*In case it isn’t abundantly clear, she didn’t actually tell you to get CPA tattooed on your forehead as that would be ridiculous. Obviously.
Susan S. Coffey, CPA, CGMA, CEO–Public Accounting at the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants has penned a little something for Journal of Accountancy worth our full attention.
In “Display that CPA” she writes:
If you possess the skill, smarts, and persistence to become a licensed CPA, that should be something to celebrate and declare in your business dealings.
The CPA license is a powerful, proven differentiator — a mark of public trust, professional rigor, and long-term career value.
In every business area in which CPAs work, including consulting and advisory, maintaining your CPA license signals an elite level of accountability, competency, integrity, and objectivity.
When trust is scarce, these qualities aren’t just valuable — they’re essential.
The CPA grants the profession the ability to provide audit and attest services. In every other service area, we work with market permission. CPA licensure helped build that market permission. And that permission equates to tremendous value for us as individuals, for the businesses we work in and serve clients in, and for the CPA profession.
If you’re a time traveler from the past visiting the 2020s (hi!) you may be wondering why this is even a thing that needs to be said. Here you go:
Here’s what Sue had to say about it:
Over time, we’ve heard reports that some accounting firms, most recently those with private-equity backing, are recommending that partners and employees remove “CPA” from their public profiles. I think this is a mistake. It is a detriment to our value and public standing because it negates the hard work we’ve done to build trust and respect and earn recognition for the CPA.
As we pointed out the last time we discussed this hot trend sweeping public accounting, CPA erasure isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Some firms have had this policy for years — going back decades even — but it is becoming more common at firms with PE in the mix and PE is in an awful lot of mix these days. More concerning, not only are firms telling staff to take CPA off their email signatures, there are reports they don’t want it on your LinkedIn profile either. At a time when interest in pursuing the CPA is at scary lows, the last thing the profession needs is to make that hard-earned credential an unutterable word. Why go through all that if you can’t flex it?
So she’s right you know. It’s nice to see someone at the top pass the message down to the serfs below.
Say it loud, say it proud, say it on your Tinder profile so you can get more tail.
