Misunderstood Accountants Launch Ad Blitz

They’re the butt of jokes about

boring people, stereotyped as back-room bean counters with vocabularies limited to chitchat about debits, credits and tax forms.

Weary of what they consider the wrong image, certified public accountants are fighting back. On Sunday, the profession’s biggest trade group is launching a national advertising campaign aimed at elevating the CPA’s status and setting the record straight about an accountant’s range of talents.

“CPAs are more than just experts in tax and audit,” Geoffrey Pickard, vice president of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said Thursday in announcing the campaign.

He said the 320,000-member group initially will spend $3 million on a six-month television, radio and newspaper advertising assault. The campaign will last three to five years.