It was late in the evening on April 10, 1900 that Gov. John Walter Smith signed into law the “Act to regulate the Practice of the Profession of Public Accountant in Maryland.” It was the third try in the legislature by a small group of accountants working to establish a new “profession” to help Maryland make the shift from the agricultural age to the industrial age.

Maryland would be the third state in the nation to pass this law. This same group was involved in the first two states, New York and Pennsylvania, and the CPA profession as we know it was born.

[plugin:quote]”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead[/plugin] 

That small group of accountants, soon to be Maryland’s first Certified Public Accountants, went on to start the Maryland Association of CPAs. We are proud to carry on that tradition today, and hopefully for years to come.

In fact, today, as this post is published, we are pushing for more legislation that is caught up in the final three days of the General Assembly to allow access to justice for our CPAs in firms and businesses through appeal bond caps. (You can see a complete update here.) And now, as then, our CPAs are actively talking to legislators and making our voices heard and our staff team is working hard to support them.

Which reminds me …

We recently went through our annual strategic planning process with our Board of Directors and our entire staff and started with a review of our core purpose and values. We updated our purpose to say we (MACPA) will lead our profession in transforming the world.

I know what you are thinking: Maybe too bold?

Maybe.

But then, maybe not.

Just consider what our founders did 115 years ago today!

Then watch this video …

If you believe that CPAs are critical to the world and do make a difference, then you should be one of our members or affiliated with us.

We believe in CPAs and our profession. 

We also believe in Margaret Mead’s words, that a small group of thoughtful, committed CPAs can change the world.

And we are just crazy enough to try.

Thanks to all of our members past, present and future and the volunteers who willingly give to make a difference with us so we can in turn make a difference in the world.

Do you believe what we believe?