(002) How defending CPA licensure protects the public

Critical professional licensing laws are under attack in legislatures throughout the nation. But CPAs are fighting back to protect the public interest.

Legislators on both sides of the aisle have been pushing for laws that would eliminate professional licensure requirements in a handful of states across the country.

Accounting professionals and state CPA societies have been fighting to preserve professional licensing rules because they protect the public. Licensing rules give consumers comfort that when they hire a CPA, they will be working with a professional who is held to high standards of expertise, training, and continuing professional education.

In this episode, CPA society leaders Judy Proctor, CPA, CGMA, and Ron Gitz, CPA, CGMA, explain how the public and members of the CPA profession can rally around licensure provisions. Proctor (West Virginia) and Gitz (Louisiana) have been on the front lines of these efforts in their respective states.

TALKING POINTS

• Why licensing is more important in some professions than in others.
• What polling shows about the public’s perception about the importance of licensing regulations.
• How legislators respond when CPA leaders try to educate them on the importance of licensing.
• How the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL) is bringing together leaders of multiple professions to assist in advocating for licensure. 

To find out more about multidisciplinary efforts to protect CPA licensure, please visit the ARPL site at responsiblelicensing.org.

Visit our Purpose In Action page at AICPA.org.

Connect with our guests Ron Gitz. and Judy Proctor.

Feedback and comments welcomed at [e-mail]

This is a podcast from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.