February 1997 - Journal of Accountancy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CPAs NEEDS a diverse volunteer population with a wide range of skills to serve on committees in order to position itself for the future where CPAs are the premier information professionals. The AICPA has reached out to women, minorities, CPAs in business and industry

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE INCREASED USE OF COMPUTERS IN business to track and store information means auditors are often required to deal with evidence in electronic form. To incorporate the concept of electronic evidence into the professional standards, the American Institute of CPAs auditing standards board issued Statement on Auditing Standards

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SELECTING THE RIGHT software to run a local area network (LAN) has never been an easy task—and it hasnt become any easier as computer technology has advanced. This article helps CPAs in business and industry and in public practice choose between the two leading network programs—Novells NetWare and

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MORE AND MORE COMPANIES are trying to raise capital by listing their securities for sale on foreign exchanges; however, the costs of reconciling U.S. accounting standards with their foreign counterparts can be high. Therefore, it is important that companies know the questions they will face when going global.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE COMPLEX PROVISIONS of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 and the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 require special techniques to get the most from retirement plans. CPAs MUST KNOW THE 401(k) nondiscrimination rules as well as both the actual deferral percentage (ADP) and actual

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY STATEMENT ON AUDITING STANDARDS no. 81, Auditing Investments, updates the auditing literature for recently issued accounting standards related to investments in securities. The SAS offers guidance for auditing the existence, ownership, completeness and valuation assertions for investments. WHEN A THIRD-PARTY CUSTODIAN provides services related to an entitys investments,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TO DEAL WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS of the American Institute of CPAs special committee on financial reporting in Improving Business Reporting—A Customer Focus , a coordinating committee was formed to make sure the reports key recommendation on the development of a comprehensive business reporting model was addressed. THE FIRST

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE MORE THAT FIRMS know about peer review, the easier the process will be. COMMON MYTHS ABOUT THE PROCESS include that checklists are required, that firms must create elaborate quality control documents and that a firm has no say in the selection of the reviewer. And more than