Search Results

November 2009 |  BY BRUCE W. CHASE, CPA, PH.D., JOHN B. MONTORO, CPA |  Article

Fund balance is an important measure that represents the difference between a fund’s assets and liabilities. The overall objective of fund balance reporting is to isolate that portion of fund balance that is unavailable to support the following period’s budget. Because governmental funds’ measurement focus is the flow of financial resources, the balance sheet primarily reports assets and liabilities that represent net spendable and available resources for these funds.

November 2009 |  BY MICHAEL M. SMITH, ESQ., CPA, DONALD L. ARIAIL, CPA, DBA, MICHAEL EVANS, ESQ. |  Article

In the current real estate climate of decreased property values and excess inventories, many rental property owners are facing reduced cash flows due to vacancies. At the same time, the fair market value of their property may be close to or even less than the amount owed on the mortgage (“upside down”).

November 2009 |  BY MEGAN PINKSTON |  Article

Optimism among CPA financial executives about the U.S. economy flattened after two quarters of improvement as managers paid more attention to potential challenges and concerns associated with the federal budget deficit, tax reform and regulatory requirements, according to a survey released Monday. Results from the Economic Outlook Survey Q4 2009, conducted by the AICPA and the University of North Carolina’s KenanFlagler Business School, found that 27 of respondents were optimistic or very optimistic about the outlook for the U.S.

October 2009 |  BY GREGORY W. BROWN, PH.D., CHRISTIAN LUNDBLAD, PH.D. |  Article

Many attribute the beginning of the financial crisis to the collapse of the housing market. While the housing bust indeed plays an important role, particularly in the health and stability of the banking sector, the real problem is deeper. The fluctuations observed across real estate markets over the last decade or so simply reflect sizable macroeconomic imbalances.

October 2009 |  BY MEGAN PINKSTON |  Article

Heightened optimism among CPA financial executives seems to indicate the worst of the recession is in the past, but the consensus is growing that the U.S. economy is still a ways off from achieving a full recovery. While optimism about the economy continued to improve and spread across most industries in the third quarter, the percentage of executives who don’t see a recovery beginning until at least the second half of 2010 increased substantially (27 vs.

September 2009 |  BY STEVEN L. MINTZ |  Article

Coping with a downturn often means restructuring for companies. Every restructuring has many moving parts—including layoffs, impairments, asset revaluations and debt relief. To engineer a favorable outcome, stay ahead of events, says Scott Davis, a partner in the Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services practice at Grant Thornton. He offers these tips Conserve cash.

September 2009 |  BY MARK S. BEASLEY, CPA, PH.D., BRUCE C. BRANSON, PH.D., BONNIE V. HANCOCK, M.S. |  Article

As the result of fallout from the ongoing economic crisis, failures associated with existing risk management processes are already generating calls for reform and increased regulatory scrutiny. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said in an April 2009 speech to the Council of Institutional Investors that “the Commission will be considering whether greater disclosure is needed about how a company—and the company’s board in particular—manages risks, both generally and in the context of setting compensation.” In July 2009, the SEC issued its first response through proposed rules that expand proxy disclosure information about the overall impact of

September 2009 |  BY Matthew G. Lamoreaux |  Article

To climb the ladder in most finance organizations, CPAs hone their skills in making accounting judgments, closing the books, accurately preparing financial statements and other reports and filing them on time. But current CFOs agree that to reach the top—the CFO position—another skill set is required. Unfortunately, these additional skills may not be written into the CFO job description.

September 2009 |  BY MARK E. RILEY, CPA, PH.D., WILLIAM R. PASEWARK, CPA, PH.D. |  Article

Calculating estimates of the collectibility of accounts receivable and auditing those estimates is difficult. This article describes three techniques for assessing allowance for doubtful accounts estimates and complying with Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) no. 57 and AU section 342, Auditing Accounting Estimates, which suggest auditors compare prior accounting estimates with subsequent results to evaluate the reliability of the process used to develop estimates.

September 2009 |  Article

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) on Tuesday published a document to help boards of directors strengthen their oversight of enterprise risks. The fourpage paper, Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight The Role of the Board of Directors, calls attention to COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management—Integrated Framework (2004) and its definition of ERM.