Message from the President

Did you know that the accounting industry can be traced back at least 6,000 years? Research indicates stone counters in Jericho were some of the earliest accountants.

In ancient Samarian cities, bookkeepers documented wealth by pressing ends of sticks into damp clay tablets that hardened into permanent records. Double entry accounting was invented by a Franciscan friar named Luca Pacioli in 1494. Our industry was founded on a vessel of trust. Pacioli indicated three traits were necessary for a merchant’s success: 1. access to cash, 2. a constantly updated accounting system, 3. a good bookkeeper. Even Christopher Columbus took a royal accountant along for the journey in discovering the new land.

Later the innovation of Jasiah Wedgwood gave rise to cost accounting. It was the Cooper Brothers (Price Waterhouse Coopers) that created an operation of supervisors lording over clerks toiling long hours for scant pay that laid the groundwork for modern- day CPA firms.

The AICPA formalized consistency, transparency and trust in the profession.

Locally, O. H. Maschek, along with eighteen other CPAs in the area, formed our chapter in 1951 from our mother chapter in Houston. Does anyone remember Mr. Maschek? Our own Fred C. Theobald was our fifth president and is still an active member today.

Full and active participation from each of its members is our goal. As we seek meaning and purpose in our lives, consider the profession you have chosen. What difference have you made? What difference will you make? It is all up to you. Get involved. Take advantage of local CPE. Come to a Chapter meeting. Participate. Your Chapter is better because of your participation.

What impression will you make in your clay?

Rusty Chimeno, CPA
Southeast Texas Chapter President 2008-2009