I "have all the time in the world" 😁 It’s a shame you won't be getting involved, because in my experience, things only actually get better when people who truly know their stuff step up—people who aren't just looking for a quick handout. If we don't take the lead, someone else will step in and make decisions for us, and that’s just a losing game. 😉
So, they gave me the contractor's full name, but then someone tried to claim that CCPA doesn't apply to their data because they have legal personhood. 🤷
Honestly, your perspective is incredibly negative—I’d even go as far as saying it’s insulting. Luckily, I haven't had the misfortune of dealing with people like you.
I’m genuinely curious: who exactly should be regulating this profession, and what specific things would they even regulate? How many negative audit reports actually turn up at companies that have been audited, or how many fines are issued because of a bad report when it wasn't the management's fault, but rather the accountant's? Trashing the entire profession and generalizing problems like this just shows a total lack of knowledge, information, and insight into how things actually work. It’s a trivial way to diminish the value of people based on the work they do. It's not like I failed at being a hairdresser or a waiter. I've been working in accounting for quite a few years now, and I am extremely happy with my job and my income. I believe things can be better, and that’s exactly why I’m involved in this. My commitment goes much deeper than just sitting behind a keyboard and anonymously spitting venom on a forum.
Since anyone can call themselves an entrepreneur these days, I’m not even going to bother debating whether formal education should be a prerequisite for anything.
We spend our time tracking business moves made by people who—let's face it—might not have even finished middle school. More often than not, they have little to no grasp of the law, and frankly, they don't care to learn it. Entrepreneurs are the ones driving the market, not accountants. We’re just here to document the wreckage or the wins they leave behind.
Regardless, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is active, the association is coming together, and I really hope my colleagues step up. We need to be the ones actually sitting at the table shaping the rules for the accounting profession, rather than just watching from the sidelines.
I wanted to point out that right now is our window of opportunity to actually have a say in how the accounting profession gets regulated. Whether you’re for or against licensing, or whether you hold a PhD or just a high school diploma, we all share the same stake in this—we all practice accounting, and the rules of the game are being rewritten as we speak. It honestly blows my mind how little people care about getting involved. When it’s time to complain and play the victim, everyone’s an expert, but when it comes down to actually getting off your ass and doing something, suddenly everyone is too busy...
U.S. Chamber of Commerce The call for the plenary session has been posted, and if you look to the left at the supporting documents, the proposed bylaws have arrived as well. It actually made it through. 🎉
I just want to weigh in here for the sake of clarity. I’ve never said we don't need education—honestly, I know plenty of colleagues who pour massive amounts of time and resources into staying sharp. My issue was specifically with the proposal for 160 hours of mandatory annual training. To me, that just feels excessive.
As for everything else being discussed, I completely disagree. There’s really no point in playing these "push and pull" games, especially since nobody has laid out any concrete details regarding who will handle this or how it will actually work. At this stage, the only tangible step toward licensing is the set of proposals from the auditing chamber. The idea of introducing voluntary licensing is something most people would actually welcome. When a business owner decides which accountant to hire based solely on whoever offers the lowest price—without ever checking if they actually know what they're doing—that’s just one more symptom of pure entrepreneurial irresponsibility.
I think you’re looking at this licensing issue way too superficially; what you wrote is just a drop in the bucket. I’m not even sure if you’ve actually looked at all the requirements they slap on you once you finally get that license.
Here’s my take: licensing is a bad move for a dozen different reasons. First off, the proposed price tag is astronomical. Then you have a massive chunk of accountants who won't meet these criteria—which, by the way, doesn't mean they aren't experts at what they do. Instead, this will mostly benefit a tiny group of people wealthy enough to stomach the costs and those required to jump through hoops for endless mandatory education hours (where, let's be honest, the seminar organizers make all the money). On top of that, you'll have an audit firm overseeing everything and pulling licenses (seriously?!?), and accountants will be forced to join yet another chamber. And don't even get me started on how hard it might be to renew that license down the road. Just looking at this list, we're talking about a mountain of cash being funneled into a few pockets, and there is absolutely no guarantee it will actually improve the quality of accounting or raise our status. It’s honestly sad to see someone try to regulate the market this way. Even the European Union recognizes that free market services are valuable and provides guidelines to reduce red tape, often pushing back against unnecessary new burdens. I’ve been in this game a long time and I’ve been posting here for years, so I’ll let my track record speak for itself. On a personal level, I work myself to the bone to provide the best, fastest service because I want to outshine the competition. It feels wrong to me that someone would try to forcibly shut out 80% of my competitors via regulation.😉
I genuinely wonder: who exactly thinks they have the right to dictate how this profession should be organized?
And one more thing—what about the entrepreneurs who are basically running wild in the market? Do they need special education, a license, or some other hoop to jump through? They do whatever they want. Some of them haven't even bothered to read a single law because they think it’s irrelevant, yet they hire employees who end up depending on these amateur bosses for their livelihoods...
We’ve been putting in quite a bit of work through IPRH lately, but I wanted to shift some focus toward these other associations. In my view, being active on multiple fronts is always more productive. My goal here is to encourage as many accountants as possible to weigh in. We should be the ones driving the conversation and taking the lead when it comes to regulating our profession.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce just put out a call for interest. I’m hoping for a strong turnout—hope to see you there!
A lot was said there, but I’m not quite following—what exactly are you proposing? Which step are we talking about?
A group of us have teamed up under the Professional Accounting Initiative at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. We want to make sure our voices actually carry weight, rather than just sitting back and letting outsiders dictate our future. Whether a policy is crooked or clean, good or bad, doesn't even matter at this point. What matters is that we actually show up and put in the work to move the needle, instead of just standing on the sidelines acting like professional critics who are perpetually unhappy with everything.
Nobody is out here arguing for non-licensing or trying to invalidate specific credentials. This is simply an invitation for anyone interested to speak up, cast their vote, and be part of the solution, rather than being part of that vague, grumbling crowd that complains without offering anything useful.
Arthur Bishop6 said:Look, I run my own accounting firm, so here’s what I’m wondering: do clients have to do this themselves, and then I have to do it separately for my own business? I don't even get it. Can you actually outsource this to an expert? If yes, then fine...
Everyone handles their own. 😉
There are plenty of firms that specialize in this, and enough seminars to fill a lifetime. I attended one hosted by RIF-ov recently and it was actually quite solid—I'll likely just hand this task off to the pros next time.
The deadline is May 28th. We all need to get our acts together, though how much of a headache this becomes really depends on what kind of data you’re handling. We're talking specifically about personal information for individuals, not corporate data. To be honest, I'm completely out of my depth here. I think I'll just pay a professional to handle the whole thing for me rather than risking it. 😉