We sum it up with three letters.

C-P-A.

Connect. Protect. Achieve!

We connect you to your profession, other CPAs, and your professional association.

We protect and promote your hard-earned CPA license by passing positive legislation and regulations, stopping bad ones, and polishing your brand in the marketplace.

We help you achieve success as a CPA by keeping you up with the highest professional standards and helping you thrive in these rapidly changing times.

Today I want to focus on the middle one: Protect.

On April 11 we watched Sine Die, the conclusion of the 428th General Assembly in Maryland, and the closing of one of the most successful legislative agendas ever for the CPA profession in Maryland, and that is a very long time.

We have been active in the legislature for 111 of those years since the passage of the CPA law on April 10, 1900. That law was advocated and created by the MAPA (predecessor of MACPA) and our first president, Max Teichmann. It was reported in The Public Accountant magazine (predecessor of the Journal of Accountancy) that the law passed and gave credit to the MACPA as follows: “…for it was through their efforts that the movement was started and carried to a successful termination.”

Well, we've done it again — five for five major agenda items accomplished. Check out our short recap (one and a half minutes to recap a whole year, and especially 90 days of the session).

Note: This is my first movie produced using an iPad2 and iMovie.

How did we do it? I like to say, paraphrasing The Beatles, that we get by with a lot of help from our members and friends. It starts with all of the members who attended our townhall meetings, our work with the State Board of Public Accountancy, the record number of members in attendance at CPA Day in Annapolis, and the volunteers who came down to Annapolis to testify on all of our behalf.

Thanks to all of our members for your leadership and support, this is how we take care of a profession!

“… for it was through their efforts that the movement was started and carried to a successful termination.”

Two final thoughts:

Let's celebrate this with all of the newly licensed CPAs at our CPA Summit on June 2, 2011 at the BWI Hilton. Registration details are here.

Also, mark your calendars for next year's CPA Day in Annapolis, set for Jan. 18, 2012.