Finding and Branding Tax Pros

Accounting Technology,  December, 2006  

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The IRS estimates as many as 600,000 tax preparers are getting paid for their work. But with just roughly 300,000 CPAs and 45,600 EAs, who are the rest of these people? The National Association of Enrolled Agents, National Society of Accountants, and even the federal government are striving to figure that out in hopes of protecting taxpayers from fly-by-night shops."Our goal is to find the people and upgrade the quality of the work," says Robert Cross, a member of the Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation's Board of Directors.

"If you just regulate them without giving them an opportunity to raise the level of competency, you're going to end up with a mess." Organizations are launching public awareness campaigns and the Taxpayer Protection and Assistance Act (Senate ...