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CPA2Biz Financial Results Improve

At the fall council meeting, CPA2Biz reported that for the year ended July 31, 2003, its operating loss narrowed 90.5% to $3.2 million from $33.8 million ( www.cpa2biz.com/Corp/Press+Releases/ ). In addition, based on revenues of more than $14 million, CPA2Biz projects a break-even cash flow for the year ending July

Three Enter Business & Industry Hall of Fame

The AICPA and Ajilon Finance, which provides accounting and financial staffing services, inducted three CPAs into the Institute’s Business & Industry Hall of Fame in October. John Morrow, AICPA vice-president for new finance; award winners Glen M. Elias and Hubert C. Maddy III; and Neil Lebovits, Ajilon president and chief

TTA Now on CD

For the first time, the AICPA tax section’s annual Tax Practice Guides & Checklists CD will contain a full year’s worth of The Tax Adviser (TTA) . The CD, which is sent automatically to tax section members each year, will include the January–December 2003 issues of TTA in Adobe Acrobat

Institute Honors Kessler

Stuart Kessler, CPA, a partner of Goldstein Golub Kessler LLP and former AICPA chairman, receives the 2003 Gold Medal for Distinguished Service—the Institute’s highest award—from AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon (right) and past chairman William F. Ezzell during the fall council meeting. Kessler also performed many other activities

Military Call-Up Prompts Focus on USERRA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) gives employees who take a leave of absence for active military service certain statutory rights—not only to reemployment but to specific coverage for retirement and wellness benefits. THE LAW APPLIES TO ALL EMPLOYERS in the United States,

Working With a Solicitor to Get New Business

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

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

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Data governance: How finance builds trust in data

Learn how finance can use data governance to improve data quality, strengthen internal controls, and build trust in business data.