EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A FIRM SHOULD SCREEN NEW CLIENTS for fiscal responsibility and use an engagement letter to describe exactly what services it will and won’t perform, what reports it will issue and the fee structure—hourly billing, project fees or other means of computing fees. The letter should name the entities
Advertisement
TOPICS
Information management and technology assurance
A Perspective on Audit Malpractice Claims
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs CAN USE DATA ON AUDIT MALPRACTICE claims filed with CNA, which underwrites 22,000 CPA firms in the AICPA professional liability insurance program, to help them avoid high-cost claims when they audit nonpublic entities such as private companies, governments or NPOs. MOST NONPUBLIC AUDIT CLAIMS ARISE
An Ethics Quiz
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs NEED TO BE MINDFUL of ethical issues in performing client services. They must be sensitive to public perceptions and expectations and must use informed judgment as well as adhere to professional standards. THREE OF THE MOST COMMON COMPLAINTS made against small to midsize CPA firms involve
Privacy Framework Helps CPAs Protect Consumers
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COMPANIES REQUIRE HELP understanding and complying with the confusing array of privacy rules, and CPAs can meet that need. HIGHLY PUBLICIZED CORPORATE FAILURES to protect confidential data have heightened consumers’ awareness of threats to their privacy. CONSUMERS SURVEYED SAID they would rather do business with companies that
Meet the Press
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEING A RELIABLE SOURCE of timely information for busy editors and reporters can give a CPA who is a sole practitioner or in a small practice a significant marketplace advantage. A practitioner can pursue this opportunity by developing a relationship with local media. TO BECOME A KEY LOCAL
Offer Family-Business Solutions
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MILLIONS OF BABY BOOMERS who own businesses will approach retirement during the next decade. They will need help with the 10 key issues that affect management and succession. THE MYRIAD FAMILY-BUSINESS CONSULTING opportunities include improving organization design, creating greater operational efficiency, developing effective leadership, organizing fair compensation plans,
Help Clients Take Measure
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT (PM) IDENTIFIES, monitors and improves those business activities that affect a company’s profitability. The method uses both leading (future) and lagging (past) indicators to assess how well a business is meeting its targets in the present. THE SEVEN ESSENTIAL STEPS FOR A PM system are: Prepare
Pay for Performance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FIRMS THAT PUT PRODUCTIVITY CRITERIA in writing help principals stay focused on growing the firm as well as the bottom line. MEASURABLE PARTNER ACCOMPLISHMENTS include the number of new engagements, realization and niche development. Personnel development, image building and public relations are important partner accountabilities, too. ONE FIRM
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. Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on behalf of the profession, AICPA President and CEO Barry C. Melancon backs reforms—including
Securities
The GAO releases the results of a study ( www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-02-302 ) it recently conducted to determine whether the SEC’s logistic capabilities are keeping pace with the rapid increase in filings, applications and examinations that make up its workload. While the GAO praised the commission’s record of achievement, it nevertheless found
Privacy
Most consumers worry that corporations mishandle their personal information, says a Harris Interactive survey the AICPA and Ernst & Young LLP jointly commissioned to help practitioners better understand privacy risks their clients and employers face. Eighty-four percent of respondents supported requiring companies to obtain independent verification they follow their stated
Government Accounting
The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board requests comments on the following exposure drafts ( www.fasab.gov/exposure.htm ): Elimination of the Category National Defense Property, Plant and Equipment (responses due by May 20), Target Audience and Qualitative Characteristics for the Consolidated Financial Report of the United States Government (responses due by June
Banking
The Treasury Department’s Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) advises savings associations to consult it before they consider transferring to an external entity their high-risk assets—such as nonperforming loans—when the bank retains significant credit risk related to those assets and simultaneously provides considerable funding to the receiving entity ( www.ots.treas.gov/docs/25156.pdf ).
FYI
James M. Williams, a senior partner at Ernst & Young LLP, will begin a five-year term as a member of GASB, effective July 1. He succeeds Edward M. Klasny, who departs the board after 10 years of service. Williams was a member of the AICPA government accounting and auditing committee
Got the Picture?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AN AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDS AND REMEMBERS numerical information more easily when a CPA presents it visually as well as verbally. TO SELECT THE PROPER CHART OR GRAPH to add to a written or oral report, a CPA needs to consider the message, the nature of the information comparison and
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. The Institute’s accounting standards staff releases two technical practice aids. One provides guidance on reporting financial highlights by separate accounts (
Privacy
Several federal financial regulators jointly issue a guide to help consumers make informed decisions about choices they face as a result of the privacy provisions of the Graham-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, which loosened restrictions on banks, insurers and other financial institutions’ sharing of marketing information about their customers. The guide,
Tax
The IRS should improve communications between its senior managers and field employees about its reorganization and customer service operations, the AICPA testified before the Internal Revenue Service Oversight Board in January. The Institute praised certain recent IRS initiatives, such as the large and midsize business division’s Fast Track dispute resolution
Government Accounting
The secretary of the Treasury, the director of the Office of Management and Budget and the comptroller general of the United States restructured the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board in January to increase the number of public members to six from three, decrease the number of federal government members to
Professional Issues
SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt calls for the commission’s greater influence over FASB to ensure it addresses urgent topics and issues standards more swiftly than it has. He also says the commission will quickly establish a private-sector regulatory body—composed largely of individuals independent of the accounting profession—to replace the Public
Features
SPONSORED REPORT
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.
From The Tax Adviser
April 30, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 2
April 30, 2026
Hedge funds: Tax structuring, planning, and compliance
March 31, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
March 31, 2026
