Dates In Time
September 28, 1908
Leading accountants meet to form the Oregon State Society of Public Accountants. Ten men are chosen as founding officers and directors.
1882 – Institute of Accountants forms.
1887 – American Association of Public Accountants forms.
1896 – In April, New York State performs the first CPA licensing. That year, Joseph Hardcastle, a New York University faculty member, becomes the first to pass the exam and be certified.
1989 – Christine Ross is the first woman to pass the CPA Exam.
1904 – The First International Congress of Accountants is held at the World’s Fair.
1905 – In November, The Journal of Accountancy debuts, quickly becoming the profession’s journal of record.
1909 – On Oct. 11, the first annual meeting of the Society is held in Portland with six members in attendance. W. R. Mackenzie, the Society’s first president, is re-elected.
1909 – The Federal Corporate Excise Tax passes in Congress.
1913 – The Federal Income Tax passes in Congress, elevating public accounting to being a trusted, valued profession.
1913 – The Society Board votes to reduce the membership admission fee from $50 to $25.
1913 – The Society Board votes to change its name to Oregon State Society of “Certified” Public Accountants and to become a nonprofit corporation. The state approves the new incorporation on Nov. 24.
1914 – The June 5 balance sheet for the Society for the nine months from September 1913 through May 1914 shows $369 in dues collected and expenditures totaling $307.01, of which $108.13 (the largest expense by far) went to advertising.
1915 - The Society has 23 members.
1917 – A Society committee forms to create a public relations campaign aimed at banks and business houses to “awaken greater interest in, and more active support for, the work of accountants.” A second committee forms to compile the mailing list of said businesses.
1919 – The Society Board passes a motion to notify the Secretary to notify the State Board of Accountancy of its wish that the CPA Examination questions used by the State Board be those provided by the American Institute of Accountants, and that the use of other questions was “unfair to the candidate inasmuch as he would be required to take a second examination for entrance in the American Institute.”
1921 – There are 2,500 CPAs nationally.
1922 – Income of the Society for the two years ending June 10 is reported as $393.48, with expenditures of $323.39, for a net income of $70.09. The balance sheet, including a surplus of $933.24 from June 10, 1920, leaves the Society with a total of $792.62.
1923 – The paper “The Advisability of Encouraging Students and Younger Accountants” is read to the Society Board. The Board agrees to foster young accountants by inviting them to the next monthly meeting, later encouraging young professionals to form their own organization that works with the Society.
1925 – The Society Board appoints a committee to correspond with the Oregon Governor the Society’s request that appointments to the State Board of Accountancy be made only to certified public accountants that are in active practice and have been so for at least two years. The Board later submits the names of 11 CPAs as recommended State Board candidates.
1928 – As of June, the Society has total assets of $1,088.11 and has 35 members.
1928 – On June 29, members of the Oregon State and Washington societies of CPAs, along with two delegates from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia, assemble in Seattle for a joint meeting. Ideas and trends in the profession are exchanged, much socializing occurs, and an invitation is extended by Oregon to hold a similar meeting in Portland the following year.
1929 – The Society now has 13 standing committees: Legislative; Arbitration; Entertainment, Meetings, and Special Lectures; Auditing; Membership; Attendance; Publicity; Nominating; Golf; Other Societies; Banks; Constitution and By-Laws Review; and Library.
1929 – Thirty-three members of the Society gathered on Oct. 9 at the Elks Club to celebrate the 21 st birthday of the Society. Four of the five living charter members were present at the meeting, each presented with “a beautiful brief case with their name in gilt letters stamped thereon.” Mr. Alex Rae presented a paper on “Changes in the Accounting Profession in the Past 21 Years.”
1930 – Arthur Berridge, the Society’s first Secretary-Treasurer, on behalf of the original members, presents to current Society members on Oct. 1 a copy of the 1909 Constitution and By-Laws of the Oregon State Society of Public Accountants.
1930 - The Society has 96 members.
1932 – The Society mobilizes additional members to augment the Legislative Committee to prepare for the upcoming legislative session. Rumor is that “non-certified men” have plans to upset the present CPA law during the session. Legal counsel is retained.
1934 – The Society has 83 members listed in its June 20 directory.
