CPEA Member Testimonials
Below you will find what some of our members say about the CPEA. To add your testimonial, please e-mail us at cpea@aicpa.org.
"Our Firm has been a member of the Center for Plain English Accounting for many years. As the Firm’s designated Audit Quality Principal, I find the email updates, reports, alerts, and other publications to be tremendously valuable. They are brief but comprehensive and easy to understand. I attend the quarterly A&A webinar updates and am able to use selected slides to educate our department on critical matters and changing rules and regulations. Our professionals have read so many publications by Bob Durak, Russ Madray, and Tom Groskopf that I think these guys could sell t-shirts in our office. Our membership to the CPEA is critical to us and is highly valued. I highly recommend membership to any firm regardless of size."
– Kerry Buchan, Principal, Audit, Windham Brannon
"Our firm joined CPEA last year and I am very pleased with the service offered, especially the technical inquiries. I have submitted many inquiries over the past year and all of the answers received were informative, helpful and well-thought-out. The responses always include the supporting guidance, and/or big four interpretive guidance, and sometimes SEC disclosure examples. It shows the staff at CPEA really spent time researching my questions which I am really grateful for. The webinars and alerts/publications are also very helpful. I highly recommend CPEA to other firms. Thank you CPEA!"
– Shan Lo, CPA, Senior Assurance Manager, Aprio
"On various occasions I have used the CPEA’s technical inquiry service to request assistance with technical issues impacting financial reporting as well as auditing standards (including auditor’s reports in special circumstances). In each request, the CPEA has been practical and timely in their responses to my request. The responses have also been insightful and they have assisted me in either confirming my position or considering an alternative that I hadn’t considered."
– Robert C. Aldir, CPA, Director of Audit and Attest Services, Berkowitz Pollack Brant Advisors and Accountants
"We utilize the CPEA member benefits weekly, if not daily. These resources are vital in keeping our firm up to date on the changes in our profession. We read and review the e-mailed monthly technical reports covering a variety of A&A topics and the e-mailed alerts and special reports covering recently issued guidance and hot topics. We revisit the e-mailed material again and again as the topics become relevant to our clients. We take advantage of the access to webcasts on hot A&A issues each quarter, and the other video webcast offered throughout the year. For our firm the best resource the CPEA provides is the written responses to written technical inquiries. We submit four or five inquiries a year and this resource provides us with clear and concise information, in a timely reply, that helps us in determining the answers to our technical issues. The CPEA saves us time and money by providing us with access to technical expertise that a firm our size would not have access to otherwise."
– Ross H Roye, CPA, Gray, Blodgett & Company, PLLC
"The CPEA is a valuable firm asset in developing our technical expertise and assisting with technical inquiries. Through the CPEA’s monthly reports, technical alerts, and regular webcasts, the CPEA is our go-to resource for navigating audit and accounting standards and understanding trends that have an impact on our practice. When we send technical inquiries, we can expect helpful, written responses from the CPEA staff, along with real-life examples and guidance links, where available, that supplement our own technical research."
– Jonathan Poppel, CPA, Henry & Horne
"The Center for Plain English Accounting is our Firm’s most valuable resource provided by the AICPA. Their webcasts and reports are concise, informative and provide numerous tips, examples and best practices which we have incorporated in our practice. Their on-site training and technical inquiry support is unsurpassed. Our membership in the CPEA and use of their resources has led to a direct improvement in our engagements, services and client communications. I would recommend membership in the CPEA to all Firms if they are not already participating."
– Mark D. Murphy, Managing Partner, LTSP, Inc.
"Our firm engaged the CPEA for a two day seminar on Topic 606. In preparation, we selected a variety of clients for case study review. The information that CPEA provided coming from that review was terrific learning. From that seminar, we were able to focus upon one industry impacted by the treatment of “functional software” vs. “symbolic software” and take that knowledge to create many consulting engagements. The CPEA has a command of this subject matter, and we highly recommend this training and the CPEA as a technical resource for all member firms."
– Jeffrey E. Mead, CPA, CGMA, Partner, AAFCPAs
"The CPEA has been an amazing resource for our Professional Practices Department. The plain language summaries of standards assist us with providing updates to our staff as guidance is issued. Their webinars provide excellent real life examples of implementation issues and considerations. In addition, their technical inquiry service has helped us on numerous occasions research some of the most bizarre technical anomalies that have come to our help desk that our internal staff could not find any guidance for. Our membership is invaluable. I wholeheartedly recommend to any firm a membership in CPEA!"
– Melisa Galasso, Audit Professional Practices Director, Cherry Bekaert LLP
"My membership in the CPEA has more than paid for itself. Their regular alerts and reports are concise, to the point and timely. As a sole-proprietor my technical resources are limited but the CPEA provides those resources many times over. Their timely written responses to my technical inquiries are a great help in confirming my own conclusions or in providing additional guidance where appropriate. The guidance they provide greatly increases my comfort level in this ever changing and complex accounting environment."
– Jim Colville, CPA, Sole-proprietor, San Diego, CA
“The guidance provided by the CPEA has been an incredible asset to our firm. The information covers a broad range of topics and is as timely as possible. They are releasing new information on a monthly and quarterly basis, which ensures they are addressing the changes as they happen. This is much different than other technical guidance, which is generally only updated on an annual basis. The CPEA provides an opportunity for our firm to stay current in a constantly changing profession in an efficient and effective way at a reasonable cost.”
-Jerome Weikel, CPA (WJPR)
“The CPEA helps practitioners stay up-to-date with the standards affecting the profession and provides guidance on matters that could likely be occurring in your practice. Most standards guidance is provided on an annual basis, while the CPEA is offering more timely content on a monthly and quarterly basis. My firm’s membership has been so beneficial to our practice. I would encourage firms to join the CPEA for both guidance on the issues you are currently facing and insight into what’s on the horizon.”
-Emil Sotolongo, CPA, CGMA, CICA (Sotolongo & Associates, PA)
“Joining the CPEA has been an excellent choice for our firm. In addition to the resources we are already benefitting from, they have also started offering on-site trainings which we are considering using in the future. I have found the CPEA to be incredibly reliable and responsive, and the guidance they provide truly helps me sleep better at night.”
-Charles B. Hall, CPA, CFE (McNair, McLemore, Middlebrooks & Company, LLC)
