Background: The AICPA Foundation was established in 1922 to advance the science of accountancy and accounting education. The Board of Trustees of the Foundation includes seven trustees, one of whom currently serves on the Board of Directors. The trustees include a chair, a treasurer and five other members including the chair of the Minority Initiatives Committee, and a secretary and assistant treasurer who are staff members.

The Foundation’s vision consists of two components: (1) a core ideology consisting of core purpose and core values and (2) an envisioned future of what the Foundation aspires to be like in the future. The core ideology never changes while the envisioned future changes with the market and time. 

Core Purpose: To benefit the public by supporting financial education and ethical business behavior and promoting a culturally diverse profession.

Core Values: The AICPA Foundation:

• (Public Service) Champions the public benefit through education and information on financial issues and promotes financial literacy.
• (Education) Enlightens the public by providing independent analysis of key financial and business matters.
• (Cultural Diversity) Promotes cultural diversity within the profession to better serve a diversified workforce and customer base.
• (Ethics) Encourages ethical behavior in the financial and business world.
• (Collaboration) Leverages a national presence to seek alliances and partnerships for greater collaboration so as to be considered the partner of choice for financial literacy education and cultural diverse initiatives.

Envisioned Future (3-5 year horizon): In accordance with its core values of public service, education, cultural diversity, ethics and collaboration, the AICPA Foundation is:

• educating the public on financial issues which are within the profession’s areas of expertise,
• promoting cultural diversity within the profession,
• encouraging ethical behavior within the business world, and
• Supporting quality accounting education.

Financial Information:

• 2008 Annual Report - Provides highlights of current year programs and activities, made possible through donor support, and a message from the AICPA Foundation President.

Donor Support: In order for the AICPA Foundation to continue its strategic programs and initiatives, donor contributions are needed. To make a donation to the AICPA Foundation, download a contribution form.

Contact Information: If you have any questions about AICPA Foundation programs and activities, or wish to discuss giving to the AICPA Foundation, please e-mail to Foundation@aicpa.org.

Funds and Programs:

AICPA Foundation includes the following funds:

• Minority Scholarship Program awards merit focused scholarships to eligible minority graduate students and minority students majoring in accounting who have completed at least 30 overall semester hours of college study with at least 6 hours in accounting. Individual awards range from $3,000 to $5,000.
  
  
• Doctoral Fellowship Program awards approximately 15-20 fellowships annually to create more Ph.D., CPA role models teaching at the university level. Fellowships are up to $12,000 each.
  
  
• Accounting Scholars Leadership Workshop—an annual two and a half-day workshop for scholarship recipients, student affiliate members and other selected students to enhance their leadership, team-building, communication and presentation skills. Targeted to graduate-level students and undergraduate students entering their senior year, the workshop offers a unique opportunity for students to interact with leaders from public accounting firms and other top companies.
  
  
• College Residency Grants—provided seed funding of up to $10,000 to support week-long residency. Grants brought minority high school students to college campuses to familiarize them with the college living experience, introduced them to accounting and business curricula, and informed them about CPA careers. Programs are developed by state CPA societies, universities and experienced accounting organizations. Since the program's inception in 1997, over twenty residency programs have received funding.
  
  
• The PhD Project—The Project, which is a partnership of leading corporations, foundations and academic associations, encourages and assists talented minorities to enter Ph.D. programs and become business school professors. The AICPA Foundation is an annual contributor and cosponsor of the PhD Project

• John L. Carey Scholarship Fund—The Fund was established by member contributions to honor John Carey upon his retirement from the AICPA in 1969. Ten $5,000 scholarships are awarded annually (and renewed for a second year) to liberal arts undergraduates who are pursuing graduate accounting study at a college or university whose business administration program is accredited by AACSB International or the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).
  
  
• Judicial Education Fund—The fund supports the judicial conference program which was established in 1989 to educate judges on accounting and auditing issues. The funds are contributed by the major firms for this purpose.
  
  
• Library Endowment Fund—This fund was established by AICPA Council in 1917 as a fund from which the income generated would be used to support a central Library.
  
  
• Library Fund—A combination of solicited donations and income transferred from the Library Endowment Fund are used to defray Library operating expenses. The physical assets of the AICPA Library have been relocated to the University of Mississippi and maintenance fees are paid to the University from the Library Fund.

