Centennial Issue - Presentation

MESSAGE FROM

JEANNINE We invite you to be part of the most exciting publication in the Alabama Society’s 100-year history.

Take a few minutes to review this brief mock-up of our Centennial Issue, a special commemorative edition of CONNECTIONS magazine.

Make a commitment TODAY to celebrate with us by becoming a sponsor or advertiser.

QUESTIONS?

Contact Communications Director Corena Cottles, ccottles@ascpa.org or Centennial Coordinator Diane Christy, dchristy@ascpa.org.

contents History of the ASCPA Dr. Jan Heier, CPA At the Beginning Aldridge Borden Smith Dukes Jackson Thornton & Company The ASCPA Story Today The Future is in Their Hands: Young CPAs Supporting the Accounting Pipeline: Educational Foundation Federal Tax Clinic and the ASCPA Member Snapshots

From the StyluS to being StyliSh thoughtS on the Second (or third) oldeSt ProFeSSion

dr. Jan heier, cPA, Professor emeritus Auburn University Montgomery School of Accountancy

1905 Journal of Accountancy is published for the first time

1906 AAPA creates a committee for study and creates ethics standards

1908 The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy

1915

The first CPA bill is introduced but fails in the Alabama legislature.

1913

1894

The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution permitting a federal income tax is ratified

The AAPA passes its first standard to include a balance sheet in a financial statement

1905 1887 American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA) is formed and issues certificates based on experience

1890

1915

Christine Ross becomes the first female CPA

The Beta Alpha Psi accounting honor society is formed.

1896 New York passes the first CPA law

1895

18

1900

1905

S

ince the invention of cuneiform writing by the Sumerians nearly 5,000 years ago, scribes have made their impact on the development of society by making sense out of business transactions. This, by definition, makes accounting probably the second oldest profession. These transactions ranged from the first “tax accountants” shown on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs accounting for the payment of tribute to the pharaoh by his vassals, to clay tablets and papyrus prepared with a stylus and ink that recorded such mundane activities as the yield of the annual harvest and distribution of food.

By the time of Greco-Roman era, accounting had developed to a point where it possessed its own language with a professional scribe called a rationales that roughly translated to “the keeper of the official book”.

These professionals completed their work using a tally system that would transform into a proto-double entry method using the adversaria (or rough records journal) to make a final accounting in the codex rationurn (the book or accounts or ledger). The term adversaria came about because people often used these personal records to defend themselves from frivolous lawsuits in the very litigious Roman society. It appears two millennia later that little has changed except for the names of lawyers. Unfortunately, the records were completed using Roman numerals that are very hard to manipulate. Imagine trying to add Ix + IL.* Enter an amazing little machine that is still in use today, the abacus.

The relatively simple accounting of the Romans spread through most of the

old Roman Empire and by the medieval period in the British Isles during the medieval period scribes called clarkes were managing the great estates of the period. Old English word clarke would eventually morph into the modern term clerk. So if you have the last name of Clark (or Clarke), chances are someone in your family tree was an accountant. Talk about dead wood!

Although these records were useful for managing the estates, they were still missing accounting’s heart and soul – the double entry ledger.

This fabulous invention would not be practical, however, and could not come about until, finally, some enterprising person in Arabia, or India or wherever, invented our modern numerical system, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), that also included an amazing and very useful numeral called ZERO. Zero allowed for adding and subtracting (you know – from 2nd grade - add the one, carry the zero) without the need of an abacus. More importantly, it allowed accountants to increase and decrease individual accounts and fix upon an end number, called a profit or loss, because once you have zero you can also have positive and negative.

Double entry accounting had arrived.