1934 – A change in the Society By-Laws creates a Life Membership category. Four members – Arthur Berridge, Alex C. Rae, John Y. Richardson, and William Whitfield – are awarded Life Membership.
1935 - Twelve candidates sit for the November CPA Exam.
1935 – The board approves by-law changes adding $1 to the annual dues of all in-state Society members, with the money going to a scholarship fund. The aim is to award an annual prize for the best all-around accountancy student at each higher education institution in Oregon.
1937 – The American Institute of CPAs celebrates its 50th anniversary. Society President Ralph Stratford attended the celebration.
1938 – The Society has 15 standing committees and three special committees (Building and Loan Audit Procedure, Accounting Procedure, and Municipal Accounting).
1939 – The Society expresses its opposition to several bills before the Oregon Legislature that propose state agency audits be performed exclusively by the State Division of Audits, operation under the office of the Secretary of State.
1940 – The Society hires Eileen Broung as a public relations representative of the Society for one year, with compensation not to exceed $100.
1941 – Two bills pass the Oregon Legislature affecting the practice of accountancy. Senate Bill 282 increases the annual renewal fee for CPAs from $1 to $5. House Bill 500 regulates the practice of municipal accounting by public accountants.
1942 – The annual Pacific Coast Accounting Conference scheduled in Portland is cancelled due to World War II.
1945 – There are 9,500 CPAs nationally.
1948 - The Emerald Empire Chapter is founded, joining together members of the Eugene-Springfield area.
1949 - The first issue of the Oregon CPA Newsletter debuts.
1950 - The first Tax Forum (one of the first CPE programs offered by the OSCPA) is held in December. The Society has 401 members.
1951 - Oregon’s new Public Accounting Law makes public accountants eligible to receive a license upon proving certain conditions. The post-war period brought a large increase in non-CPAs who advertised and claimed to do the same work as CPAs. The law will be administered by the newly appointed state board of accountancy and assisted by three committees in its administration of the act. There are 567 licensed CPAs in Oregon.
1951 - “State” is dropped from the Society’s name to be simply the Oregon Society of CPAs.
1952 - Pennsylvania adopts the uniform CPA exam, becoming the 49th and final state to do so. CPAs is the first profession to have uniform examination standards throughout the nation.
1953 - The Southern Oregon Chapter of the OSCPA is installed.
1954 - CPAs practicing from Hermiston to Ontario first meet as a group to form the Eastern Oregon Chapter of the OSCPA.
1957 - In November, the Salem Chapter of the OSCPA is organized.
1957 – The American Institute of Public Accountants becomes the American Institute of “Certified” Public Accountants.
1958 - In March, the OSCPA and the IRS put on the first TV Taxathon on KOIN-TV, with an expert panel spending an hour answering 1040 tax questions from a studio audience and by phone.
1959 - At the national level, the American Institute of CPAs Accounting Principles Board is formed.
1959 – The Accounting Principles Board is established.
1960 - The Society has 829 members.
1962 - Roughly 170 exam candidates take the CPA exam each six months.
1962 - The AICPA establishes a program to monitor standard practice and reporting.
1965 - The Society hires its first part-time executive director, Melvin Freeman, and rents office space in the Selling Building in downtown Portland. Later that year, Robert W. Hensel was hired as the Society’s first full-time executive director. Hensel leased space in the Mohawk Building and hired a receptionist to assist him.
1969 - The AICPA begins a formal continuing professional education program.
1969 - Talk of the fifth-year/150-hour education requirement began when the AICPA began working on the “Beamer Report,” which recommended additional education beyond the bachelor’s degree for those entering the accounting profession.
1970 - The Society hires an assistant to manage educational presentations. The Society has 1,494 members.
1970 – There are 95,000 CPAs nationally.
1971 - The Society hires a bookkeeper and receptionist/secretary.
1971 - The AICPA recommends a mandatory continuing education program to states.
1971 - The AICPA initiates a voluntary quality review program for local firms.
1972 - The “Metcalf Report” is released by the Subcommittee on Reports, Accounting, and Management of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Government Operations. The report severely criticizes the profession and recommends increased government regulation.
1972 - The Financial Accounting Standards Board is formed.
