The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants publish AICPA Online.  The AICPA is a professional organization with more members than any other CPA organization.  The website, located at www.aicpa.org, is designed to be a site where AICPA members, and other accountants, can go to see general information relating to their profession.

The website has two main sections along with a site directory on it’s homepage.  The two main sections are ‘News for CPAs’ and ‘AICPA News/Products.’ The ‘News for CPAs’ has a wide variety of news articles.  On September 19 the site had articles regarding the IRS decision to grant tax relief for the victims and families of the Sept. 11 tragedy, the effects a recent Court of Appeals decision will have on taxpayers, and an announcement regarding the new home of the AICPA Library.  ‘AICPA News/Products’ section offers downloads, some free of charge, of studies and other tools a CPA might find useful.  Examples of those downloads include a study on the reform of the estate and gift tax and survey results of performance measurement practices.

The site directory offers a variety of links.  The section titled ‘About the AICPA,’ gives information regarding what the AICPA is and what it does.  It has two sections, ‘Introduction to the AICPA and ‘Upholding the Profession.’  The introduction states why the AICPA exists, how to become a member and other related information.  ‘Upholding the profession’ has the organization’s mission statement, code of professional conduct, and bylaws.  There is a section titled ‘Career Resources/Resume Match’ that gives advice to accountants seeking entry-level position and provides a database of resumes to employers.  The directory also has a classified section, where you can search for accounting related jobs.  There are many other useful links on the directory, such as AICPA conference information, discussion groups, and state CPA information.