The first overall discussion of this masterful invention came in 1494 with the publication of the of the first book on accounting titled De Computis et Scripturis (Of Reckonings and Writings)* by Fra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli. The book taught the “Venetian” method of double entry based on the fundamentals of algebra. So important was this book to commerce at this time that it became one of the first technical books published using the Gutenberg

1919 1919 George Rosson of Mobile becomes Alabama’s first Certified Public Accountant

At first, the accounting profession was seen through the lens of Charles Dickens’s 1843 portrayal of Bob Crachit, Scrooge’s back office counting house bookkeeper in A Christmas Carol at a high desk with green eyeshades and shirt garters. The actual public accounting profession, depending on whom you ask, began in 1854 with the formation of the Glasgow (Scotland) Institute of Accountants and Actuaries. That institute created the core of a new English profession called the Chartered Accountant or CA. It evolved because of a need for audits of British stock companies, started

1923

1921

University of Alabama institutes its undergraduate business degrees including accounting

John Cromwell is the first African-American CPA

ASCPA Committee on Legislation begins a long history of political action to combat attempts to repeal CPA laws, or to change them to the detriment of the profession.

1910

1915

19

under the auspices of several British “Companies” Acts that that regulated accounting and reporting. Eventually, these accountants would come to America in the guise of well-known companies such as Price Waterhouse or Peat Marwick Mitchell.

The United States soon would have its own fledgling accounting profession with the designation of certified public accountant, CPA, when New York passed the first law in 1895. Frank Broaker was issued New York certificate #1. It would be another twenty-five years before the Alabama Legislature would follow suit. George Rosson of Mobile passed the first Alabama exam and would hold Alabama certificate #1. In the succeeding century, the CPA profession has become the trusted business partners to most all economic endeavors providing accounting, tax, audit and business consulting services. A profession that started with sharpened styluses recording harvests, in a mere four thousand years, has become, dare we say it, stylish.

Over the next several years, the ASCPA will publish a series of articles in advance of its centennial in 2019 and that of the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy. These articles will be on the history and development of the profession in Alabama. As part of this effort, a side-by-side timeline of the development of the accounting profession in the United States and Alabama is presented below. * If you are curious, it is 9 + 49 = 58 or LVIII *Note: This was part of a much larger book entitled Summa de arithmetica, geometria. Proportioni et proportionalita or, simply, Everything about Mathematics

1925

1922

The first board publication is The Director, discountinued in 1924.

1919

The Alabama Legislature passes the state’s first CPA law.

It creates the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy and its requisite regulations.

1919

Pacioli’s principles outline in 1494 allowed for a flexibility in the double entry system of accounting that combined utilitarian expediency and “rock-solid” orthodoxy (assets = liabilities + owner’s equity). This allowed businesses to initiate, to expand, and to flourish in a neverending stream of accounting discussed by the Periodic Principle still unchanged in most intermediate accounting classes. This allowed changes in equity capital that permitted the expansion of international trade using the “shipvoyage” as a unit of business to be closely monitored. Some say that this helped pave the way for the Age of Discovery and was the basis for modern capitalism. Over the next three hundred years, double entry would become the gold standard for business accounting and would spawn a new, and well-respected professional on par with physicians and lawyers.

1922

Ten charter members form the Alabama Society of CPAs

1919

press, invented forty years prior.

Within a short period, it the book was translated and published into most of the major languages of Europe.

Lehman vs. Alabama State Board of Accountancy affirms the right of the board to discipline its member and, if necessary, revoke CPA certificates.

The ASCPA incorporates and approves a formal set of by-laws

1927 The first local Society chapters are organized

The state board issues education and experience regulations, including two years working as a CPA or a degree from a recognized “educational institution”.

1927 Stock market crash and the beginning of the Great Depression, and New Deal era

1929 Ultramares case defines accountants’ liability in cases of negligence.

1920

1925

meet Corey Small business is HIS business at Aldridge Borden.

in Nashville. I’ve grown right along with them.”

Corey Savoie was born in New Orleans (big surprise, it’s an old French name).

He moved to Millbrook, Alabama when he was 10 years old and calls it home. He is a manager in the attestation services group of Aldridge Borden & Company, and specializes in construction and small business clients.

In addition to the growth of Price Ceiling, Price expanded into construction and ownership of retail shopping centers with Alumni Development.

He began college at Jefferson State Community College on a baseball scholarship. During his year there, he tore a ligament in his knee. With a future in baseball over, at least at a high level, he elected to transfer to Auburn for the balance of his university career.

