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Integrity in action: our core values translate into actions that drive positive change.

Article Excerpt
I have worked in the same community and in the same CPA firm, Robinson, Grimes & Co., for 28 years and have been fortunate to have been influenced by others who taught me about volunteering in my church, in education, in my profession and in the community. Working so many years in one place teaches you a very important truth that the world we create tomorrow comes from the values, the hard work and the commitment we bring to today's efforts. That truth brings consistency to our purpose and clarity to our thinking.

I will be thinking about our members throughout this next year. I will be thinking that CPAs have the opportunity to offer this country profiles in objectivity, competence and, above all else, integrity. That we as individual CPAs and as a collective force bring to American business and individual finance an extraordinary commitment to ethics. That CPAs are willing to make the right, and nearly always tough, decisions for their clients and employers. That we have the awesome power to touch lives.

I will also be thinking about change. Throughout the years, our advice to our children struggling with challenges has always been, "Take things one day at a time. If that one day becomes too much, take things one hour at a time. Just hold on--tomorrow, everything will be different." That's how the past year has been for CPAs--a tremendous amount of change challenging our ability to break it down to one day and one hour at a time.

Starting from the moment the first financial collapse hit newspaper headlines, our profession has been in the center of a whirlwind. The Sarbanes Oxley Act has shifted the regulatory environment in dramatic and subtle ways, and its full impact is yet to be known.

We have supported change and worked cooperatively and quietly with the regulators, the PCAOB, the SEC and Congress. The AICPA has been a trustworthy and informed adviser providing regulators and members with quality, professional, front-line feedback. As CPAs we often have the right answers about what is working and what is not.

How else has change affected us? It has made us better--not just as individual CPAs but as members of the profession and members of the Institute. We learned that we could not afford to become complacent about our role in American business. CPAs have...

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