AICPA and NASBA help launch new coalition to protect professional licensing

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) have helped found the Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL) - a new coalition of advanced professions focused on educating policymakers and the public about the importance of rigorous professional licensing standards.

AICPA and NASBA will work with other ARPL members to inform lawmakers of the need to maintain standards for highly complex, technical professions like accounting that have a clear impact on the public’s fiscal health and welfare. The coalition was formed to ensure the voices and concerns of the advanced professions are heard by lawmakers amid the growing debate around licensing.  

“Weakening licensing standards on a state-by-state basis will destroy the confidence in qualifications and completely disrupt existing mobility models for advanced professions like ours,” warned Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, president and CEO of AICPA. “Employers will be less inclined to accept out-of-state licenses if some states have rigorous requirements and others have weak requirements. The result: It will become more difficult for CPAs to move and maintain their careers across states.”

“When an accountant performs an audit of a business or government, the public must have confidence in its accuracy, rigor, and integrity,” explained NASBA CEO Ken Bishop. “The most effective way to maintain this confidence is to continue to have accountants show rigorous education, examination, and experience for their licensing requirements. Broad-brush attempts to weaken or undermine licensing requirements threaten to sweep up advanced professions like accounting, jeopardizing the fiscal integrity of the work our professionals do and the results on which the public and our economies rely.”

You can learn more about ARPL and the importance of professional licensing by visiting the group’s newly-launched website.