Critical mass: how PCPS has helped build the profession.

• Author: Balhoff, Bill

What do you get when you put the insights, energy, and influence of 6,100 CPA firms -- with almost 180,000 professionals -- to work to further the causes of the profession?

The answers are: critical mass and substantial progress. For more than 25 years, local and regional firms have worked together, through their membership in PCPS, to tackle problems that no one firm could solve on its own. From self-regulation to staffing, local and regional firms have gained enormous traction in these collaborative efforts. As "The true worth of PCPS comes from the strength of our collective commitment. Together, we can achieve what any one firm might struggle to even attempt. "The proof of this particular pudding is in the major initiatives PCPS has undertaken.

Protecting the public interest: PCPS's very founding shows what local and regional firms can accomplish when they band together. It was established in 1977 by a vote of the Governing Council to establish a voluntary quality assurance program within the AICPA for CPA firms, as part of an unprecedented program of self-regulation by a profession highly conscious of its public obligations. It was a time of crisis: Scrutiny by Washington in response to several major business failures was exerting pressure for outside regulation. The response came in a self-regulatory program called peer review, which changed the way our profession monitors quality. While at first the program was voluntary, in the end the whole profession--and the public interest--benefited. Peer review and the commitment to principles of honesty and integrity that make it work remain core components of the profession's identity.

Representing the interests of small businesses: Not long after PCPS's beginnings, its founders realized the need for local and regional firms to make themselves heard in the standards-setting process. Accounting standards that work for multinational corporations can burden small businesses, yet clearly it benefits the profession to work within one set of generally accepted principles. To help foster a balance between the needs of large and small entities, the Technical Issues Committee-TIC--was created in 1979. With each passing year, TIC's role as an advocate has grown more and more central. Each year TIC meets with the FASB, the GASB, AcSEC, and the AITF, to discuss local firm concerns and to make specific suggestions and observations about proposed guidance. Since 1979, TIC has submitted more than 350...