AICPA Should Consider the Downside
Re: AICPA's Plan for Cognitor Designation Forges Ahead
From: Wanda A. Wallace, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CIA, The John N. Dalton Professor of
Business Administration, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg,
Virginia, wawall@business.wm.edu

For years I have been struck by the seemingly incessant call for 'renaming' the profession. I'm reminded of Rodney Dangerfield's famous 'I get no respect.' However, the truth is just the opposite of the loud voices which, in my judgment, fail to represent the professional accountant. The chartered accountants and certified public accountants have long been recognized as indispensable professionals who can be expected to understand economics, business, information technology, and the legal environment, and to have mastery of accounting and its multiplcity of analytical tools. I am gratified that the roots of our profession in England and Wales, the Irish Institute, and the Scottish Institute have stepped away from a program that threatens to dilute a recognized professional and prestigious designation with a 'something for everyone' complement. I have long thought that the competency-based certification process of our profession has separated it from fields where virtually anyone can hang a shingle and 'let the public beware.' I urge the AICPA to rethink the downside of the XYZ/Cognitor initiative.

-- Nov. 17, 2000