CPA WebTrust | WebTrust Facts | Helping Your Business Grow | WebTrust FAQs CPA WebTrust Fact Sheet Fleming Brockschmidt & Durkin, PLL are leaders in E-Commerce accounting practices. We are licensed by the AICPA to provide WebTrust Certification Services and issue WebTrust Seals of Assurance to the Internet E-Commerce community. CPA WebtrustSM is a unique seal of assurance which has been developed jointly by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) to break down the barriers to electronic commerce by assuring on-line customers that businesses carrying the seal adhere to standard business practices and controls. Designed to build trust and confidence between businesses and consumers, CPA Webtrust will raise the bar for electronic commerce business practices and provide independent verification that Web sites meet AICPA- and CICA-prescribed criteria. The CPA Webtrust seal granted to a Web site assures compliance with CPA Webtrust principles and related criteria. Consumers may click on the seal and access a report, issued by the CPA, as well as the CPA Webtrust principles and related criteria. CPA Webtrust principles address three broad categories: Business Practices Disclosures: The Web site operator discloses its business practices for electronic commerce transactions and executes transactions in accordance with its disclosed business practices. Transaction Integrity: The Web site operator maintains effective controls to ensure that customers' orders placed using electronic commerce are completed and billed as agreed. Information Protection: The Web site operator maintains effective controls to ensure that private customer information is protected from uses not related to its business. According to a national Yankelovich study, consumers are very concerned about the privacy and protection of their personal information -- including credit card numbers, social security numbers and buying pattern history -- when shopping on-line. However, according to the same study, consumers would be more willing to shop on-line if there were CPA assurance of a site. Only CPAs who have completed training and have been licensed by the AICPA in accordance with performance standards are qualified to issue the CPA Webtrust seal. Training, certification and licensing ensure consistent application of the CPA Webtrust principles and related criteria. The "CPA WebTrust" seal was developed by the AICPA and VeriSign, a world-renowned provider of digital authentication services. VeriSign encryption and authentication technology and practices help assure the consumer that the seal on a Web site is authentic and the site is entitled to display it. This means the seal is difficult to forge and is current. For more information about the WebTrust program visit http://www.cpawebtrust.org Back to our WebTrust page