EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE COST OF PROVIDING EMPLOYEES WITH HEALTH insurance coverage is increasing at a double-digit rate. Businesses are seeking to solve the problem by decreasing their premium contributions, changing the products they offer or the insurer and even reducing coverage. CPAs can help suggest cost-saving strategies to reduce the
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Banking
Bank and thrift regulators issue an advisory letter containing techniques that financial institutions can use to manage risks associated with mortgage banking activities ( www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/press/bcreg/2003/20030225/attachment.pdf ). Prepared by the Office of the Controller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Office of Thrift
Golden Business Ideas
What Not to Measure… Some CFOs believe it’s their fiscal duty to keep track of every production, marketing and administrative metric as a way of quantifying their organization’s performance. This kind of metric-measuring mania not only is counterproductive, it can result in such a plethora of data that it’s easy
A Sign of the Times
Source: Survey of 1,400 CFOs, Robert Half International Inc., Menlo Park, California, www.rhi.com , 2002.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts Excel: To quickly select a range of cells, click in the first cell, hold down the Shift key and click in the last cell. This will select the first and last cells and all the cells in between. Word: An easy way to remove borders around the cells in
Regaining Public Trust Our First Priority
The ink of President Bush’s signature, signing the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation into law, is barely dry, and the accounting profession is looking at and writing articles about opportunities to market nonaudit services (“ Period of Adjustment ” JofA , Feb.03, page 43). Has it not learned anything from the recent problems
In Favor of Electronic Filing
When I first read the letter “ Prefers Paper Filing ” ( JofA , Mar.03, page 11) I was stunned. I thought it proposed preparing tax returns “the old fashioned way” with pencil and paper, or at least without the benefit of technology. I read it again, and assumed it
Business Bookshelf
A White-Collar Profession: African American Certified Public Accountants Since 1921 By Theresa A. Hammond 146 pages; hardcover; $39.95 The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2002 Theresa A. Hammond, PhD, the author of this history, is an associate professor of accounting and Ernst & Young Research Fellow
CEOs Take Steps to Rebuild Trust
Source: Survey of approximately 1,000 CFOs from Europe, Asia and the Americas, PricewaterhouseCoopers, www.pwcglobal.com , 2003.
Letters To The Editor
The JofA encourages readers to write letters on important professional issues in addition to comments on published articles. Because space is limited, letters submitted for publication should be no longer than 500 words. Please include telephone and fax numbers. JofA e-mail address: JOAED@aicpa.org .
Auditing
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. The ASB issues a proposed statement on auditing standards titled Sarbanes-Oxley Omnibus Statement on Auditing Standards. Among other things, the omnibus
Get the Most Out of Training Day
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A CPA FIRM THAT’S EXPANDING, with more staff at various professional levels and perhaps scattered among different offices, may find it increasingly difficult to manage its training through its human resources department. A FIRM SHOULD IDENTIFY its long-term goals and organize its training around them. It should be
Smart Stops on the Web
SMART STOPS ON THE WEB Keep Current on Legislation www.atr.org The Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Web site offers practitioners and taxpayers background information on current and proposed tax policies in site sections including Legislative alert and Speeches and Testimony. ATR also distributes its quarterly newsletter The Tax Reformer free
How to Profit by Safeguarding Privacy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROTECTING THE PRIVACY of personal information is no longer optional for organizations that collect, use and distribute it. Federal law now requires entities to take responsibility for safeguarding the data they gather from customers and patients. ORGANIZATIONS THAT ACCEPT AND FULFILL their privacy-related obligations will find it easier
FYI
Four practitioners began two-year terms with the SEC in April, serving as professional accounting fellows in the Office of the Chief Accountant: Robert J. Comerford, a senior manager in Deloitte & Touche’s New York office; Russell P. Hodge, a senior manager in Ernst & Young LLP’s Atlanta office; and John
Committee Application Deadline Extended
Members interested in serving on an AICPA committee or expert or tax resource panel now have until May 1 to submit an application, which they can do online at http://volunteers.aicpa.org/apply . Additional information can be requested by sending an e-mail to committee@aicpa.org or by calling David Ray at 212-596-6030.
Accounting
For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com , which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites. The Institute’s accounting standards staff, with the assistance of industry experts, releases the sixth set in a series of questions and
Frequency of CPA Letter to Increase; Full Edition to Be Available Online
As part of its efforts to continually improve communications with members, the AICPA is both increasing the frequency of the CPA Letter and taking advantage of new technologies to make the newsletter’s entire text available online. After the planned summer issue that combines the months of July and August, the
Death and Taxes
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs WHO FILE FORM 706 ON BEHALF OF DECEASED clients should be familiar with some common pitfalls. The form shows the decedent’s assets, liabilities and allowable deductions that together are used to calculate the estate’s tax liability. FOR HELP IN DETERMINING WHICH ASSETS TO LIST on form 706,
JofA Taken to Task
Has the editor lost all sense of professionalism? The title of the article, “ Make ’Em Pay Up ” ( JofA , Oct.02, page 67), smacks of the style used by the New York Post or a London tabloid. Shame on the JofA ; more shame on our profession. David
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