The AICPA’s popular online learning library has a new name and user interface, as well as enhanced functions. The CPE product’s improved features include an easy-to-use catalog; new categories, such as “hot” topics, annual updates, accounting and auditing and taxation; easier access to courses; and customizable views of a user’s
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Institute Career Site Earns Laurels
“The Turnaround Game” ( www.theturnaroundgame.com ), a Web-based interactive business simulation the Institute developed to introduce students to the CPA’s role in business, won a Web Marketing Association 2006 Internet Advertising Competition Award for the best nonprofit interactive application. The site is the latest installment in the Institute’s Start Here,
Business Bookshelf
Master Your Money Type: Using Your Financial Personality to Create a Life of Wealth and Freedom by Jordan E. Goodman 345 pages; hardcover; $24.95 Warner Business Books New York, N.Y., 2006 ost people can characterize the way they handle money in familiar terms—big spender; penny-wise, pound-foolish; tightfisted. Jordan E. Goodman,
Five Tips for Safe Job Searches
NUMEROLOGY Don’t get hooked by scamsters “phishing” for your personal information through help-wanted e-mails. 1 | Always proceed with caution when you receive a cold-contact e-mail from someone purporting to be a recruiter. Instead of clicking on the e-mail link, go to the company’s Web site directly to verify its
What’s Your Fraud IQ?
QUESTIONS 1. Which of the following is not a legal element of fraud? a. A material false statement. b. Intent. c. Reliance by the victim. d. All of the above are legal elements of fraud. 2. If a company adds fake sales to boost its revenues, the cost of sales
Auditing
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) said its 2006 inspections of firms that audit public companies will focus on whether they expended their efforts and resources efficiently in achieving the objectives described in PCAOB Auditing Standard no. 2, An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction
A Fast Way To Replace Two Spaces After The Period With One
As the officer manager of a midsize firm, I review all documents created by the accountants for spelling, grammar and style. No matter how often I tell them that the period at the end of a sentence is followed by one space—not two—I get memos with mostly two spaces. The
Smart Stops on the Web
RETIREMENT PLANNING SITES Green Golden Years http://retireplan.about.com CPA/PFSs can find retirement planning advice here, including information on rolling over qualified plans, an IRA fact sheet and five reasons to open a 401(k) plan. Take a quiz to see how much you know about the basics of retirement planning, calculate 401(k)
Assessing and Responding to Risks in a Financial Statement Audit
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The new audit risk standards require the auditor to understand and respond to risks of material misstatement, whether due to errors or fraud. In reaching that understanding, auditors should identify risks to the entity’s business and the controls in place to mitigate them. These standards use the more
Seven Ways Managers Can Keep Clients Front and Center
BUSINESS TIPS 1 | Play “Follow the leader.” Managing partners set the tone for everything, good or bad, that takes place in the firm. It’s important for leaders to keep their focus on the client rather than internal politics and ego gratification. 2 | Remind employees of their mission in
Another Better Way
In the February 2006 item “ Overcome Excel’s Sort Function Shortcoming,” reader Rick Childs, CPA, CFA, a Crowe Chizek executive, suggests using Excel’s custom format to overcome its Sort function limitation. He selects the 0 format category (see screenshot below) and then adds the necessary letters in front of the
FYI
Ray Whittington, CPA, a distinguished accounting educator, was appointed dean of DePaul University’s College of Commerce and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Whittington joined DePaul’s faculty in 1997. Previously, he served as director of auditing research at the AICPA and vice-chair of the Auditing Standards Board and was a senior
International
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a Statement of Best Practice, Working Relationships between the IASB and Other Accounting Standard-Setters, that identifies activities in which the IASB and similar national and regional bodies believe they should engage to facilitate the adoption of or convergence with international financial reporting standards
Highlights
Committee to Address Interstate Practice IssuesThe AICPA has created a volunteer Special Committee on Mobility to identify and address state mobility requirements that do not benefit the public, but block interstate practice by CPAs. “To serve their clients and meet their own business needs, today’s CPAs must be able to
Planning for Social Security
July 2006 > Social Security: What?s the Magic Age? RETIREMENT PLANNING Social Security: What’s the Magic Age? When to start collecting your benefits. by Kathryn Garnett EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In determining the age at which a worker should apply for Social Security benefits, consideration should be given
Enhancing Public Confidence: The GAO’s Peer Review Experience
Origin and Mission The GAO is part of the legislative branch of the federal government and thus is independent of the executive branch. Congress established the GAO in 1921 to investigate all matters relating to the receipt, disbursement and application of public funds. Since then, Congress has expanded the GAO’s
Appealing Innocent Spouse Relief
TAX CASE he Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered the effects of the changes in the innocent spouse provision contained in the IRS Restructuring Act of 1998. In 1966 Isaac Baranowicz and Lora Baran married. On their 1979–1982 tax returns, they claimed depreciation deductions from several equipment-leasing tax shelters.
Financial Literacy
Slightly more than one-third of those polled were members of Generation X, born between 1964 and 1980. Most of them were skeptical about government and corporate benefits. Fifty-five percent said they will save and invest to fund their retirement, 65% didn’t expect Social Security to provide retirement benefits and 68%
Tom Peters Quote
AS QUOTED “Uniqueness most often comes not from a breakthrough idea, but from the accumulation of thousands of tiny enhancements.” — Tom Peters, Thriving on Chaos
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. FASB issued two staff positions (FSPs). One, Accounting for Life Settlement Contracts by Third-Party Investors, provides guidance on the investor’s
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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
