Highlights of fall council meeting: credentials, ASB's role, audit quality centers, repositioning of SECPS all addressed.

• Position: News update

Here are some of the more significant actions and events that took place at the governing Council meeting Oct. 20-21:

* Following six months of exploring whether to keep the current specialty credentials inside the AICPA, the Council accepted the Board of Directors' recommendation to retain all three designations (Personal Financial Specialist, Certified Information Technology Professional and Accredited in Business Valuation). The approved resolution also provides for financial support for the credentials, the underlying disciplines and the membership sections. Council also agreed with the AICPA Board of Directors' earlier determination that retention strategies should not include a national branding campaign because of the costs and effort required to achieve that level of recognition. Instead, the AICPA will develop marketing tools to help credential holders promote the designations in their local markets. In addition, each of the credentials must achieve financial break even as well as a minimum number of credential holders by a certain date, or the credential program may be discontinued.

* Council approved a resolution to restructure the Auditing Standards Board and add non-CPA members to the board. Having representatives from the user, regulatory and public communities will ensure greater participation in the standards-setting process for non-public entities, which is now the focus of the ASB. The Council's action recognizes that users of private entities' financial statements have needs very different from the users of public companies' financial statements. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board sets auditing standards for public companies (i.e., "issuers").

* Council authorized establishment of the Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center and the Government Audit Quality Center, which will be developed to provide firm members a set of best practices to follow and tools in these specialized areas. The Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center is expected to be operational to receive firm admissions in spring 2004 and the Government Audit Quality Center by late summer 2004. Membership in the new centers will be voluntary for eligible firms. Member firms could hold themselves out as members of the applicable...