THE YEAR IN REVIEW.

The Value of Your AICPA Membership

Welcome to The CPA Letter's annual "Year in Review." This special supplement describes how the AICPA has worked to enhance the profession and improve members' professional opportunities. In the following sections we will describe some of the more significant developments that took place during the past year. We will also highlight some of the many benefits, discounts and other savings available to members.

A Year of Challenges and Opportunities

The AICPA has been working all year on initiatives to benefit members and enhance their professional opportunities. For example, were you aware that:

* The AICPA Council has just approved funding for a major five-year, $25 million student recruitment effort aimed at promoting CPA careers to young people aged 16 to 22. This new effort is in addition to existing programs under way to attract new entrants to the accounting profession, using two innovative recruitment products: 360 Degrees of Possibilities Curriculum and Activity Kit and CPA Information Package (a CPA iPACK).

* In a significant development for the profession, CPA2Biz--the profession's Web-based portal--will be launched this month. (See the article "CPA2Biz Launches This Month in Partnership with State Societies".)

* The Institute has led the efforts in organizing a committee of over 85 member organizations to develop and launch eXtensible Business Reporting Language--XBRL--which supplies an XML-based framework that will revolutionize the way businesses create, exchange and analyze financial reporting information. XBRL and the committee's efforts have received substantial media coverage.

* In an important success for the WebTrust program, Microsoft Corporation chose WebTrust for Certification Authorities or its equivalent to be used in assessing whether to accept Certification Authorities (CAs) into its programs. CAs allow the hundreds of millions of Microsoft customers to easily shop securely on the Internet, as well as to send or receive secure e-mail or share encrypted files.

* The Institute has put in place process and staffing structures that will facilitate the development and deployment of valuable and timely new service opportunities for members. The new AICPA Member Innovation Team will eliminate duplication of efforts, streamline processes and create a single research and development pipeline. An Innovation Advisory Panel--made up of volunteer members who are the chairs of committees under the Member Innovation Team--will identify new opportunities and establish priorities for all projects.

* The Institute is continuing development of the proposed new global professional credential ("XYZ") as part of a larger effort to make the CPA Vision a reality. The AICPA, along with state CPA societies, is carrying out a member education and response campaign to create a consistently informed membership so CPAs can understand the issues when and if the credential is brought for a membership ballot. On behalf of the international consortium of accounting organizations working on the credential, an independent, world-renowned research and marketing communications firm conducted definitive research that indicates that market demand for such a global credential is strong among those who hire professional services firms and employers of business professionals. Additional research showed XYZ has great appeal among potential credential holders and found that, among college students, when XYZ is introduced as an addition to the Vision-aligned CPA, there is a tremendous jump in interest in both credentials.

* The efforts of the Institute and its members contributed to a set of final Securities and Exchange Commission rules on auditor independence that are more meaningful than previous rules and more moderate than initial proposals. The original proposed rules could have had a damaging effect on many practitioners, particularly those in smaller firms.

* The Auditing Standards Board and the SEC Practice Section are working to implement a number of excellent recommendations of the Public Oversight Board's Panel on Audit Effectiveness. Among these efforts is the development of a new risk-based audit model and a streamlined disciplinary process. The Institute was very pleased that, overall, the panel found the audit process to be very sound.

* The profession's ethics rules are being modernized. An Independence Standards Board proposal, ED 00-2, Proposed Statement of Independence Concepts: A Conceptual Framework for Auditor Independence, would guide the ISB in setting sound and consistent standards for auditors of public companies, and assist other independence decision makers in resolving independence questions. Additionally, the Professional Ethics Division issued an ED that embraces an engagement-team focused approach to independence and created a video available online to facilitate understanding of related issues.

* The AICPA Board of Examiners and the joint AICPA/NASBA Computerization Implementation Committee (CIC) are working to revise the Uniform CPA Examination and computerize its delivery...