lifelong learning, staying attuned to broad business issues, and competence.

"We have to reacquaint ourselves with them and teach our people the value of being in a profession — and of being a professional," he said. "They have to understand that objectivity and integrity are more than just words; they're something we practice and incorporate into our decision-making every day. When we believe it, practice it and let it show, we will be viewed differently in the marketplace.

"It's not going to be a quick turnaround," he added. "It's not something where we can just run an ad and people will say, "CPAs are good people again." We always were good people. The best thing we can do is get back to our core values, remind ourselves about them and incorporate them into what we do. If we do that, we'll be seen for who we are."

Contact this Author: < William Sheridan > bill@macpa.org

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