The Accounting Hall of Fame announced three inductees for 2004. The honorees are Dennis R. Beresford, E&Y Executive Professor at the University of Georgia, former chairman (1987–1997) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and writer of professional articles; Gerald A. Feltham, a professor of accounting at the University of British
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TOPICS
Information management and technology assurance
International
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issued a staff-prepared series of questions and answers relating to international financial reporting standards (IFRSs), First Time Adoption of IFRSs—Guidance for Auditors on Reporting Issues. The document is available online ( www.ifac.org/store ) at no
Users Size Up Tax Software
lthough AICPA tax practitioners rated this year’s crop of tax-preparation software superior to the products they used last year, they gave lower grades to vendors’ technical support. But for many tax practitioners, the bigger story was that the number of tax-software products continued to decline, forcing newly orphaned customers to
Are You Spamming Your Clients?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WITH THE ADVENT OF FEDERAL LAWS controlling spam e-mail, CPAs must exercise caution in their communications with clients and prospects. In so doing they can improve the look and effectiveness of their e-mail marketing programs. THE CAN-SPAM ACT OF 2003 INCLUDES civil and criminal penalties for predatory and
E-Mail and the Law
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SPAM IS A BUSINESS PROBLEM companies now must address because of domestic and international laws. Companies need to adopt Internet marketing privacy policies to comply with various privacy and spam regulations. CPAs can use the AICPA/CICA Privacy Framework to help organizations accomplish these goals. THE AICPA/CICA PRIVACY FRAMEWORK
Who Will Take the Reins?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MORE THAN 50% OF PARTNERS AT CPA FIRMS are over 50 years old, and a significant number of firms now are run by baby boomers who will seek retirement during the next five to 10 years. There is a shortage of partnership candidates to take the reins. GROWING
It’s a Matter of Privacy.
MONTHLY CHECKLIST SERIES Consumers have grown increasingly concerned about the misuse of their personal information, and regulatory bodies have been cracking down on offenders. You can see the many complaints filed against corporations on the FTC Web site at www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/promises_enf.html . CPAs should advise clients or employers to familiarize themselves
Split an Excel cell and enter two pieces of information
How to use Excel’s Format command to add two pieces of information to one cell.
Give Your Skills a CAT Scan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PRACTITIONERS CAN USE the AICPA Competency Self-Assessment Tool (CAT) to evaluate which professional performance areas they need to strengthen to refine skills for their present jobs or train for positions they aspire to. Firms and companies can purchase it as a multiuser tool to help with staff development
Tips for the Sarbanes-Oxley Learning Curve
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
Marketing Materials and Malpractice Exposure
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CARELESS ADVERTISING ASSERTIONS can lead to lawsuits. When a plaintiff’s lawyer evaluates a potential accounting malpractice claim, he or she typically will examine all of the advertising materials the CPA provided to the client. ADVERTISING THAT CREATES FALSE or unjustified expectations of favorable results is prohibited by law.
The Best-Laid Plans
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DISASTER ARE UNPREDICTABLE , and one disruption may cause others, so a firm should test its preparedness plan to make sure it will do what it’s supposed to: locate the firm’s people, obtain equipment and support, access job-file and system backups and put staff to work in an
Top Tools for CPAs
oday’s technology buyers face a unique challenge. Just a few years ago buyer beware was the universal watchword for CPAs buying computer equipment. Hardware reliability was so questionable that many cost- and quality-conscious accountants required computer retailers to bench-test hardware to be sure it was sound before they shipped it.
Tap Into XBRL’s Power the Easy Way
BRL—a specialized form of XML (extensible markup language)—is becoming more familiar to creators and users of electronic financial statements, but few people have actual hands-on experience with it. So, to bring XBRL to a wider business audience, Microsoft Corp. has released the Microsoft Office Tool for XBRL—a free, but important,
Disclosure
TThe SEC changed—and proposed further modifications to—its mutual fund rules and forms ( www.sec.gov/news/press/2004-16.htm ). In one action, to improve funds’ disclosure of costs, investments and performance, the commission amended provisions pertaining to shareholder reports and quarterly portfolio disclosures. These new requirements will apply to reporting periods ending on or
Privacy
The AICPA assurance services executive committee and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants’ assurance services development board jointly issue a privacy framework ( www.aicpa.org/innovation/baas/ ). CPAs and chartered accountants—in both industry and public practice—can use it to help the organizations they serve implement privacy programs. The framework incorporates concepts from
Estate Planning
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in January changed its insurance rules for deposits held in connection with a living trust ( www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/deposit/index.html ). Under the new provisions, if a bank fails, the FDIC will insure up to $100,000 of deposits for each beneficiary entitled to a living trust’s assets
Government Accounting
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) issues Statement of Federal Financial Accounting and Auditing Technical Release 3 (revised), Auditing Estimates for Direct Loan and Loan Guarantee Subsidies under the Federal Credit Reform Act and Technical Release 6, Preparing Estimates for Direct Loan and Loan Guarantee Subsidies under the Federal
Compliance
A January 2004 Financial Executives International (FEI) survey of more than 300 of its members who work in public companies of all sizes revealed those entities expected to spend more time and money to comply with the section 404 internal-control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 than anticipated in
Professional Issues
The AICPA releases the results of its annual survey to assess the supply of new accounting graduates and public firms’ demand for their services ( www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/sagdpar.htm ). Conducted in 2003 the poll found the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded had dropped while the level of master’s degrees had increased, matching
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