1973 - The Society’s second full-time executive director, James K. Lawrence, Jr., is hired.
1975 - Mandatory Continuing Professional Education requirements for Oregon certification are enacted. The OSCPA CPE Committee doubles the number of seminar presentations and adds conferences to the schedule. Class sizes doubled.
1975 - The Benton-Linn Chapter of the OSCPA is chartered.
1976 - The Central Oregon Chapter of the OSCPA is chartered.
1976 - The Mid-Columbia Chapter of the OSCPA is chartered.
1977 - The AICPA establishes the division for CPA firms and creates two separate voluntary membership sections: The SEC Practice Section (SECPS), for firms that audit public companies, and the Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), for firms that do not audit public companies.
1978 - AICPA members vote overwhelmingly to modify the 50-year-old ban on advertising and client solicitation.
1980 - Society purchases building in Beaverton as new home to the OSCPA offices.
1982 - The 95th annual meeting of the AICPA is held in Portland. Almost 2,000 CPAs and guests attend.
1983 - The Society has 3,105 members.
1985 - The OSCPA Educational Foundation is formed, with Dick Visse as the Foundation’s first president.
1985 - The OSCPA installs its first female president, Patricia K. Buescher. The Society adds its 10th staff member and has 3,500 members.
1986 - The AICPA issues the “Anderson Report.” As a result, the AICPA establishes a “Plan to Restructure Professional Standards,” which proposes six bylaw amendments. Oregon, like all states, holds statewide meetings to educate members about the bylaw changes.
1986 - The liability insurance crisis hits, and the topic dominates the Society’s annual meeting, with the discussion lasting for two hours.
1986 - The Society buys the lot adjacent to the OSCPA Center to install additional parking.
1988 - AICPA members approve all six amendments of the “Plan to Restructure Professional Standards,” one of which requires a practice-monitoring program for all AICPA members performing auditing and accounting services. The AICPA also adopts a bylaw amendment requiring all members active in the practice of public accounting (as a condition of membership) to practice in a firm enrolled in an Institute-approved, practice-monitoring program. This leads to the establishment of a third peer review program called the AICPA Quality Review Program (QRP), known today as Peer Review.
1989 - Cheryl L. Langley becomes the Society’s third executive director, upon James K. Lawrence Jr.’s retirement.
1989 - The AICPA institutes a voluntary peer review requirement (also known as quality review).
1993 - The Society has 4,230 members.
1993 - Limited Liability Company (LLC) form of business is obtained for CPAs, paving the way for liability reform and choice of business entities for CPAs and their clients. It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 1994.
1995 – Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) legislation goes into effect, authorizing Oregon professionals (CPAs, lawyers, doctors, etc.) to organize and practice in LLPs.
1997 – Board of Accountancy oversight is transferred from Office of Secretary of State to the Department of Administrative Services.
1997 – Oregon becomes the 40th state to enact legislation that modifies the requirements for admission to sit for the uniform CPA exam. The passage of the 150-hour education requirement applies to CPA exam applicants taking the examination on or after Jan. 1, 2000.
2000 – Accounting firms are allowed to have a simple majority of CPA ownership.
2000 – Oregon implements the 150-hour education requirement.
2000 – The Society has 4,757 members.
2000 – The OSCPA membership votes to reduce the size of its the Board of Directors from 22 to 9 members (not to exceed 11). The executive committee is eliminated. The change is effective April 1, 2001.
2001 – Senate Bill 20, which lifts the prohibition on CPAs accepting commissions, passes the Oregon Legislature and is signed into law.
2002 – In January, the OSCPA sends out its first e-Flash electronic e-mail communication to its members.
2002 – In July, President George H. Bush signs the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
2003 – The last pen-and-paper Uniform CPA Exam is given in November, and the following April, candidates participated in the first computer-based exam.
2005 – Oregon joins 43 other states allowing CPAs to accept commissions and contingent fees.
2006 - The AICPA, in partnership with the Ad Council, debuts a three-year national financial literacy campaign titled Feed the Pig, targeting 25- to 34-year-olds to teach them how to be wise with their money. The campaign features Benjamin Bankes as its mascot.
2008 – The Society has 4,816 members (as of March). |
