TOP TEN 1 | Your firm’s specialties—for instance, corporate, individual, partnerships, taxes, bankruptcy, audits or estates. 2 | Your contact information on every page, including headquarters as well as any offices located in other cities, states or countries. 3 | States where you are licensed, in case a client has
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Account Reconciliation: An Underappreciated Control
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since the advent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, companies no longer can rely on their external auditor as an internal control. They must report most errors the auditor finds as material misstatements and material weaknesses unless they can prove their own controls would have found the error. Balance sheet
The BV/FLS Environment
The following articles highlight the diverse issues facing practitioners in the business valuation and forensic & litigation services (BV/FLS) areas. The wide range of topics—fair value, collaborative process in divorce and valuation, electronic discovery and fraud—underscore the complexity of this rapidly growing practice area.
Refining the Definition of a Personal Service Corporation
TAX CASE n 1987 Congress amended the tax law to provide that a personal service corporation (PSC) is not eligible for graduated corporate tax rates. Pursuant to IRC section 11(b)(2), PSCs pay tax at the flat rate of 35% on their taxable income. Recently, the Tax Court had an opportunity
A New Year’s Job
Source: Online survey of 40,000 members, WorldWit, Boulder, Colo., www.worldwit.org , 2006.
CPA2Biz Update
ecently, the Journal of Accountancy’s Geoffrey Pickard and CPA2Biz President and CEO Erik Asgeirsson chatted about the continued growth of the AICPA’s majority-owned subsidiary and what’s on the drawing board for the coming months. Here’s what they had to say. JofA: What does CPA2Biz have to offer AICPA members? Asgeirsson:
A Fast-Moving Practice Niche
Business valuation (BV) and forensic & litigation services (FLS) are the fastest-growing niche markets in the CPA profession. This special section highlights these niche practices and the issues practitioners are facing. CPAs looking for additional technical and practice management guidance on BV and FLS topics also can visit the AICPA’s
Practice Management
The AICPA Work/Life and Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee released “Staff Retention: The New Face of the CPA Profession,” a DVD in which professional staffing experts, leading CPAs and young members of the profession discuss recruitment and retention strategies. The committee also issued a report, “What Women in the Profession Are
Bill Gates Quote
AS QUOTED “On my desk I have three screens, synchronized to form a single desktop. I can drag items from one screen to the next. Once you have that large display area, you’ll never go back, because it has a direct impact on productivity.” ——Bill Gates, chairman and chief software
Corporate Reporting
The European Federation of Accountants (FEE) published a discussion paper, Key Issues in Sustainability Assurance—An Overview, encouraging the International Federation of Accountants to develop an international standard for sustainability assurance ( www.fee.be ). FEE said such a standard would improve auditors’ ability to assess corporations’ reports on the effectiveness of
Fraud: “Elementary, My Dear Watson”
The founder and chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Joseph Wells, wrote an insightful series, The Fraud Beat, for the JofA on the basics of fraud investigation in small businesses. “Sherlock Holmes, CPA,” ( www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/aug2003/wells.htm and www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/sep2003/wells.htm ) explains what it takes to gather evidence, interview witnesses and
A Search for Skills
BUSINESS TRENDS
CEO? Yes or No?
Source: Survey of 153 managers and senior executive, NFI Research, Madbury, N.H., www.nfiresearch.com , 2005.
Courts Try to Distinguish Debt From Equity
ederal income tax law treats debt and equity differently; primarily, interest payments on debt are deductible, while dividend payments are not. Whether a corporate investment (despite its formal label) is debt or equity for tax purposes is a factual question with no clear answers. CPAs with corporate clients should
Rating 529 College Savings Plans
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Section 529 college savings plans offer numerous advantages and have few disadvantages compared with other options. Their benefits include tax savings, estate planning benefits, high contribution limits and no income limitations. One of the few drawbacks to these plans is that investment products usually are chosen by
E-Filers Find a Permanent Home
Source: The Conference Board, www.conference-board.org , survey of 10,000 households.
Government Accounting
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued Technical Bulletin no. 2006-1 to clarify how state and local government entities should report payments received from the federal government under the retiree drug subsidy provisions of Medicare Part D. The bulletin (product no. GTB0601) can be ordered at http://gasbpubs.stores.yahoo.net/gtb0601.html . With certain exceptions,
A BV/FLS Profile
What is the primary focus of your practice? What is the size of your practice? Note : Multiple answers permitted. Source: December 2005 AICPA BV/FLS Membership Section survey. Practitioners can obtain guidance from many sources. The AICPA is currently developing valuation standards for its members; the other organizations already publish
Click…and the Database Loads Into Excel.
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 that users should type
Compliance
The SEC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommended that the commission’s Division of Corporation Finance continue improving its preliminary reviews of corporate securities filings ( www.sec.gov/about/oig/ ). The recommendations were part of the OIG’s report on its audit, from January through October 2005, of the division’s preliminary review process.
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How to find the right CAS clients
The key to success with CAS is selecting the best clients. Tools like ideal client profiles (ICPs), buyer personas, and even artificial intelligence can help identify the businesses that best fit each CAS practice.
From The Tax Adviser
March 31, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
March 31, 2026
Current Developments in Taxation of Individuals: Part 1
March 6, 2026
