You may be starting a movement, and from what I read from you, you would qualify as well versed “spokesman” of any such movement.

But what is so documented and detailed about her letter. From what I see it is a rigurgitation of alleged failures of accounting firms to properly audit an entity that subsequently went bankrupt. If we remember what we all learned in auditing 101, it is not the duty of an accounting firm to detect fraud or other defalcations should they exist and alludes to that in the auditors opinion.

So to me, the educational focus of a CPA advocacy group such as an AICPA is to better educate the public on what the role of an auditor is.

Nine out of every ten people on the street believe the prime role of an auditor is to detect fraud. That’s why when these case go to court, the plaintiffs generally end up winning an out of court settlement because the costs of litigation outweigh the possible damages and bad press the Big 4 firm (generally) would end up owing in the first place. They don’t win cases on their merit. That’s not to say that auditors don’t make tortious mistakes, they do, just not to the extent that the public perceives.

Thanks for listening.

I want to reiterate my disdain for nationalizing public accounting. Much to the dismay of socialists, government is not the answer to every problem. For every audit failure, I can show you ten failures in government. We can start with the response to Hurricane Katrina, the botched NSA surveillance that let 9/11 hijackers into the US, and the regulatory missteps that sparked the current credit crisis.

This is frankly a bunch of hackery. Suddenly the Madoff and Stanford mess is a reason to nationalize major accounting firms. Let’s not forget that these shops were audited by tiny no-name operations. One of the firms wasn’t even registered with the AICPA! If you ask me if I feel sorry for people who invested there, the answer is yes to a degree. However, these people are partly to blame. They were blinded by their own greed and had their own missteps. The warning signs were apparent.

Suddenly too, we want to blame the accountants of the failed banks and investment firms. Sadly, they weren’t smarter than the money managers they were auditing. They didn’t raise the red flags. They didn’t question the application of SFAS 157 in a hyperactive market. Then, when the market began to slip and valuations turned, they again didn’t question the application of SFAS 157. Yes, let the accountants be damned by the investors and the money managers and the bankers. It’s easy to blame the auditor, it’s hard to blame yourself.

Jane can take her indignation someplace else.

Thank you Independent Accountant for telling me about CPA’s for reform! I’ve been looking for something like this and have even asked Francine, but this is the first I have heard. Could you provide a link and more info about it?

Good point C College. I agree the AICPA is not an oversight organization. However, advocacy should include not abetting the failure of the profession which is essentially going on now. I wrote the AICPA suggesting that the organization establish a forum for members to discuss and make proposals for the furture path of the profession. I got a very positive letter back, but have seen nothing else.