Just My Opinion
Re: AICPA's Plan for Global Business Designation Forges Ahead
From: Eva Rosenberg, the "Tax Mama", evarose@earthlink.net

The article, initially, does not address non-CPAs, although Antoinette does mention it later.

It's an interesting concept. As long as it does not require a CPA. Frankly, I feel that the road to the CPA credential is excessively onerous for accounting professionals if they never intend to participate in certified audits. And the two-year indentured servitude that many firms subject their recruits to is unconscionable.

Many of the people that I have seen emerge from those environments may know how to follow rules, but do not understand the fundamentals of bookkeeping, clients' real-life concerns, or how business actually operates. It's quite Ivory-Tower. (Been there ... learned much -- but only because I was older, more experienced and had been 'the client' before I got there.)

[Bob Elliot] is correct. There probably is a need for specialized credentials. [Elliot also mentions that "the UK-based Institutes have also expressed a desire to make the credential "more elite" and more difficult to achieve] -- quite elitist, but not necessarily a proof of expertise.

If [the Cognitor exam] is as practical to real life as the CPA exam -- forget it. It will not ensure that the Cognitor has a practical understanding of the issues and problems. It only assures the s/he can memorize well.

[Having at least five years of professional experience] is excellent. As long as it is not required to be in a CPA firm, but can be with any company that operates, ethically, in the field.

[Regarding receiving the attestation of two Cognitors] -- Big deal. How hard is it to get two professionals to say nice things? Ask for the attestation of two CLIENTS who have worked with the person and knows, first-hand, whether the applicant is competent.

With the advent of the Internet, people are more informed than ever before. They have less and less respect for aloof authority figures. You may have noticed a strong trend towards believing they can do it themselves (note the success of Intuit in tax and accounting). Why? Because the customer is so frustrated with the stone wall they often encounter when dealing with 'professionals.'

Keep putting up ever greater barriers and you will lose the customer. The only customers that will remain are the really large corporations -- and they generally only engage firms like the Big Five (or 3 or 1). The independent "Cognitor" will not have a place in that universe. They will be forced to work for the large firms.

Just my opinion ...

Dec. 19, 2000