President’s Message

Iam an avid reader. In any spare minute I have you can find me curled up with a good book. My current favorite genre is historical fiction. I love to read about history in the form of a story. The first records we can identify as the earliest accountants were in Ancient Mesopotamia. They used the first accounting systems to keep record of crops and livestock. I can only imagine what life was like in the 1890s — almost 130 years ago. This was an era marked by severe depression and incredible scientific medical inventions like the X-ray. The earliest standardized cars were being produced. It was long before air travel, computers, and cell phones were even imagined. It was also the decade in which the very first CPA Exam was ever administered.

The first CPA exam was given in New York in 1896. The exam followed the passing of a new law that contained a “grandfathering” provision that gave experienced practitioners one year to become a CPA without taking the Exam. These individuals had to be reputable accountants in public practice since January 1, 1890. That very first Exam contained four parts and there were three individuals that successfully passed the Exam.

Over the course of the next 100 years, the Exam maintained

STACY WEIGHT, CPA

it’s four-part status, was taken by all aspiring CPAs with paper and pencil, and was offered twice a year. The next period of time with the most significant shift in the Exam was in 2004 when the Exam was moved to be a computerbased format to be taken from secure testing centers.

Along with the shift in the Exam, the accounting profession has experienced tremendous changes as well. Since 1980, the Internal Revenue Code has tripled in size, the accounting standards have quadrupled, and the auditing standards have increased by a multiple of five times. The past 20 years have been unprecedented in terms of the growth of computing power. This advancement has created a brand-new set of skills that are required of individuals in the accounting profession. Many manual tasks are now being automated.

The past 18 months alone has created a seismic shift in the way we work and do business. At the forefront of these changes is an effort to advance the profession to keep it relevant. The AICPA has worked to further advance the CPA Exam through an initiative called CPA Evolution. I encourage you to learn more about how the Exam is evolving and how that will help grow aspiring accountants and help them be better prepared for the future. You can find additional information at www.evolutionofcpa.org.

As we continue to lead through turbulent times, I would encourage you to look back at the amazing work of the pioneers of accounting. They laid the groundwork for us clear back in ancient times and can help guide us far into the future! n