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CalCPA Timeline

1901 First California Accountancy Act
1903 The California State Society of Certified Public Accountants organized.
1909 The California State Society of Certified Public Accountants incorporates.
           First board of directors meeting held in San Francisco.
1910 The first Distinguished Service Award is presented to Henry Rand Hatfield, who also received an honorary membership.
1913 Compromise amendment to bylaws established chapters and eliminated the Southern California Society of Certified Public Accountants. First Annual Meeting held in San Francisco.
           San Francisco and Los Angeles Chapters were established.
1914 Society proposed legislation similar to the English Companies Act.
1927 Society raised $5,017.50 to fight changes in the Accountancy Act.
1929 Society's 20th anniversary. Society successfully organized the first grass-roots campaign to fight Accountancy Act changes.
1931   Fresno Chapter is established.
1934 Bylaw amendment established 11-member board with representatives from each chapter.
           Society members rejected a "grandfather clause" in Accountancy Act, which suggested licensing all public accountants in CPAs.
1939 Society drops “State” from name, becoming the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.
1944 A slim majority of members rejected the second attempt to include a "grandfather clause" in Accountancy Act.
1945 San Diego and Sacramento chapters are established.
           Callifornia Gov. Earl Warren signed new Accountancy Act, which regulated licenses and added more CPAs to the State Board.
           Society published "Audits of Municipalities," which set standards for municipal audits.
1946 Dues increased from $10 to $25.
1947 Channel Counties Chapter is established.
1948 Society opened office in Los Angeles.
1949 East Bay Chapter is established.
           Society held first formal education program: The Graduate Study Conference at Stanford University.
1950 San Jose and Citrus Belt Chapters are established.
           First Tax Accounting Conference sponsored by Society held in San Francisco.
1951 Orange County/Long Beach Chapter is established.
           Second Tax Accounting Conference sponsored by Society held in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
           Society's Committee on Education sponsored a Report Writing Course in Los Angeles.
1953 San Joaquin Chapter is established.
           Society formed the California Committee on Municipal Accounting with the League of California Cities.
1955 Bakersfield Chapter is established.
1957 First Conference on Personnel sponsored by Society held in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
1959 Group Insurance Trust formed.
           Society Board of Directors appointed a five-member Continuing Education Council.
           A new accountancy bill altered the State Board to include five CPAs and two PAs.
1960 Society Board approved recommendation to increase the educational licensing requirement to four years of college or its equivalent.
1964 Society Committee on Savings and Loan created a joint committee with the California Savings and Loan League.
1966   The California Certified Public Accountants Education Foundation begins.
1969 Society opened office in Palo Alto and established a Learning Center.
           Society Board created the Distinguished Service Award.
1971 The first Accounting Educators Conference is held in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
           State-sponsored Accountancy Corporation Bill passed, which provided that all directors, shareholders and officers of an accountancy corporation must be a licensed CPA or PA.
           Society members opposed a legislative change in the accounting education requirements.
1972 Society sponsored a continuing education bill, which Gov. Ronald Reagan signed, that required all licensees in public practice to complete 80 hours of acceptable continuing education during the two-year period prior to license renewal.
1973 Society opened Sacramento office.
           The first Faculty Excellence Award and Distinguished Professor Award presented.
1978   Peninsula Chapter is established.
1980 Central Coast Chapter is established.
1986 CAMICO organized.
1992 Landmark Bonnie Moore and Bily decisions by the California Supreme Court.
1995 Litigation Sections were formed.
1996 CalCPA.org goes live.
1997 Creation of GIT Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement.
2000 California CPA magazine is published.
2001   Two new pathways established for CPA licensure in California.
2002 CPAs march on Sacramento.
2003 Financial literacy initiative launches.
           Citrus Belt Chapter officially changes its name to Inland Empire.
2004 CalCPA Institute formed.
2006 Inaugural California Summit on Financial Literacy is held in Sacramento.
2007 First Young and Emerging Professionals Conference held in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
           Inaugural Celebrating Women CPAs event held in Los Angeles.
2008 CalCPA membership surpasses 32,000.