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.
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Information management and technology assurance
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
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
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
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
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
Hot Stuff: What You Need and What You Don’t.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PUT YOUR CHECKBOOK AWAY. Although there are loads of hot, new technology gadgets on the market, you probably have nearly everything you really need with little or no upgrading necessary—that is, if you’ve been keeping technologically up-to-date. SINCE MOST OF THE EQUIPMENT you may be buying will not
Smart Stops on the Web
SMART STOPS ON THE WEB IT Lessons and Links www.toejumper.net Dedicated to offering troubleshooting guidance, this Web site provides information on crashproofing and maintaining PCs, as well as speeding up computer functions. CPAs also can link to search engines, business advice, new product information and Toejumper’s newsletter archives. Tune It.
Period of Adjustment
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE NONAUDIT SERVICES Sarbanes-Oxley prohibits CPAs from providing to their public company audit clients are bookkeeping or services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the client; financial information systems design and implementation; appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions or contribution-in-kind reports; actuarial services; internal audit
Accounting
AcSEC, the AICPA accounting standards executive committee, in agreement with FASB and the SEC, rescinds SOP 92-3, Accounting for Foreclosed Assets. FASB statement no. 144, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets, effectively superseded the SOP, the scope of which did not include non-long-lived assets such as inventories
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How to find the right CAS clients
The key to success with CAS is selecting the best clients. Tools like ideal client profiles (ICPs), buyer personas, and even artificial intelligence can help identify the businesses that best fit each CAS practice.
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