audit is and how audited financials are different from unaudited financials? Most users of financials statements are other business professionals who are trained to understand when they can trust financials: bankers, insurance agents, investors, etc.—not the general public. The majority of the public views CPAs as tax preparers. Being able to show CPA on a business card or website does help the public to know that the person can be trusted to prepare their taxes. Yet licensure is primarily associated with delivering audit services. Does our current licensing model actually create trust in the right way? Hiding the designation, some argue, undermines transparency and ethics rather than strengthening them. If no one shows their designation, how will the public know who they can trust? OWNERSHIP & DUTY TO THE PUBLIC For much of the profession’s history, firms had to be 100% CPA owned. By the 1990s, most states still required majority ownership by CPAs—rules meant to safeguard the high ethical standards of the profession. Today, private equity investment and alternative structures are challenging that model. Firms often separate into CPA-owned audit practices and non-CPA-owned advisory or tax affiliates. While this creates opportunities for growth, it raises the question: Does loosening ownership rules risk shifting the profession’s focus from public duty to investor profit? As one CPA leader noted, “If you remove CPA ownership requirements, firms risk becoming profit-driven corporations beholden only to shareholders. The profession’s duty to the public must come first.” This duty to the public is one that no other profession upholds— even doctors and lawyers advocate for their clients first—not the general public as a whole. Two recent Accounting ARC podcasts dive into this debate: Licensed But Silenced: The CPA Dilemma - https://bit.ly/ARC-CPAdilemma Who Owns the CPA Firm of the Future? - https://bit.ly/ARC-CPAfirm Industry leaders warn that loosening ownership rules risks putting profits ahead of public trust. PROTECTING THE PROFESSION’S FUTURE The debate is about more than firm structure or compliance technicalities. It’s about whether the CPA remains the gold standard of trust—or fades into the sea of other credentials. To protect the profession, we need to: Revisit outdated and inconsistent state laws and regulations; Ensure ownership structures preserve ethics and duty to the public; and Show the next generation that licensure is more than just a credential—it’s a commitment to serving the public to #improvetheworld. At its best, the CPA designation represents integrity, competence, and service to the public. Asking professionals to hide it does more harm than good. How else will the public know who they can trust? Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, is the founder and inspiration architect behind the Center for Accounting Transformation, as well as the founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, an advisory-focused CPA firm. He has been recognized as one of the Top 25 Thought Leaders in Public Accounting. You may reach him at donny@intraprise.us. 402-817-1000 endacotttimmer.com The wealth transfer legal professionals. Kent Endacott and Patrick D. Timmer are both fellows in the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, the nation’s top trust and estate attorneys. 33 nescpa.org
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