Numbers matter.

• Author: Waters, Susan B.
• Position: FromtheCEO

As chief executive of CalCPA, I am proud to be an advocate for the accounting profession, as well as our own membership. Wherever I go, I talk up the benefits of membership, especially the benefit of our advocacy efforts. However, I am often surprised to find that many CPAs don't know the positive impact of those efforts.

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Advocacy is truly important to CalCPA. Daily, CalCPA's government relations team monitors our state Legislature, not to mention the California Board of Accountancy and other regulatory agencies that impinge on what you do and how you do it.

When new legislation or regulations surface that might restrict the profession, CalCPA--staff and members--shifts into action. By advocating on your behalf, CalCPA stops damaging legislation before it passes a committee vote or before regulations are finalized.

ON YOUR SIDE

In 2002, mandatory e-file surfaced in Sacramento as one of many potential remedies for the state's budget woes.

Members, from solo practitioners to partners in much larger firms, cried foul and turned to CalCPA's Committee on Taxation and government relations team for help.

The issues at stake included: increased costs to taxpayers; the inability to e-file some forms; no opt-out provision for taxpayers; and the state's inability to guarantee the privacy of personal information online. In 2002, mandatory e-file was stalled, thanks in great part to the issues that CalCPA brought before legislators--issues that no member could have brought forward alone. With CalCPA, a member's voice instantly transforms from one CPA to 28,000. Imagine our impact and influence if all 60,000 CPAs in the Golden State were members.

In 2003, when the state budget took a turn from bad to worse, mandatory e-file re-emerged. And while some of the preceding year's issues had been resolved, there was great concern among smaller CPA firms that implementing this mandate in a single filing season, on short notice, would cause undue hardship. Also, some practitioners were experiencing difficulty navigating the IRS e-file approval process, which was required to be eligible to e-file in California. The message members sent us was clear: 'We'll try, but it just may not be possible.'

Fast forward to this year, the e-file mandate, as you know, passed, requiring most tax preparers to file 2003 state tax forms electronically. Failure to comply could subject the tax preparer to a fine of $50 per return not electronically filed.

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