Recent Changes in the CPA Profession and the Regulatory Environment
             The accounting profession has had more than its share of ups and downs in the last two decades. The business environment in this period, led by major technological innovations, has changed drastically and become infinitely complex--making the job of accountants far more varied. Whereas once Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) worked almost exclusively in accounting, auditing or tax preparation, now CPA firms have to handle fields such as financial planning, tax planning, business development, financial management, information systems, risk management, forensic and fraud auditing, among others. Also, the highly publicized business scandals such as the Enron and the WorldCom bankruptcies in 2001, the resulting public focus on the accounting profession, and the enactment of important accounting legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have forced the CPAs to respond to the changes. This paper takes a look at some of the recent changes in the CPA profession and the current regulatory environment.
             Downturn in the Accounting Profession
             The 1990s saw a significant fall in the attractiveness of the accounting profession among students. This is reflected in a 25% drop in award of accounting degrees in just 4 years from 1996 to 2001 in the United States. (Inman qtd. by Colsen, p. 21) One of the reasons for this decline was that the educational model for accounting professionals had not been able to cope effectively with the rapidly changing business environment. The overly narrow scope of accounting education early on in the students' academic life as opposed to a more broad-based education coupled with the popularity of other business disciplines such as finance, marketing, and management had been mainly responsible for this decline.
             Realizing the need for remedying the crisis in the accounting profession, the AICPA (in 1988) made a bachelor's degree and 150 ...