Building Back the Trust

The once rock-solid trust affiliated with the CPA has been shaken harder than it has been in a very long time with the $60 billion collapse of energy trading company Enron. Accounting professionals, whether auditors at Big 5 firms or partners in small practices, are feeling the repercussions of an industry being scrutinized under the spotlight of the national media.

From an image standpoint, it seems that it can't get much worse. In a profession built on a foundation of trust, the Enron-Andersen debacle has chipped away a rather large piece of that cornerstone, leaving in its place a mix of fear, doubt and scandal. How can we respond as an industry?

There are the regulatory answers from the SEC, AICPA and other groups, but I'm more interested in considering the power of reaction on the grassroots level. It's crucial that the profession's strengths-which are all too often overlooked, especially when something like the Enron collapse occurs-are promoted from within the professional climate. It's time for accounting professionals to focus their energies on the positive development of the industry.

The goal we should all have in mind is reestablishing the trust that has been lost with the public and, in many cases, with clients. Without trust, the CPA is just three letters without a lot of meaning. Trust was the whole idea in 1933 when the SEC gave birth to the mandatory audit and gave the responsibility of that audit to CPAs. In 2002 we've lost a piece of that original confidence (due in large part to recent events), and it's time to begin the restoration process.

Steps should be taken to immediately promote the good stories in the accounting industry, which outnumber the bad ones but are almost never told. Accounting professionals should be available to discuss recent events with their clients, whether it's in a monthly newsletter or a casual phone call. We should also talk to others-family, friends, acquaintances. If you have to, make a list of your clients and brainstorm all of the positive things going on in your firm. Spread the good news, because if we don't talk about it no one will!