He knew he was good with numbers and liked business, so becoming an accounting major was logical.

Savoie didn’t have to look any further than mom Patty Ward for an introduction into the career. She served as a bookkeeper at Brantwood Children’s Home for more than 10 years. And, in the way things work, James Blake, CPA was on their board. He was managing partner at Aldridge Borden at the time. Through that connection, Savoie was an intern at the firm and offered a full-time position during his time with them. It’s all about the network.

“Accounting was key to a business’s success. I learned that early on from CEO Roy Price at Price Ceiling, Inc. He became a mentor and gave me such great insight into running a business. I’ve watched them expand from a Montgomery office, to larger headquarters in Clanton and a second office

“I watched Roy put a great team together, consisting of Keith Owens, Jason Bice and many others. I observed firsthand how to utilize the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team.”

Corey Savoie

In his 12 years with Aldridge Borden, there have been tremendous changes, ones which directly have affected Savoie’s connection to clients like Price Ceiling and Alumni Development.

“Technology has allowed us to eliminate our reliance on paper in monitoring accounting functions. I work with our cloud-based accounting division for small businesses called OneSource. We use a collection of cloud-based apps, and our talented accounting managers, to dramatically change the way small business owners operate. We see more companies able to work in real time, with access to data that help them make decisions more quickly.”

Similarly, accounting firms themselves have had to learn to embrace both the ups and downs of technology.

MEMBER PROFILE

“I see some firms having trouble adapting to new, more efficient ways of doing business. We’re experiencing more competition with fewer barriers of entry. Older partners are forced to change the way they currently work.

They’re being challenged to adopt at least some aspects of improved communication through smart phones and social media.”

Savoie pointed out that clients are now texting with questions, a mixed blessing.

“Smaller firms are marketing through social media, creating a bigger impact with limited resources. Technology enables certain transactions and details to be automated, so that information is available and shared much more quickly. It’s all in the name of better customer service.”

Savoie spends his time away from the office engaging in sports, training at the gym and traveling.

“We go to New York annually to meet with a client and I’ve also gone to California, Colorado and Jamaica. We’re going to slow down a little, now that we have a new baby.”

He and wife Stephanie have two daughters: Carlee and Olivia Ray, who was born in mid-April.

“My clients are also part of my family. That’s one of the best things about being a CPA. I get to know a business owner and their employees. I really care about the relationship we build together. If anything keeps me up at night, it’s my desire to do the right thing for them.”

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join the party!

The ASCPA is offering several options for firms to participate with the Society Centennial.

Please keep in mind that more than 50% of your sponsor dollars will fund the Educational Foundation.

FIRM SPONSORSHIPS - Thursday, June 13, 2019 $2500 SPONSORSHIP [Donation to the Educational Foundation of $1300] Two complimentary registrations for the Annual Meeting CPE sessions Six tickets to the Gala Logo on Gala signage Listing in the Gala program Listing on the sponsor page of the Special Centennial Edition of CONNECTIONS magazine Half page ad in ASCPA 100 issue of CONNECTIONS magazine

$1000 DONATION [Donation amount of $500] One complimentary registration for the Annual Meeting CPE sessions Two tickets to the Gala Name on Gala signage Listing in the Gala Program Listing on the sponsor page of the Special Centennial Edition of CONNECTIONS magazine One third page ad in ASCPA 100 issue of CONNECTIONS magazine

Add a great day of gOlf – Wednesday, June 12, 2019 Young CPA Charity Golf Tournament – RTJ Golf Trail at Capitol Hill in Prattville Tournament benefits the ASCPA’s Educational Foundation and The Exceptional Foundation $700 team – Includes lunch and 19th Hole after party $500 hole SPONSORSHIP Do both for $1000

CENTENNIAL ADVERTISING PACKAGES The ASCPA 100 issue of CONNECTIONS magazine will be an enlarged Centennial Souvenir Edition. It will be 100+ pages and serve as a memento of this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

Special single-issue advertising rates Inside front cover or inside back cover $2000 Full page $1500 Half page $1000 One-third page $ 800 One-eighth page $ 300