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Webcast

Arresting Financial Fraud: The Inside Story From The FBI A FREE Interactive Webcast By The AICPA Live Webcast! November 6, 2003 1 – 2:55 pm ET Recommended CPE: 2 credits www.cpa2biz.com/CS2000/Products/CPA2BIZ/Arresting+Financial+Fraud: Presented by: AICPA FBI The public has recently been inundated with media reports of accounting scandals at the likes

Bankruptcy and S Corporation Pass-Through

Although there are some signs the economy is improving, many businesses continue to fail. Recently the Tax Court considered the effect of an S corporation’s selling an asset while in bankruptcy. All S corporation shareholders contemplating filing for corporate bankruptcy need to consider the potential tax outcome of such a

Auditing

The SEC defers until January 1, 2005, a requirement that auditors of nonpublic broker-dealers register with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) ( www.sec.gov/rules/other/34-48281.htm ). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 required auditors of financial statements of public companies or “issuers,” as defined in the act, to register by October

International

The international auditing and assurance standards board (IAASB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) exposes two draft international standards of auditing: ISA 240, The Auditor’s Responsibility to Consider Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements, and ISA 300, Planning the Audit. ISA 240 outlines the responsibilities of all those

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

Sherlock Holmes, CPA, Part 2

he scenario: During a routine audit of a client, you discovered the company was paying twice the market price for widgets. By looking further, you believe—but are not sure—the purchasing agent is engaging in a pass-through billing scheme, in which he buys the widgets from the supplier, marks up the

Sherlock Holmes, CPA, Part 1

f Sherlock Holmes—the world’s most famous fictional detective—were solving today’s biggest corporate crimes, he probably would be a CPA, too. That’s because it takes both accounting knowledge and the unique skills of a detective to resolve allegations of fraud. This article addresses how investigating fraud differs from the field of

Start a BV Engagement the Right Way

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EACH VALUATION ASSIGNMENT IS UNIQUE, and often there’s more than one way to answer a question, interpret a fact or approach a problem. How the valuator prepares the client for the BV engagement sets its direction and becomes the foundation of the engagement letter and, ultimately, a responsible

Turn Excel Into a Financial Sleuth

One of our small business clients—we’ll call him Bob—recently expanded his one-store, family-run retail operation into a four-store chain. As many small business owners have to do, Bob had to relinquish some hands-on control when his business grew. He had to hire new employees for each store, and he worried

The New Accounting Environment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NEW ACCOUNTING REGULATIONS BROUGHT ABOUT by Sarbanes-Oxley and SAS no. 99 will force many companies to change how they do business. Compliance with these and other rule changes will expand the burden of corporate CPAs. ONE NEW REGULATION THAT WILL AFFECT ALL public companies is the proposed NYSE

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 issues Statement no. 150, Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity (available for download

JofA Recognizes Top Authors, Including 2002’s Best.

Joseph T. Wells, CPA, CFE , received from AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon, CPA, the Journal of Accountancy’ s 2002 Lawler Award for the year’s best article. In “ Occupational Fraud: The Audit as Deterrent ” ( JofA , Apr.02, page 24), Wells used actual case studies to

Privacy

The AICPA issues an exposure draft of the privacy framework it developed with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. The framework includes privacy standards designed to help organizations better manage their clients’ and customers’ personal information and mitigate associated risks. The ED is available at www.aicpa.org . Comments are due

Technology

Beginning July 1, accountants and other professionals who had registered a trademark or service mark before September 30, 2002, can secure a .pro domain name, or Internet address suffix, that exactly matches their registered mark. For example, a firm with a trademark such as Smith & Jones, CPAs, would qualify

Fraud

The AICPA publishes a series of actual case studies involving poor judgment or illegal accounting practices. In them, managers face a variety of ethical dilemmas. The cases cover accounting and auditing, as well as professional ethics, corporate leadership and regulatory, legal and financial analysis. The series, which the AICPA developed

Government Accounting

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) issues an exposure draft, Accounting for Fiduciary Activities ( www.fasab.gov/pdf/trustf1.pdf ). The proposed standard shows how to distinguish, in a federal context, fiduciary activity from program activity that, in many cases, is called “trust fund” activity but actually represents taxes or other resources

Professional Issues

The AICPA, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and Prometric, a developer of electronic testing systems, present an online tutorial for the computerized uniform CPA examination ( www.cpa-exam.org/lrc/exam_tutorial.html ). Its purpose is to familiarize accounting students and exam candidates with the test’s design and operation. The tutorial reviews

Audit

The AICPA launches its “audit committee matching system” (ACMS) to foster better communication between Institute members and companies (both public and privately held), not-for-profit entities and other organizations in need of candidates qualified to serve on their boards of directors and audit committees. The ACMS, part of a comprehensive Institute

Financial Reporting

According to a tentative FASB decision in April, goods and services received in exchange for all forms of stock-based compensation result in a cost companies should recognize as an expense if they consume such goods and services ( www.fasb.org/opening_statement.pdf ; www.fasb.org/full_text.pdf ). The board’s determination comes as it begins a

Money Laundering: Ring Around the White Collar

oney laundering is so widespread CPAs are likely to encounter it at some point in their work. It is an essential element of the “underground economy,” which, worldwide, amounts to trillions of dollars. An independent auditor’s responsibilities in the area of money laundering, because it is a criminal act, are

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Corporation’s officer held personally liable for its taxes

A corporate officer who facilitated an insolvent company’s transfer of assets to private creditors while knowing of an outstanding federal tax debt was held personally liable for the taxes owed.