• Disaster Recovery Guide: A Guide to Financial Issues
  The booklet is written to help individuals struck by natural disasters regain a sense of financial balance by offering suggestions on what initial and subsequent steps should be taken and how to begin planning again for the future. The Guide is offered as a public service by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), AICPA Foundation , the American Red Cross, and the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE)
  
  
  • CPA Services for Those Affected by Disaster
    
    
  • AICPA Press Release for Disaster Recovery Guide
    
    
  • Fact Sheet/Overview of Disaster Recovery Guide
    
    
• Disaster Preparedness: A Guide to Financial Issues—The booklet focuses on helping individuals plan for the possibility of disaster—and not wait until it happens. The Guide is offered as a public service by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), AICPA Foundation, the American Red Cross, and the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE).
  
  
  • Why CPAs Should Be Involved: An Interview with Mitch Freedman, CPA/PFS
    
    
  • Working with the Local Red Cross as a CPA (Meloni Hallock, CPA and a volunteer to the American Red Cross)
    
    
  • How to Volunteer with the Local American Red Cross Chapter
    
    
  • Streaming Video: Detailed discussion of the program with comments from representatives of the AICPA, AICPA Foundation , NEFE, Red Cross, Red Cross Client, CPA, and CPA Volunteer Perspective
    

• AAA/AICPA Technology Visioning Conference—Co-sponsored with the AICPA, this conference brought together accounting and information systems academics with practitioners to explore the impact of technology on the business world and the profession. The objective was to encourage integration of information systems knowledge into the accounting curriculum.
  
  
• The AICPA/AAA/IMA/Big Firms Strategic Education Initiative Project—The Trustees, continuing their support for innovative curriculum change, committed $50,000 to partner with the AICPA in support of this collaborative effort with the IMA, AAA and Big Five firms to make the case for accounting education change. The project resulted in a monograph by W. Steve Albrecht and Robert Sack, Accounting Education: Charting the Course Through a Perilous Future.
  
  
• Foundations for the Future: The AICPA from 1980-1995—The Trustees partnered with the AICPA by contributing 50% of the cost to develop and publish a book about the profession during the fifteen years of Philip B. Chenok's tenure as AICPA president.
  
  
• Cerebellum—The Foundation funded a groundbreaking educational program in partnership with bigchalk.com and Cerebellum. bigchalk, a leading K-12 online education network, hosted the AICPA's curriculum materials on its site which will help draw educators, students and parents to learn more about accounting and the CPA profession. Cerebellum produced two educational TV shows, entitled Penny Wise and Business Building Blocks, which were broadcast on PBS YOU in July 2003.
  
  
• Indiana CPA Society Summer Internship Programs.
  
  
  • The Foundation partially funded the Indiana CPA Society's 2002 Summer Internship Program (SIP). The 2002 SIP, also funded by the Society, Deloitte & Touche LLP and Indiana University , consisted of a high school business education teacher and Beta Alpha Psi students working collectively to develop material, such as a tool kit and website, to implement the Society's Key Contact Program. The Key Contact Program is an outgrowth of the Beta Alpha Psi Accounting for the Future program, which links high school students with BAP students and members of the INCPAS.
    
    
  • The Foundation partially funded the Indiana CPA Society's 2003 Summer Internship Program (SIP). The 2003 SIP, also funded by the Society, Junior Achievement of Central Indiana (JA), CPA firms and other organizations, resulted in the collaborative development of an accounting and business curriculum for fifth and sixth grade students that is presented by volunteers through the JA Exchange City Program.
    
    
• Ethics Cases Funding was provided to partially support the development of 15-20 case studies on ethics and fraud issues in business to help improve AICPA members' awareness, competence and confidence in dealing with difficult and possibly illegal accounting business decisions. Access Case Materials. (Teaching Notes on all the cases are available to faculty on CD-ROM by sending an e-mail to educat@aicpa.org.)
  
  
• Audit Committee Effectiveness Center (ACEC). The Foundation is a co-sponsor of the AICPA Audit Committee Effectiveness Center (ACEC). The two main features of the ACEC are: The AICPA Audit Committee Toolkit and The Audit Committee Matching System. The Center will enhance the AICPA mandate to protect the public interest.
  
  
• The Institute for Fraud Studies (IFS) The Foundation agreed to participate (financially) as a founding member of the IFS. The IFS is a collaboration of the AICPA and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) that will explore the origin of and circumstances surrounding fraud so that its frequency and effects can be minimized.
  
  
• The California Jump$tart Coalition. The Foundation provided funding for the Coalition to assist in its mission of improving financial literacy for students in grades K-12.
  
  

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
1211 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10036-8775

Dennis R. Reigle, Secretary,
AICPA Director - Academic and Career Development
Tony Pugliese, AICPA Senior Vice President
– Finance, Membership & Operations
Heather L. Bunning, Senior Manager – Education & Recruitment

Affiliates