What's in a Name Change?

Abstract

A time when the future of the profession is being redefined, we've come up with a designation that encompasses what CPAs really do. Over the years, we, as CPAs in public practice and as auditors and as consultants to client management, have had the opportunity to provide accounting, auditing and consulting services to many clients. Our clients' needs have compelled us to expand our service horizons. Here is what we have learned. The accounting profession--CPAs in public practice, working in business and industry and those in education and government--is facing profound changes. The marketplace, clients and professional expectations are suddenly different. Clients expect many more services as they constantly reassess their processes and products in order to deal with worldwide competition. Clients also expect their CPAs to warn them in advance of the effect accounting changes will have on financial reporting and to advise them about systems changes needed to meet new marketplace demands. At the same time, the profession is grappling with what services are appropriate to offer. The profession is expending a great deal of effort--with the Vision Project and the proposed new assurance services, for example--to reposition itself to face these often confusing marketplace demands. There is a need for establishing professional requirements and qualifications for information consultancy to meet the needs of clients in defining, developing and using information in a high-tech global environment. Although many people today can assist clients with these needs, some lack recognized, well-established professional qualifications. Accounting is a long and well-established information-oriented profession, well-suited to fill the role of information consultancy under the aegis of the designation "Certified Information Consultancy." In the past, the profession's literature and services emphasized financial information and the accounting systems from which it is derived. As computers bring us more information faster, it has become clear that an "accounting system" is in some ways an abstraction and that almost all of an organization's information eventually has financial significance. Today, financial information is inextricably woven together with other information needed to operate, manage and assess an organization's activities. This new, integrated information universe makes it possible for management, auditors and consultants to better understand an organization's activities and how they affect its well-being. The profession has met clients' demands by, for example, expanding its information-oriented services, improving the analytical processes in audits and using technology tools to improve other services. As the information revolution continues to gain speed and the accounting profession's involvement in it becomes more challenging, the direction the profession needs to take is clear: understanding information. A NEW DEFINITION REQUIRED We believe that "accounting" or "accountancy" no longer adequately describes a profession moving to higher levels of information management. We propose that the profession redefine itself as being "concerned with the definition, acquisition, analysis, reporting and use of information (financial and nonfinancial, internal and external) required to effectively operate, manage and assess an organization and its various activities." This definition is based on the broad concept of information and it better characterizes the profession's present activities and provides the breadth required for its future growth. We purposely draw our definition broadly, along the lines of medicine and law, to provide adequate opportunity for specialization (audit, tax, computer systems, industry, management reporting). We also suggest that the profession rename itself "information consultancy" in lieu of "accounting" or "accountancy." This best describes the profession as we know it now and its capacity for the future. …