Managing in Troubled Times Case Study

Case Title:

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA): A Decade of Challenge and Change

Abstract:
By the turn of the 21 st century, due to a series of accounting scandals in companies like Enron and Worldcom in the US, Federal Public Policy makers felt that the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA's) authority to set accounting standards and their enforcement should be transferred to a government empowered body. Subsequently, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act established the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), which has jurisdiction over every area of CPA practice in relation to public companies. However, for the majority of practising CPA’s, who serve privately held business and individuals, AICPA retains its authority to set accounting standards, enforce professional ethics and monitor the quality of the firm practices. Since 2003, AICPA has begun many initiatives, which include programmes that would help in implementing the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rebuild investor confidence.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To highlight the growth of AICPA
• To discuss the institution's challenges against the backdrop of major accounting scandals that have rocked corporate America.

Keywords :  American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA); Growth strategies; Sarbanes-Oxley Act; Security laws; Oversight Board; Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB); Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP); Generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS); Managing in Troubled Times Case Study; Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB); Accounting Scandals; Enron; Accounting Standards Board; Securities Exchange Commission (SEC); Challenges for AICPA