Fraud
Have you been offered $35 million lately? The current crop of foreign money frauds are variations of scams that have been around for centuries. Nine out of ten such scams—now mainly sent via e-mail—start with a communication falsely claiming money has to be secreted out of a foreign country.
Personal Financial Planning
To be successful, CPAs who work with very high-net-worth clients will have to tailor their services to meet this group’s particular needs. They also should be prepared to cope with nonfinancial issues that might affect the relationship.
Litigation Issues
In certain litigation-support engagements, CPAs on an attorney’s team can shield confidential client communications. Such privilege may be invalidated by inadvertent disclosure via use of electronic media or devices such as cell phones and e-mail. Here’s how to safeguard client data.
Tax
With income in respect of the decedent becoming more common, CPAs must be fully aware of its income tax consequences to make certain clients don’t miss out on a potentially valuable deduction.
Personal Financial Planning
CPA financial planners who advise women clients need to understand that interacting and communicating with them is different from working with male investors. Understanding this difference is critical to success in this lucrative market.
Fraud
In its fight against fraud, the FBI has partnered with the accounting profession to uncover and prevent financial corruption. The agency will be calling on CPAs to act as objective, third-party expert witnesses and is actively recruiting CPAs to become a key part of its team.
Worth Repeating
When it comes to the U.S. government’s economic health, current measurement and scorekeeping approaches give an incomplete and misleading picture of the nation’s financial condition. The comptroller general delivers a wake-up call about the fiscal realities that threaten the future of our country, our children and our grandchildren.
Personal Financial Planning / Technology
CPA planners can use these tools to provide reliable, cost-effective services to clients. Readers will learn what software leading practitioners favor, how to choose products and which Web sites are handy for answering casual client questions or getting quick data for personal finances.
Technology Workshop
Even low-tech CPAs can set up an automated invoice database that eliminates handwritten invoices and connects to bookkeeping software. And it takes less than an hour to learn how to use it.