The AICPA’s framework for assessing the reliability of a cloud provider’s technology and systems controls has won the endorsement of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a not-for-profit coalition with members including Google, Microsoft, Ernst & Young, Deloitte, and PwC. The AICPA is a CSA affiliate member. In a position paper released
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Information management and technology assurance
Cybersecurity: 2013 is already “the year of the hack”
Many organizations are unprepared to protect themselves against an emerging, relentless cybersecurity danger that threatens national security and economic stability, according to a new global survey. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are not easily deterred, which makes them different from traditional threats, according to global IT association ISACA. But an ISACA
Android, Apple extend smartphone lead on Windows, BlackBerry
Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS strengthened their positions in the global smartphone operating system market in the fourth quarter of 2012 as the number of shipments grew 42% year over year, International Data Corporation (IDC) reported Thursday with the release of its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Android smartphone vendors
Cloud adoption brings unexpected costs, KPMG survey says
Companies moving IT systems to the cloud are encountering higher costs and more implementation problems than they expected, KPMG International reports in a new survey scheduled to be released on Tuesday. About one-third of the more than 650 business and IT leaders in the global survey experienced higher-than-anticipated expenses adopting
Do I know you?
Q: All of a sudden I am unable to invite my friends to connect with me on LinkedIn unless I supply their email addresses. Yet my colleague is able to invite these same friends without supplying an email address. Can you explain what’s going on and tell me how to
Dust in the wind
Q: I heard on the news last week that it is important to clean the inside of your computer regularly, but I’ve never done this before. Is this true, and if so, how do you clean the inside of a computer without causing damage? A: Ordinarily I would not address
Removing hyperlinks in Excel
Q: I frequently copy and paste large amounts of data from the web into Excel 2010. My problem is the pasted data often contains hundreds of hyperlinks, which makes it difficult to then select those cells without triggering the hyperlinks (to avoid triggering a hyperlink, I click on a nearby
Auto-trust emailed images
Q: When I open email containing pictures or images, Outlook 2010 does not automatically display those images unless I right-click on the image and select Download Pictures. Why does Outlook 2010 do this, and is there a way to automatically display images when opening my email? A: As a security
Searching for acrobats
Q: While looking for a PDF file on the web, I tried including pdf, .pdf, and “.pdf” in my search criteria, but I still found mostly websites instead of PDF documents. Is there a way to search the web for PDF documents only? A: When searching the web using Bing
Creating hyperlinks in Excel
Q: My accounting software enables me to export my customer data to Excel, but the customers’ email addresses do not show up as clickable hyperlinks. I must edit each email address one at a time to delete the leading apostrophe to convert the text-based email address to clickable email addresses.
How to develop and publish a mobile app
When Susan Bruno set out to launch a mobile application to help women gain control of their finances, and Leonard Wright decided to develop an app to enhance his client interactions, neither wealth manager could foresee the dizzying array of detours and dead-ends they would encounter on the road to
No coffee for my mouse, please
Q: I spilled coffee on my mouse, and it stopped working. I then was unable to operate certain software on my Windows computer that requires mouse movements until I purchased a replacement mouse. I am curious to know if there is a way to perform mouse movements in Windows without
Stopping tax identity theft: Practical advice for CPAs and clients
Tax return and other tax-related identity theft is a growing problem that CPAs can help their clients with—both in taking preventive actions and in correcting problems after an identity thief has struck. Tax return identity theft occurs when someone uses a taxpayer’s personal information, such as name and Social Security
How to drive partner accountability and unity
Partner accountability and unity are essential for accounting firms to maximize their productivity and profits. Unfortunately, partner harmony is hard to find, especially at larger firms. Consider the findings of the most recent CPA Firm Top Issues Survey conducted by the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section. The biennial poll of
When parties come knocking for client records
CPA firms either maintain or have access to numerous types of client records and related working papers. Requests for access to copies of such records can arise from multiple sources, including current and former clients, lawyers, civil and criminal investigators, lenders, and others. All requests should be made in writing.
Sparklines make headlines
Q: We produce a monthly report in Excel summarizing the previous 12 months’ accounts-receivable balances for each of our 2,600 customers, and it is my job to analyze this data to identify growing A/R balances that indicate customers who might require special attention. Ideally, I’d like to chart each of
Succession planning: The challenge of what’s next
CPA firm owners say succession planning is important, and a growing number of firms have formal plans in place. Still, many firms and sole proprietors have a great deal of succession planning work ahead of them. Among the challenging statistics that emerged from a recent AICPA survey on the topic:
Touchy underlines
Q: Because I think the solid underlines on my Excel-based financial reports look less professional, I insert thin, blank columns between my data so the underlines don’t touch one another. This process of inserting and reformatting columns is tiresome. Is there another way to produce the underline breaks I want
National mobility campaign adds California and D.C.
As California and the District of Columbia reach major milestones related to individual CPA mobility laws, profession leaders pause to reflect on what this means and assess the next steps in promoting cross-border practice. California Gov. Jerry Brown on Sept. 20 signed legislation that facilitates cross-border mobility for out-of-state CPAs
Practice safe e-filing
Since 2012, e-filing generally has been mandatory for tax preparers or firms that anticipate filing 11 or more federal individual or trust returns in a calendar year. However, e-filing presents a variety of dangers and unintended consequences not present with paper filing. Here are tips to make e-filing as safe
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