November 2020

FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Make sure staff get the right CPE

Firms can maximize the benefits of continuing education by creating a process that directs staff to take courses that best meet their own needs and the needs of the firm.

FINANCIAL REPORTING

Pandemic accounting: How to make the right judgments

Guidance exists on numerous specific financial reporting issues related to lease concessions, various forms of government assistance, and loan restructurings. Here’s how you can find it.

AUDITING

Why risk assessment merits increased auditor focus

In an effort to boost audit quality, the AICPA Peer Review Program is monitoring for instances where firms misunderstand the risk assessment standards. Data suggests that auditors need to devote more attention to assessing the risk of material misstatement and designing appropriate procedures.

MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING

Unclaimed property: What is it, and what are the risks?

CPAs must follow proper policies and procedures to avoid state audits and steep penalties caused by noncompliance with unclaimed property regulations.

TAX

Deducting losses in the CARES Act’s window

For a limited time, taxpayers have flexibility for using net operating losses.

TAX

Limiting the impact of negative QBI

Here are the rules for the treatment of negative QBI and some planning ideas for mitigating its effect on the QBI deduction.

COLUMNS

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Build reusable Skills in Anthropic’s Claude AI

Instead of rewriting prompts each time, CPAs can turn routine tasks into reusable AI Skills. This Technology Q&A walks through how to build Claude Skills that process files, ask setup questions, and export clean Excel outputs.