Transparency: the new peer review watchword

CPAs need to adopt transparency as the watchword for their own rules and procedures. Professions that want the trust and respect of the public need to lay out their internal controls for everyone to see. For CPAs, nowhere is this more relevant today than with their peer review program. This is not the first time peer review has acted as a litmus test for the accounting profession. Peer review began in the early 1960s. In 1977, the AICPA created a single uniform peer review program with the establishment of the Division for CPA Firms, the result of an agreement with federal regulators after Congressional hearings. A member referendum will ultimately decide the specific ways to increase peer review transparency. At its May 2004 meeting, the AICPA's Governing Council approved a resolution expressing its support for increased transparency. Great professions take responsibility for themselves.