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April 1, 2007

Market Every Day (in Every Way)

Marketing is the process of educating people about the availability and value of your firm’s CPA and advisory services. It lets potential clients know how you can help them solve problems and meet financial goals. Targeted, budgeted marketing plans generally work best, but many simple strategies cost

February 1, 2006

New Kids on the Block

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the face of new regulatory demands, more companies are hiring chief accounting officers (CAOs) to handle everything from corporate accounting, financial reporting and internal controls to corporate tax and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. In addition to day-to-day compliance activities, CAOs also sometimes take on the duties of a controller

November 1, 2004

Managing Change

Robert L. Bunting, chairman and CEO of Moss Adams LLP in Seattle, assumed the AICPA chairmanship at the Institute’s annual meeting. His acceptance speech will appear verbatim in a future issue of the JofA . oss Adams is in the vanguard of midsize firms skilled at serving an international clientele.

November 1, 2003

Follow the Greenback Road

ith a sixth-grade education, legendary gangster Al Capone thought he was smart enough. By the time he was 26, “Scarface” had 1,000 employees and a weekly payroll of $300,000. In the 1930s, when the average American worker made about $2,400 annually, Capone was raking in more than a hundred million

October 1, 2003

The Fraud Examiners

ecoming a fraud examiner—a.k.a. a financial detective—is not for everyone. Detectives—either in law enforcement or in the private sector—typically have distinct personality traits (see “ America’s Original Private Eye ”): They’re as good with people as they are with numbers and they are inclined to be aggressive rather than shy

May 1, 2002

How CFOs Stretch Boundaries

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CORPORATE FINANCE function, driven in part by technological advances that have freed CFOs from routine information-gathering chores, means today’s finance professionals must be big-picture thinkers, excellent communicators and skilled managers and motivators who can widen their staffs’ horizons. THE CFO’s JOB HAS BEEN BROADENED

December 1, 2000

What Does It Take to Become a CFO?

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TO INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF BECOMING A CFO, you need a broad range of skills beyond knowing the ABCs of accounting. You must be a business strategist, think like someone on the board of directors and be familiar with technology. Don’t ignore the operations side of the

December 1, 2000

Landing a Job In a Strange New World

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE ELECTRONIC ENVIRONMENT NOW PLAYS an important part in the hiring process. Internet job listings, hyperlinks and e-mailed resumes speed the exchange between hirers and job seekers, accelerating the recruitment process. ON-LINE CANDIDATES HAVE ENHANCED opportunities and geographic reach, as well as an excellent method to gather

September 1, 1999

Stopping the Brain Drain

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SMALL CPA FIRMS ARE FEELING THE PINCH from a shortage of qualified staff. It is important for firms to do what they can to keep the best and brightest employees from leaving. FIRMS CAN ASK STAFF WHAT THEIR SALARIES should be and work with them on an annual

April 1, 1999

Filling the Knowledge Gap

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WHAT NEW SKILLS DO YOU NEED if the demands of your job change, you’re seeking a promotion or you want to shift your career to a different area of accounting? THE ANSWERS ARE IN CAT— the AICPA’s Competency Assessment Tool. CAT is a software program scheduled to be