Of Cabbages, Kings and Cognitors
Re: AICPA's Plan for Cognitor Designation Forges Ahead
From: Bruce Marcus, marcus@marcusletter.com

Cognitor? Is that to accounting what "sanitary engineer" is to garbage collector?

The real question is whether this is a genuine new service to consumers of accounting and financial services, or is it just another scheme to protect the accounting profession and its prerogatives during a period of profound economic change.

I'm put off by the statement that "...if we don't do it somebody else will."  Who? The lawyers? The government? The investment bankers? Bill Gates or the New York Yankees?

The accounting profession, ever focused on its own navel, has always looked first to its own needs and perks, and then, maybe, to the consumer. There are exceptions, of course. See the latest ad by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which clarifies the responsibility of accountants to give reliable information to investors.

... The problem with the accounting profession is that nobody ever woke up and said, "What I really  need today is a good audit."  No, people turn to the accountant not out of joy, but out of need. The bank wants the information. The government demands the information. The investors want to know. And sometimes, not always, the information is a management tool.

And then there's the notion of brand. "We need," said Stinson" "to provide a brand to include what many of us are doing in practice now."  Sheer nonsense. This is like the dreadful word image, which suggests that if you don't like the way you're perceived, you can manipulate symbols to change the perception. No, you are always perceived accurately. If you don't like the way you're perceived, change what you are. Changing symbols won't help. And branding for accountants is a myth.

Maybe, then, what the profession needs is not a cognitor (they're kidding about the word, right?), but a look at its relevance to the needs of their clients and their clients' business.

-- Nov. 15, 2000

Read more Letters to the Editor regarding the Cognitor designation.