Montana Society of Certified Public Accountants

The Montana Society of Certified Public Accountants is an organization of accounting professionals. Their mission is to inspire, empower and impact members to achieve professional excellence.

In 1983, MSCPA set up a scholarship at Eastern Montana College (now MSU Billings) to provide financial assistance to accounting majors. In 1986 the scholarship was renamed the Anthony Gerharz Scholarship to honor long-time CPA and professor Anthony Gerharz. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 1983-1984.

MSCPA later established a second award, the Marilyn Bartlett Scholarship. Marilyn was a self-described pushy 64-year old grandma who shook the world of insurance companies in Montana by relentlessly negotiating unprecedented health benefits cost for government employees. She attributed her preparedness, curiosity and courage to her success, advising that, “Never giving up, asking ‘why,’ knowing all the facts and being prepared to take criticism, and push-back" will take you far. In 2019, Marilyn was named to Forbes 50 Greatest Leaders. In response to the news and publicity, she said, “I never intended for all this publicity. I was just doing my job. I’m an accountant, and we dig into the data and we ask questions.”
MSCPA wanted to inspire women leaders like Marilyn in the CPA profession, thus creating an award in her name and hopes it will inspire recipients to be brave, ask questions, and dig into the data.