Attention E.A.s

[erchess]

Ty Snags

Erchess, "PA" stood for "Public Accountant" and almost every state has them, or at least they did. .

I thought PA stood for Public Accountant but I still don't understand why Ophthalmologists (Eye Surgeons) would have had this designation. They had thriving practices as eye surgeons and the only books their staff kept were those of the practice and in at least one case of the doctor. (I asked at age 12. His Book Keeper paid the bills including her own and other staff salaries, paid him the money on which hie and his family lived day to day, kept some in the business name in case of future cash flow problems, and sent the rest to the Doctor's stock broker. She also balanced his checkbook for him and paid out of that account many of his personal bills.. I asked her if she was his mother and she laughed and told me to go back to my seat in the waiting room.)

[outwest]

In Idaho, PA stands for..

Professional Association, It's one of the legal options to name a professional corporation.

BTW, the we still have a very few Licensed public accountants; the grandfathered version of a CPA.

[thomtax]

What would PA have stood for? As far as I know neither man was running a side business as an Accountant.

I dunno, I didn't go to him. Perhaps "Professional Association"

There are several definitions for many of the "initials". One I can think of is CMA
Certified Medical Assistant; Certified Management Accountant and I think I have read another one somewhere.

[JCH]

Black Bart wrote: "What about Sam's "legal reasons," L T?

Bart - IMO, Sam is a little off-target. The roots of the enrolled agent designation trace back to the Enabling Act of 1884. The legislation allowed the Treasury to recognize attorneys and agents. There were various regulatory actions with C230 eventually evolving. There were revisions etc. and (from what I've been told and I believe it to be reliable) the 1966 revision of C230 first use the phrase "enrolled agent" to universally describe those who were admitted to practice before the IRS. The formation of NAEA in 1972 runs concurrent with the appointment of the late Les Shapiro as Director of Practice. Les was a strong advocate for EAs. The phrase "enrolled agent" is a creation of Treasury. There is legislation in Congress right now to formalize enrolled agent into the IRC.

EVERYONE has an opinion about the "correct" designation for enrolled agents. I would suggest those who are EAs work to promote themselves as tax experts. NAEA continues to make progress in this area - probably the most recent public recognition was the 8 enrolled agents who appeared on the NBC Today show as "the" tax experts who answered over 700 tax questions from viewers. But without any doubt, the most successful way to promote the EA designation is by telling your clients how great you are as a tax professional!!! I respect Roland's opinion and he is correct to some degree. But, IMO, the answer is not to change the name - the answer is to self-promote. Make your clients aware of who you are.

Personally, I view CPAs as professional colleagues. They have certain skill sets I don't have. But, then I have certain tax skills that some of them do not have (nor desire to have). I don't understand the attempt by some to knock others when it's so much easier to build myself up.

I'd have to disagree about the "Self-Promote" idea. I get pretty tired having to explain what an Enrolled Agent is to the general public. It's a confusing, archaic title at best. Maybe since the title was invented around the Civil War it's time to update it to something more contemporary and meaningful.