Many accountants may have opportunities to expand their service offerings to small business clients by providing financial planning and forecasting, according to a new survey. Just one in three accountants offers financial planning or forecast services as part of clients’ business planning process, according to a survey of 150 accountants
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Information management and technology assurance
Lessons from an $8 million fraud
Nathan J. Mueller’s fleecing of his employer, a financial services giant, is noteworthy because of the amount of money stolen, the many years the embezzlement lasted, and the internal control weaknesses that made the scheme possible. This article examines how the crime was committed and what organizations can do to protect themselves from similar losses.
What’s your fraud IQ?
Do you know how to spot the red flags of a fraudulent transaction? Can you evaluate the warning signs? Find out in our Fraud IQ quiz.
Expanding your app-titude
New column debuts with descriptions of networking app Fing and shopping assistant RedLaser.
Time’s up: The benefits and challenges of moving away from the billable hour
Transitioning away from a billable-hour model can improve margins and customer relations. But it also comes with plenty of challenges. Learn how one firm made the switch.
All in a dishonest day’s work
It’s difficult to believe, but sometimes CPA firm employees, and even partners, steal from clients. While a CPA firm’s leaders may believe this would never happen to them, claim experience in the AICPA Professional Liability Insurance Program demonstrates this does occur.
AICPA advises CPA firms to review state registration and compliance
CPA firms are being urged by the AICPA State Regulation and Legislation team to review their registration compliance procedures to ensure that they are complying with out-of-state registration requirements when performing attest engagements. The AICPA advisory was issued after recent activity by some state boards of accountancy to ensure that
Searching for privacy
Q: I’ve heard that search engines such as Google and Yahoo! keep a record of your searches and the websites you visit and that they often share this personal information with other companies. I don’t do anything illicit on the internet, but I’m still not comfortable with these search engines
Substantiating trust
Q: When introduced to new privacy solutions (such as DuckDuckGo or Disconnect), what assurances do we have that these solutions aren’t themselves stealthily tracking our computing or internet activities? A: Before trusting a lesser-known privacy solution, at a minimum make sure that it meets the following criteria: The company makes
Whiz kids
I frequently receive questions from CPAs concerned about their children’s use of computers. It is true that children can become overly obsessed with playing computer games, or worse yet, use their computers to access inappropriate content on the web. These risks can be easily mitigated with parental control software, firewall
High-functioning firms
High-functioning firms have leadership teams that assess situations, develop strategies, and make and execute decisions with relative ease, speed, and success. Others, however, function with a drag that pulls against their momentum, causing the business of leading, managing, and executing to take longer and produce less-than-stellar results. High-functioning firms seem
Excel reader challenge
August is traditionally a lighter time of year for CPAs, and in that spirit I’m offering another reader challenge designed to test your Excel skills. I’ve published an Excel workbook at carltoncollins.com/stockchallenge.xlsx that contains weekly stock price information for 10 stocks during 2013. Here’s the challenge: Download the workbook, start
How well do you know PivotTables?
Q: I was recently asked by a large client if I considered myself an Excel PivotTable expert, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I have used PivotTables extensively, but by definition, it is difficult for anyone to know what they don’t know—if that comment makes sense. Is there some
Shortcuts for evaluating a QuickBooks candidate
Q: When hiring a new QuickBooks bookkeeper, what’s a good way to evaluate a candidate’s proficiency with QuickBooks? A: It is easy to evaluate the knowledge of a QuickBooks consultant, because Intuit makes his or her history of certifications public. You can access this information from the QuickBooks Help menu
Technology plays a role in board members’ top two concerns
In a business environment where a damaging Twitter post can have disastrous effects on a company’s financials, reputational risk remains the top nonfinancial concern for corporate directors, according to a new survey report. Another risk rooted in technology—cybersecurity and information technology risk—is rising quickly among directors’ concerns, according to the
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What technology would you like to see more of?
Effective performance management
For a manager, few things are more difficult than delivering honest performance feedback to an employee. And far too many managers don’t give feedback at all. Fortunately, there are ways to address performance review problems. Success lies in the execution of these simple ideas. Define the culture of your
Tech-less-ness
Q: How should I deal with people who don’t have a clue what they are doing with their computer but constantly want me to help them resolve their petty computer issues? A: Being known as a tech-savvy professional has its drawbacks. Specifically, we are frequently expected to help novice computer
You Gantt do that
Q: Does Excel 2013 provide the option to produce Gantt charts? A: No, Excel does not produce Gantt charts out of the box, but you can create one with a bit of Excel trickery, as illustrated in the following example. 1. List your tasks. Start by entering a list of
Office-sharing arrangement
Q: I subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus, which includes five product licenses. I’ve installed three of those licenses on my office, home, and mobile laptop computers, and I am wondering if I can allow other family members to use my remaining two unused licenses. I don’t want to do
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SPONSORED REPORT
Preparing clients for new provisions next tax season
As the 2025 filing season approaches, H.R. 1 introduces significant tax reforms that CPAs must be prepared to navigate. These legislative changes represent some of the most comprehensive tax updates in recent years, affecting both individual and corporate taxpayers. This report provides in-depth analysis and guidance on H.R. 1.
From The Tax Adviser
November 30, 2025
Digital asset transactions: Broker reporting, amount realized, and basis
October 31, 2025
Recent developments in estate planning
October 31, 2025
