Being an accountant is no easy task. Aside from the daily grind, accountants need to keep up on the constant—and often lengthy—changes in tax code, auditing and GAAP criteria.

“It’s standards overload,” said Jennifer Schultz, vice president of member services for the Illinois CPA Society. “People can’t read everything on their own. It’s just impossible.”

Enter accounting associations, which act, in effect, as one-stop resources centers that help keep members updated on the constantly changing profession. They are gaining significance, especially as globalization has changed the way organizations and accountants operate.

The different association covers nearly every niche accountant, from CPAs to forensic examiners. Most provide educational, informational and networking benefits for members while others emphasize ethics training and public service.

But all are aimed at alleviating some of the day-to-day stress that accountants face.

The Illinois CPA Society is among the largest in the state. With more than 22,700 members, the society includes CPAs, other niche accountants and students.

“Our membership is growing and really expanding to cover that whole career path from student to senior professional in an organization,” Schultz said.

Members join for the networking and for the fully staffed research library, Schultz said. Wide membership means that the networking opportunities can be beneficial to both students and practicing accountants, she said.

The society also has educational programs, which can include conferences, courses and special interest group programs that run the gamut of accounting specializations, Schultz said.

Recently, students have become a growing percentage of the society’s membership. The society offers students financial assistance and tools to help pass the CPA exam—resources to help “get over the hump and into the profession,” Schultz said.

“We’re out there talking about the profession and it’s becoming very appealing to people in terms of career path and compensation and the variety of things you can do with it,” Schultz said.

On the other hand, the Institute of Management Accountants is a more specialized association, although Bob Brown, the president of the Fox River Valley Chapter, said the membership requirements are not too strict.

The institute has several chapters in the Chicago area. He recommends visiting the institute’s headquarters at www.imanet.org to find the closest chapter.

Like the Illinois CPA Society, the institute offers networking opportunities, a valuable way to keep on top of accounting trends, Brown said. Many of those trends are coming out of globalization and directly affect accountants.

For instance, Brown points to the issue of toys made with lead-based paint in China and sold in the U.S. Such an issue can affect a company’s financial statements, he said.

“You have to stay informed and you can’t do it by yourself,” Brown said. “You have to have networking. I’ve used networking so many times my head probably swirls in it.”

However, the institute does cater more to management accountants, “the people who help an organization go in specific directions,” Brown said.

“Accountants nowadays aren’t the gentlemen in the back with shades on and a pencil paper and calculator,” Brown said. “They are strategic advisers to an organization.”

And being an adviser means knowing tax codes and the effects of certain strategies on financial documents, he said. The institute’s certification program teaches members these management concepts.

Ethics training has also always been an important part of the institute, especially in light of past accounting scandals involving Enron and WorldCom that rocked the industry, Brown said. All members of the institute are required to have two hours of ethics training per year.

Aside from member benefits, the different associations also offer public service. For instance, the Illinois CPA Society has programs to enhance the recruitment of female CPAs.

Another association, the National Association of Black Accountants, is intent on increasing the number of minorities in accounting in addition to the usual educational, networking and informational benefits, said Charlisa Watson, the association’s interim executive director.

To do that, the organization has a program called CPA Bound with Howard University, which addresses some of the barriers that exist to certification.

“According to the AICPA only 3 percent of all the CPAs in the profession are black. This must change,” Watson said, adding that the numbers have remained flat for almost two decades.

Additionally, the association’s Money$ense program works to improve financial literacy in college students and low-to-moderate income families. The program is a partnership between the association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Regardless of the services, accounting associations offer a helping hand to an accounting profession that has become increasingly complicated, said the CPA Society’s Schultz.

“There are so many things happening from accounting and auditing standards and tax code changes, it’s very challenging to keep up with all that,” Schultz said. “Having a one-stop resource that can help you find the answers to those questions, no matter what you do, is becoming even more critical.”