The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), with over the 330,000 members, is the most prominent national professional association for CPAs (whose profession is the practice of FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING) in the United States. AICPA qualifies individuals for the practice of public accounting by awarding its professional designation of “certified public accountant” (CPA). CPAs perform financial accounting services for the general public and charge professional fees for rendering them. In addition to its professional designation activities, AICPA also supports its Accounting Standards Team and publishes The Journal of Accountancy, a monthly publication focusing on “the latest news and developments related to the field of accounting.” Objectives of the Accounting Standards Team are “to determine Institute technical policies regarding financial accounting and reporting standards, and generally to be the Institute’s official spokesperson on these matters; to provide guidance to members of the Institute on financial accounting and reporting issues not otherwise covered in authoritative literature; and to influence the form and content of pronouncements of the FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STANDARDS BOARD . . . and other bodies that have authority over financial accounting or reporting standards.”