After many years with no test available for the Certified Information Technology Professional, exams will be mandatory for new applications in 2012. However, the 1,800 existing credential holders will be forever grandfathered, according to Jim Bourke, the CPA who heads the CITP committee of the American Institute of CPAs.
"We were in the process of creating an education pathway, a review course for people to study," said Bourke, a partner with WithumSmith+Brown of Red Bank, N.J. No firm date has been released for the mandatory exam.
All 1,800 credential holders received the CITP because of the points they accumulated to measure their life experience. However, Bourke said that test could penalize young CPAs, who would not be able to qualify based solely on their experience. "I want to make it attractive to younger professionals," he said.
A beta test has been available on the AICPA's web site and registration has been extended until August 31. Bourke is wrapping up a three-year term as the committee's chairman and will join the AICPA's board of directors in the fall.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
