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
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TOPICS
Information management and technology assurance
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
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
Users Rank Tax Software
his year practitioners generally were less happy with their tax-preparation-software products and services than last year. That’s the conclusion of an informal survey that the National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP) took this summer of its members. More than 1,000 NATP members participated in the survey, reporting their experience with
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
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
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
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