Last week I discussed in this column the interesting, if not puzzling, situation why accountants prefer to profess their professional attainment by putting their title CPA at the end of  their names and not in front of their names.  We are unlike their colleagues from the other professions who proudly declare themselves as Dr. Reyes, Atty. Suarez, Engr. Pineda, Arch. Aquino, all preferring to introduce themselves by inserting their professional titles upfront before their names.

So, I ask this question to my fellow accountants: Is this not the time that we accountants start using an appropriate professional title such as Acct.?   A title that we can proudly place in front of our name when we introduce ourselves as accountants to our associates.  Our very own designated title of Acct. that we would use in our written correspondences.  Thus, for the first time in our accountancy history, the opportunity to proclaim:  “I am Acct. Joel Tan-Torres, and I am proud to use my very own professional title.”

We had a soft launch of the “I am Accountant (Acct.)” initiative in November 2015 during the Annual National Convention where more than 3,000 CPAs convened in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.  During my talk in the convention in the Puerto Princesa Coliseum, I showed an  audio-visual  presentation (AVP) to the thousands of accountants who were in the Puerto Princesa Coliseum last November 26, 2015.  The AVP, titled “I am Accountant,” showcased the various contributions and efforts of accountants in the four sectors of our accountancy community, namely: the commerce and industry; public practice; government; and academe sectors.  In the AVP, several CPAs presented their own narratives of what they are doing in their particular spheres of influence and all of them proudly introducing themselves as “Accountant ______.”  As an accountant, it was very inspiring to see and hear our fellow accountants’ self proclamations of “I am accountant Joel,”  “I am accountant Marie,”  and  “I am accountant_____.”  I have also to acknowledge that the production of this AVP was led by Acct. Edwin de los Santos, CPA, who is a faculty member of Liceo de Cagayan University in Cagayan de Oro City. This AVP is available for downloading from the various social-networking sites (YouTube, Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy Facebook, etc.) and the Board of Accountancy  web site.

So what’s next for this “I am Accountant” initiative?  The Board of Accountancy is preparing an awareness campaign for this undertaking of making the public aware of the importance and valuable role of the accountants in the economy and society.   Moreover, the campaign is directed to enhance the image and reputation of the accountant, as well as to promote the pride and self-esteem in being accountants. Finally, this initiative will involve perpetuating the use of the title “Accountant” or “Acct.” as a nationwide practice.  There will be a grand launch of this initiative during the Accountancy Week Celebration in July.

For the meantime, please wait for further announcements.

This is Acct. Joel signing off.

Notice: The article was written by Joel L. Tan-Torres, the Chairman of the Board of Accountancy. This is an article from the Debit Credit column published by the Board of Accountancy. Permission was obtained to published this article in this website.