Chair's Message
George M. Cohen, CPA
Cultivating Minorities Do you wonder why we cannot find good staff? We are all too aware of the struggle to find young professionals to staff our current and future needs. The additional workload and stress created by this labor shortage is tiring at best and overwhelming to many of us. Certainly, the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley and the growth of businesses in many areas have had significant effects on this labor shortage. So has the alarming statistic that CPAs are retiring at a three to one pace of those entering the profession. Yet today, accounting is the number one major in Why the disconnect between accounting majors and certification? I believe, to an extent, it is a result of poor cultivation of minorities. The demographics of our profession indicate we are not keeping abreast with the demographics of our communities. Starting with schools and continuing through the business community, we have not done a good job of attracting and recruiting minorities to our profession. If accounting is the number one major, then high schools, higher learning institutions and our profession have helped make it so. Within colleges and universities, there is a severe shortage of Ph.D., CPA educators. We need to be the role models for academic accounting leaders, providing encouragement and direction to educators to promote our profession, particularly within the minority population. To this end, the AICPA is developing recruitment and support programs which will be implemented at national and state levels. Leader in the profession must make a more focused effort to recruit, encourage and support minorities. It is from these ranks that future leaders, rainmakers and staff will come to help mitigate the shortages we are experiencing and build on our efforts to better secure our ability to meet the demands for our services. Think of the dynamics of the future, to better align and integrate minorities into our profession. Recruitment paths will widen. The number of recruits will increase. Doors to potential clients and employers will open through marketing and community outreach. The profession’s integrity and value propositions increase exponentially to students, educators, recruits, businesses and the general public. We must change the mindset and traditional practices long employed to build our ranks. Whether it is to broaden our advertising to attract minorities, work more closely with academic institutions and educators, provide scholarships, or simply roll up our sleeves and pound the pavements to look for ways to support this critical need. Now is the time to develop and implement action plans. Individually, we cannot afford to sit back and let the system cure itself. Talk to each other, share ideas and collaborate for this common goal. I am convinced we will all be better off as a result. I welcome your comments and suggestions to gain a better understanding of the task at hand and its solutions. I hope to talk to you soon. AZ CPA – October 2006
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