The Small Practitioner
Two CPAs show that to have a viable international practice, skill and experience matter much more than size.
Profile
Larry Wills left a promising career in a large CPA firm to help grow a fledgling start-up into a broadcasting industry contender whose reach now extends into 7% of America's households.
E-Commerce
Need to decide whether the cost of investing in the technology and support to conduct e-commerce is justified? The first steps may not cost as much as you think.
Auditing
The SEC and the AICPA have established the Independence Standards Board, a private-sector body, to address today's auditor independence issues. How will its activities affect the relationships CPAs have with their publicly held clients?
E-Commerce
The Internet is revolutionizing the way business does business. Here's how to get your business started on the Web.
In My Opinion / Practice Management
The author believes CPA firms can better serve clients' changing needs by building alliances with other CPAs to develop multiple specialties—something only very large firms now provide.
Management Accounting / Technology
Five years ago Microsoft spent two weeks of every month closing its books. Today, it closes them in four days. The system is a model other companies should consider for their own use.
Employee Benefits
Voluntary employee beneficiary associations (VEBAs) enjoy a large body of case law, private letter rulings, code provisions and regulations that provide CPAs and employers with guidance on their proper design and operation. CPAs may find they are worth a second look.
Internal Audit
A look at how a company can use outsiders to cut costs and maximize capabilities while maintaining control of day-to-day operations.
Marketing Clinic
This inside look at a Minnesota CPA firm reveals how to transform a firm name into a brand prospective clients will look to when they need professional services.
Corporate Finance
Restrictions designed to protect investors bind CPAs and other financial executives who administer stock repurchase programs. Structure buybacks so you don't run afoul of the SEC. Here's how.
Corporate Tax / Financial Reporting
When a company incurs an advertising expenditure, the general rule is to expense it for both tax and financial reporting purposes. Still, there are some circumstances in which advertising should be capitalized.
Fraud Detection
Is it possible to predict the occurrence of certain numbers in a set of accounting records? Yes, if you understand Benford's lawa mathematical theorem that CPAs are using to detect errors and irregularities in company data.
E-Commerce
XML, a markup language with the same roots as HTML, tags data such as financial statements so any program on any computer platform can understand them. It's open, it's free and it will have an impact as great as that of the Internet itself.