December 2004 - Journal of Accountancy

his article, a companion article to “ The Mutual Fund Trading Scandals ,” discusses the techniques that five investment advisers used in dealing with client concerns over the mutual fund trading scandals. These techniques can be used by CPA/investment advisers. TAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH The criminal and unethical practices by

he objective of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was to make registrant audit committees, corporate management and the auditing profession work together to mitigate the risk of catastrophic audit failures. But as an experienced auditor, I fear the current business and regulatory environment may hinder achieving that objective. THE PCAOB

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SINCE THE FIRST MAJOR MARKET-TIMING and late-trading scandal broke, a barrage of federal and state enforcement actions against funds has followed. LATE-TRADING IS ILLEGAL UNDER FEDERAL securities laws and some state statutes. It occurs when a mutual fund or intermediary permits an investor to purchase fund shares after

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WITH THE ADDITION OF 1120 AND 1120S FORMS AND schedules in February and August 2004, virtually all corporate taxpayers will be able to file their returns electronically—even complex consolidated returns of companies with multiple subsidiaries. The new e-file alternatives also include the form 990 series nonprofit informational returns.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE VALUE MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING Collaborative (VMRC) is a global effort intended to help boards of directors, senior management, investors and other stakeholders make better strategic decisions using value measurement and reporting. Its members believe the value of a company lies not only in its present operational value

Key to Instructions To help readers follow the instructions in this article, we used two different typefaces: Boldface type is used to identify the names of icons, agendas and URLs. Sans serif type shows the names of files and the names of commands and instructions users should type into the

ccupational fraud has become—at least so far—the crime of the 21st century. It is a widespread phenomenon that affects practically every organization. The frauds in the 2004 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, caused over $761 million in total losses,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BUSINESS VALUATION (BV), SUCCESSION PLANNING and buy-sell agreements help CPAs prepare a foundation for selling a practice, but the final price of a firm will be affected dramatically by the transaction terms. TO SET A FINAL PRICE, CPAs SHOULD review the interrelationship of five key variables: the down

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A REGIONAL FIRM, PLANTE & MORAN (P&M), developed and implemented a strategy called “rerecruiting,” an ongoing program based on staff recognition and appreciation, to maximize staff retention. Its turnover rate for the past decade ranks between 8% and 15% annually—well below industry standards. MANAGEMENT-CREATED WORKSHOPS explain the value

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EVEN WITH THE GUIDANCE IN FASB STATEMENT NO. 142, th e useful life of certain intangible assets is difficult to judge, particularly assets that involve contracted or other legally set terms. Companies use the useful life of assets to guide their decisions on whether or not to amortize