Capitol Beat: CBA Executive Director Patti Bowers
Patti Bowers recently was named executive officer of the California Board of Accountancy, so California CPA asked her to share some thoughts with CalCPA members.
How did your career lead you to the CBA’s top job.
I started in the enforcement division and, after moving up through enforcement, I moved into the licensing division and eventually became licensing chief, which brought a new set of challenges. Being part of the process in two very different divisions gave me an appreciation for how the CBA operates in concert.
What are your primary responsibilities?
Like any executive, providing leadership to staff and day-to-day management. Improving communications is also a top priority, and I’m in frequent contact with CBA president Robert Petersen, CPA.
How do you interact with board members?
In a nutshell, I implement the policies the CBA votes to move forward on. On any given day, I may be speaking with CBA leadership about pending legislation, or discussing new ways to accomplish outreach to engage our licensees and consumers. I also oversee the work that staff will bring before the CBA at board meetings.
What is the CBA’s staff structure?
We have three divisions: administration, licensing and enforcement. The administration division encompasses everything from communications, outreach and human resources. The licensing division—with which all of our licensees come into contact at one time or another—includes units that handle initial licensing, practice privilege, examination, client services, and license renewal and continuing competency. An investigation unit and program committee assistance comprises our enforcement division.
How can CPAs volunteer to serve the public via the CBA?
We have a need for CPAs to serve as members of the Administrative or Qualifications committees. The CBA is recruiting licensees with diversified backgrounds that have the technical skills, interest and commitment to serve on either committee in 2009. Being a committee member is an opportunity to actively participate in the regulation of the profession and to become an integral part of an organization charged with providing consumer protection amidst changing consumer demographics and the evolving nature of the profession.
Committee appointments are for two-year terms, and individuals may serve a maximum of four terms.
You can download more information at www.dca.ca.gov/cba/misc_notices/commapp2.pdf.
How is the CBA evolving with the profession and the consumer user of CPA services?
This is a very exciting time. Forensic or investigative accounting is the hot new major on college campuses, and accounting classes are at capacity all across the state. The CBA is looking to revamp its outreach program and leverage the new technologies to reach the new generation of future CPAs.
We are involved with national organizations, such as the National Association of State Board of Accountancy, where our board members often take leadership positions. The CBA is very much keyed in to national issues that impact the accounting profession, as well as how we can assist California CPAs in providing outstanding service while protecting consumers.
We also are dealing with moving away from GAAP and toward IFRS, cross-border mobility and mandatory peer review.
How does the CBA monitor licensees? What is the breakdown of licensees?
We are able to monitor licensees through our biennial license renewal process. As of Oct. 31, the CBA had 80,449 licensees:
• CPAs: 75,316
• Public Accountants (PA): 212
• Partnerships (PARs): 1,444
• Corporations (CORs): 3,477
What is the CBA’s greatest need in terms of resources?
Enforcement. The majority of our enforcement division personnel, including investigators and division management, are CPAs—and more than half of which are expected to retire within the next 12 months. We need qualified individuals to fill these positions and enable us to open a Southern California field office, where a large number of cases take places.
The problem is that we cannot attract a qualified candidate pool at the pay level that the state has authorized. The CBA has been working on a solution to this, and is hoping to get some resolution soon.
What is the main goal of the CBA when it comes to protecting consumers?
Education and outreach are key. An informed consumer is a much better protected consumer, and we’re updating and creating materials to help consumers know what to look for when hiring an accountant.
We’re also developing pamphlets about peer review for accountants, as well as for consumers that CPA firms or sole proprietors may keep in their reception areas.
But consumer protection also happens when CPAs make currency of knowledge a priority—they are more likely to offer the best services and less likely to make mistakes.
What are some of the issues that the CBA is expected to tackle in 2009?
Mandatory peer review is the main issue the CBA has voted to pursue legislatively in 2009. Peer review is good for consumers and the profession, and raises the bar for all CPAs licensed in California. Peer review is a wonderful opportunity for CPAs to maintain currency of knowledge and, for small firms, helps level the playing field by giving them the same educational experience that only large firms were required to undergo.
