EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT HAS HAD a far-reaching impact on CPA firms, whether large, midsize or small. Firms that audit public companies have been working out strategies for coping successfully in their internal operations as well as in their relations with clients and prospects. THE STEPPED UP INTERNAL AUDIT
Advertisement
TOPICS
Firm practice management
Purcell Fills No. 2 Spot on Tax Committee
Thomas J. Purcell III, CPA, became the first educator selected as the tax executive committee’s vice-chairman. He is an associate professor of accounting and a professor of law at Creighton University, where he has been a faculty member since 1979. Those holding this post generally become chairman the following October.
Education Award Nominees Sought
The Institute invites state CPA societies and individuals to nominate accounting educators for the 2004 AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award, which recognizes full-time college accounting educators who excel in teaching and are nationally prominent in the profession. Nominations are due February 1. More information on eligibility requirements and
Tax-Planning Services for Clients or Employers
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AICPA ISSUED INTERPRETATION NO. 1-1, “Tax Planning,” of Statement on Standards for Tax Services no. 1, Tax Return Positions , partly in response to congressional inquiries about how the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct disciplines members who are involved with abusive tax shelters. It is effective December
Niche Development Tips
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs WITH DIVERSE EXPERTISE tell JofA readers what niche development techniques or processes helped them accumulate clients in a certain category. To learn about the automotive industry, for example, one firm attended automotive conferences, took dealership classes and interviewed car dealers. TO BUILD A FORENSIC ACCOUNTING, family law
Tax Services After Sarbanes-Oxley
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE PASSAGE OF SARBANES-OXLEY LEFT MANY TAX practitioners wondering where they fit in under these new rules. The act did not list most tax services as one of the prohibited nonaudit services but said firms could perform such functions for audit clients with audit committee approval. THE ACT
A Paperless Success Story
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DURING THE 1997 TAX SEASON, Atlanta firm Habif, Arogeti & Wynne LLP (HA&W) suffered so many technical problems that afterward about one-third of its professionals left. The firm decided to revamp its tax function and better manage its resources by developing a technology plan. The initiative led to
Have a Fallback Plan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A PRACTICE CONTINUATION PLAN ENSURES that in the event of death or disability, a CPA’s practice will go on and its value will not evaporate. TYPICALLY, SUCH AN AGREEMENT PROVIDES for four basic elements: The mechanism for a smooth and quick transfer of the practice, an agreed-on price
To Your Health
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY LONG BUSY-SEASON HOURS GIVE CPAs so little time for exercise or regular meals that stress can build. This can weaken a person’s immune system and make him or her more prone to illness. The overload also can diminish employee performance and lead to low morale, absenteeism and high
Smart Stops on the Web
Search for Solutions www.knowledgestorm.com Information technology consultants and CPAs can register for free at this Web site and compare hardware and software in categories such as infrastructure and systems management and Web and applications development. The Business Solutions section includes links to accounting and finance, business intelligence and knowledge management
Add a New Owner to Your Firm
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MANY OWNERS OF CPA FIRMS KNOW their future retirement likely will be funded by enlarging the ownership pool. For young CPAs who can’t afford to purchase a partnership interest, some firms create an interim level that avoids the ownership-affordability problem by promoting an individual to “nonequity” (income) owner.
Online CPE—Getting Easier All the Time.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE NUMBER OF VENDORS offering online courses to CPAs has grown considerably since 1998 when the JofA first reported on the subject. THE NUMBER OF ONLINE COURSES reported in a survey of CPE providers grew sixtyfold to more than 3,000. EMPLOYEES AND CPAs WHO STUDY online spend less
Meyners Pays for Performance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MEYNERS INSTITUTED A PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE system to get employees involved in the firm’s growth efforts. It includes an annual salary increase that reflects a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and three bonus pools related to three areas: core values, core competencies and meeting goals. EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED of them and
Tell Us More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CUSTOMER CASE RESEARCH (CCR) can reveal how a company’s people and circumstances influenced it to engage one CPA and not another or to obtain one accounting, tax or consulting service and not another. Such case studies illustrate situations business managers must solve all the time, and CPAs can
Mom-and-Pop Shops
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SMALL BUSINESSES ARE THE CORE of U.S. enterprise—70%—and the backbone of the small and local CPA firm market. Stresses caused by the rapidity and degree of change in the business world and the culture at large are putting pressure on CPAs to provide them with an ever-more-complex range
Get the Most Out of Training Day
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A CPA FIRM THAT’S EXPANDING, with more staff at various professional levels and perhaps scattered among different offices, may find it increasingly difficult to manage its training through its human resources department. A FIRM SHOULD IDENTIFY its long-term goals and organize its training around them. It should be
How to Profit by Safeguarding Privacy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROTECTING THE PRIVACY of personal information is no longer optional for organizations that collect, use and distribute it. Federal law now requires entities to take responsibility for safeguarding the data they gather from customers and patients. ORGANIZATIONS THAT ACCEPT AND FULFILL their privacy-related obligations will find it easier
The A to Z of Keeping Staff
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AICPA’s ANNUAL SURVEY to learn how the supply of public accounting graduates is meeting firms’ needs for recruits reveals that turnover rates for CPA firms have held steady in a range from 7% to 10% for local firms and 22% to 28% for national firms. Losing staff
Before the Deluge—and After
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEING ABLE TO REACH STAFF IS PARAMOUNT during and directly after a disaster. To communicate while power and telephone lines are down, a firm can use public service radio announcements to give out phone numbers where employees can get information. ORGANIZE BUSINESS RECOVERY TEAMS AND DETERMINE the resources
Nail a Construction Niche
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONSTRUCTION OFFERS A DIVERSE MARKET TO CPAs. Major contractors handle federal government projects (such as dams and military buildings) and other heavy construction work including refineries, power plants and utilities, highways, municipal centers and international ventures. Each subcontractor for discrete phases of such projects (wiring and plumbing, for
Features
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
How to replace running totals in Excel
Accountants routinely copy down formulas in Excel to track cumulative balances, such as cash flow and retained earnings, but there is a better way. This JofA Technology Q&A article shows the way with step-by-step instructions and a video walkthrough.
