by
Kimberly Scott
| May 31, 2019
Last year the WSCPA rolled out its new purpose statement and strategies. Our purpose statement is, “We are a community of CPAs and financial professionals cultivating authentic relationships, unique learning experiences, and purposeful advocacy for our future.”
When the Board of Directors was discussing this statement, there was a question about the meaning of
purposeful advocacy for our future. It was a great question and one that I was excited to answer. In my time at the WSCPA, I have been able to observe this in action.
Many people think about advocacy as weighing in on, or drafting bills, basically being a watchdog and staying on the defense. Although this is accurate and we do this every year, being purposeful for our future also requires strategy and planning. It requires a vision.
As a CPA, your license is issued from a state board. This is true for many of the learned professions that require a license to work. However, our economy and way of life have been changing rapidly over the last few decades. Businesses may have physical locations in many states, and even if not, they are probably doing business in many states, or even globally, thanks to the internet.
Leaders of the CPA profession saw this and made decisions to help CPAs better work with their clients. Much of this plan required purposeful advocacy.
Nationally, there is a Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA), an outline of what ideal standards should be. This document is now in its eighth edition. Used as a guide, it can help ensure states have similar laws and regulations. It updates education requirements, as well as definitions. Having similar definitions allows for the profession to have substantial equivalency amongst states. Another key definition to have in alignment for all states is the definition of attest. The states have all worked hard to get our standards in alignment.
From this building block, CPAs now have individual mobility in almost every single state and US territory. This means your license, unlike any other license for a learned profession, is recognized in other states, similar to a driver’s license. Washington was one of the first states to adopt this, and I think it is because we have forward-thinking leaders. Some states struggled to pass this legislation early on since each state can only pass the ability to allow other licensees to come into their state. This struggle could have been from a lack of trust in others or a feeling of giving up something; in either case, it did not focus on the end vision.
States are now working on passing firm mobility. Similar to individual mobility, this allows a public accounting firm to work in another state without obtaining a firm license, as long as they are licensed and in good standing with their state of residence. Again, Washington was one of the first to pass this, granting access to other states. Every year more states have been able to pass firm mobility.
Washington has once again been a leader in the next to last frontier of mobility, across national borders. We are the first state to have limited mobility with our northern neighbors, in B.C. Canada. We are working with our counterparts in British Columbia and they too endeavor to have limited mobility passed this year.
Many other professions are just now trying to get interstate mobility as we have enjoyed for more than a decade. CPA leaders were definitely forward thinking, and willing to take calculated risks to keep our profession relevant, and to allow CPAs to better take care of their clients in this new economy. It was definitely purposeful advocacy.
This is just one example and one challenge of many that the profession has overcome and will face. There are many challenges for and around the next generation of CPAs. Technology and diversity are key to future success. Rules and regulations will need to adapt to allow for new technologies to be used in audit, attest, and other lines of work. CPAs in the workforce have the challenge of constantly learning and adapting. Future CPAs will need to be diverse in thought and background to help drive the profession forward.
In January 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a World Economic Forum speech, “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.” Regardless of whether this remark energizes you or overwhelms you, the pace of change is not something we can ignore. I feel privileged to work with a profession and leaders who are willing to embrace and instigate change, instead of allowing it to just happen to us.
Kimberly Scott, CAE, is President & CEO of the Washington Society of CPAs, and Executive Director of the Washington CPA Foundation. You can contact her at kscott@wscpa.org.
This article appears in the spring 2019 issue of the WashingtonCPA Magazine. Read more here.
Read more about the WSCPA's Strategic Plan: