EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ONLINE CPE—STILL IN ITS INFANCY— is available to CPAs wherever they are at any time. It saves time and money, especially for CPAs who may have to travel far to attend conventional seminars. BECAUSE VENDORS CAN REACH A HUGE AUDIENCE, they may be encouraged to offer classes in
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Information management and technology assurance
Practice Management
No Surprises in 1999 MAP Poll Finding, hiring and retaining quality staff topped the list of practice management concerns in a recent poll conducted by the AICPA management of an accounting practice (MAP) committee. It was the third year in a row that firm managers ranked staffing as their number
Be a Go-To Person
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HAVING A GREAT DEAL OF KNOWLEDGE and experience in a niche is helpful, but being the industry champion (a “go-to” person) has a greater impact in the marketplace. A go-to person is perceived as one of the most knowledgeable experts in the field DO ENOUGH RESEARCH BEFORE you
Stay Out of Court
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES to litigation that can be used to settle disputes and help reduce the number of times a CPA must appear in court. These alternatives collectively are known as alternative dispute resolution (ADR). TECHNIQUES THAT FALL UNDER the ADR umbrella include mediation, arbitration and hybrid methods
Doing Well By Doing Good
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ONE CALIFORNIA FIRM DEVELOPED a program—$KiddAccounts—to teach elementary school children the basic concepts of budgeting. Steve Miksis, a CPA and manager, tailored the program to the young audience, using ideas they could easily understand. Taking an interactive approach and using Budgetbuck, a large cartoon version of a dollar
Upgrade to Windows 98 Or Skip to NT?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IF YOURE STILL RUNNING DOS or an early Windows operating system, it makes sense to upgrade to Windows 98. BUT IF YOUR COMPUTER is equipped with Windows 95, the answer is a bit more complicated and you must address some technical issues before making a decision. WHILE THERE
A Common Peer Review Problem
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AICPA STANDARDS CLEARLY STATE procedures for confirmation of accounts receivable. Nevertheless, and despite an auditing procedure study, peer reviews continue to find that CPA firms have problems understanding the various processes. RECEIVABLE CONFIRMATIONS ARE NOT ALWAYS required if accounts receivable are immaterial, the use of confirmations would be
A Solution To Firm Retirement Problems
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MOST CPA FIRMS FACE A HUGE FINANCIAL liability to their retired and soon-to-retire partners. Few firms have developed a satisfactory solution to this problem. In most instances, the typical firm does not prefund its retirement plan because there is no current income tax deduction for doing so. THE
The Partner Alternative
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TRADITIONALLY, ALL CPAs in public accounting aspired to be partners. The partner title was the key measure of success and firms operated on an up-or-out model. TODAY, HOWEVER, HARD-to-find specialists and a new generation wanting more personal time are unable or unwilling to do what is necessary to
Top Office Technology Tools
Office technology products are getting more powerful and easier to use, providing accountants with the opportunity to work smarter and faster. Listed here are many products that can make CPAs’ work more efficient and effective. DESKTOP COMPUTERS New computer technology has made enormous leaps in the past year. The top
The ABCs Of Supervision
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ALTHOUGH TECHNICAL COMPETENCE is important, a key but neglected area of a CPAs development is supervisory skill. CPAs NEED TO LEARN HOW to communicate, organize, motivate and direct the efforts of others in their firm A LACK OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS may be a major reason why many qualified
Accounting Software: The Road Ahead
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BIG CHANGES ARE taking place in the accounting software industry. The highlights: High-end vendors are enlarging their market focus by packaging slimmed-down versions for smaller customers. Applications software will be delivered not on disks or CD-ROMs, but through the Internet from central facilities and will be billed the
The Millenium Muddle
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM (Y2K)—where computers cant determine in what century to place years stored in two-digit format—is coming to a head. When the clock turns to January 1, 2000, two years from now, some computers will spew out erroneous information. THE ODDS OF FINDING a quick, easy
Conquering Shyness
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY VERY FEW CPAs ARE EXTROVERTED, “people” persons. But to be a successful CPA today you have to go out and sell yourself and your business to clients and prospective clients. YOU CANT BECOME extroverted overnight. But by following some tips, little by little you can overcome shyness about
Best Practices for CPA Firms
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AICPA HAS COMPLETED TWO projects to identify “best practices” for accounting consultations and auditor communications with boards of directors and audit committees. These practices are intended to help CPA firms evaluate and enhance their policies and procedures in these critical areas. IN FIRMS THAT FOLLOW BEST PRACTICES,
Writing in Plain English
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOLLOW FIVE IMPORTANT writing principles and your clients will understand better what you do and why it benefits them. USE MANY VERBS. They give your language life. Use the active voice—the passive voice will rob your writing of its energy—and simplify your sentences by breaking them up into
Monitoring A Small Firm
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SMALL FIRMS MAY HAVE DIFFICULTY complying with American Institute of CPAs practice monitoring requirements because in some very small firms an individual may have to review his or her own performance. STATEMENT ON QUALITY CONTROL Standards no. 3, Monitoring a CPA Firm’s Accounting and Auditing Practice , which
Handling the Small Public Audit Client
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE SMALL PUBLICLY TRADED corporate audit market offers a substantial marketing opportunity for smaller accounting firms. A SURVEY SHOWS SUCH COMPANIES appear to be generally satisfied with their small firm auditors but don’t know about or take full advantage of all the services their firms offer. THERE ARE
Letter from the State Board: What Should You Do Next?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY STATE BOARDS OF ACCOUNTANCY are responsible for investigating complaints from the public regarding CPA performance and behavior. STATE BOARDS CAN REQUIRE practitioners to take specific CPE courses to correct an apparent deficiency, to cease and desist certain behaviors and to submit to some form of practice monitoring. They
High-Tech Tools That Do the Job
New computer and communications hardware continues to inundate the market, numbing even the most technology-savvy user. But most of those new products tend to be blips on the horizon—here today and gone tomorrow. Often they dont do what they claim, or they do it badly or what they do is
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From The Tax Adviser
August 31, 2026
2026 tax software survey
July 31, 2026
