The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and its predecessors have a history dating back to 1887, when the American Association of Public Accountants (AAPA) was formed. In 1916, the American Association was succeeded by the Institute of Public Accountants, at which time there was a membership of 1,150. The name was changed to the American Institute of Accountants in 1917 and remained so until 1957, when it changed to its current name of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The American Society of Certified Public Accountants was formed in 1921 and acted as a federation of state societies. The Society was merged into the Institute in 1936 and, at that time, the Institute agreed to restrict its future members to CPAs.
The use of committees began even before the AAPA was formed in 1887. At the first meeting of what would become the AAPA on December 22, 1886, those present authorized the appointment of a committee to draft rules and regulations. Beyond this first preliminary committee, the first Bylaws of the AAPA in 1897 established three committees: Finance and Audit Committee, Committee on Elections, Qualifications and Examinations, and the Committee on Bylaws. The number of committees grew continually over the years.
(For more information, see the AICPA website section on History of AICPA Volunteering.)
