My friend and mentor, Sidney Weinberg, is an example of someone who could not get or keep their CPA. Sidney Weinberg was the first president and founder of the Maryland
Society of Accountants and co-founder of Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation. Sidney went to college in California, graduated with an accounting degree, took and passed the
CPA examination, and joined, as a partner in a
local CPA firm in California. His mother-in-law and his
pregnant wife who were in Maryland called Sidney and demanded that he return home to
Maryland immediately.
Sidney returned home and
established an accounting firm in Maryland. In their wisdom, the Maryland State Board of
Accountancy denied Sidney's request for reciprocity on the grounds that
he did not work long enough in California and would not allow him to
use his recent CPA examination results to get a new CPA license in
Maryland because he had piece-mealed the examination and Maryland
required that you take and pass the entire CPA examination in one
sitting.
Sidney did not want to go through the extra
requirements for the CPA in Maryland and went to law school instead.
Sidney graduated law school, passed the bar examination, and continued
to practice accounting and law in Maryland.
When the
AICPA and the Maryland Association of CPAs introduced legislation that
would prevent a degreed and non licensed accountant from practicing
public accountancy in Maryland, Sidney lobbied and fought against the
law. Sidney won his fight in the legislature and in the attorney
general's office for years until he died in 2007. Due to
Sidney's hard work, degreed and non licensed accountants in the state of
Maryland still enjoy the right to prepare compilations and reviews
without peer review.
Sidney believed in ACAT. Even though the AICPA decided to abandon small CPAs and small firm non CPAs without any guidance as to continuing education. examination, or ethics, ACAT was there with a requirement for professional examination, ethics, and education. Sidney told me about hours spent working at the NSA office and other locations with other NSA members developing questions for the examination, in much the same way as ACAT is doing today.
ACAT credential holders voluntarily adhere to these requirements year after year. When compared to the CPA designation, which is a state license, and the Enrolled Agents certificate, which authorizes practice before the Internal Revenue Service, ACAT gives the holder no rights or privileges beyond the three Es of Education, Examination and Ethics.
ACAT credential holders voluntarily choose to be professionals. They choose to be bound by professional requirements. And thus they exceed the requirements of any state license or national authority. I am proud to be an ACAT credential holder.