CPA Trendlines

IG: Risks overshadow IRS modernization successes

http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/36691-1.html

By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff

The IRS still wrestles with meeting long-term cost and schedule estimates and with managing its programs, although it successfully deployed business system modernization projects in the past year and met short-term deadlines, according to the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).

TIGTA today released its annual report on IRS business systems modernization.

Weaknesses continue in critical program management and system development processes, such as requirements and contract management, software testing and security controls. ?BSM project accomplishments did not include all intended capabilities, were not delivered on schedule and exceeded proposed costs,? the report said.

The IRS has taken on more responsibilities this year by assuming the role of systems integrator from its prime contractor, Computer Sciences Corp. Many of the program management issues are related to this transition, said TIGTA, which conducted its review from January through May.

?We remain cautious about looking forward based on [fiscal] 2004 results, due to uncertainties related to BSM roles and responsibilities and the challenges facing the IRS that could affect future accomplishments,? said Pamela Gardiner, deputy inspector general for audit.

On the positive side, the IRS has developed the infrastructure to support its modernization projects, including an enterprise architecture that encompasses all IRS business units, processes, programs and operations and provides details to help guide current and future modernization initiatives. It has taken steps to improve program management, such as establishing individual requirements and release management offices, which are developing guidelines and processes to support their components.

The IRS in its response said the schedule delays and cost increases this past year were due to factors beyond its control, such as additional requirements and congressional delays in passing legislation and budget cuts. ?We are very confident that we have the management focus and discipline in place to ensure that we are ?doing things right? as opposed to ?doing things fast,? such as exiting milestones prematurely,? said IRS CIO Todd Grams in a letter to TIGTA.

TIGTA spotlighted the same primary challenges the IRS and its contractors must meet that it has cited the past three fiscal years:
Implementing planned improvements in key management processes and committing the necessary resources
Managing the increasing complexity and risks of the BSM program
Maintaining the continuity of strategic direction with experienced leadership
Ensuring contractor performance and accountability are effectively managed. READ MORE →

“AICPA Insider” Marks 4th Anniversary

Circulation of the AICPA’s official weekly e-newsletter has grown to 170,000 from 10,000 since launching in August 2001.

From the AICPA Insider

The original Insider launch team remains on board today: Editorial Director Rick Telberg; Publisher/GM Hank Berkowitz; Producer Betty Yuan; and Advertising Director Tom Greve. “Thanks to our dedicated readers, staff and sponsors, the Insider continues to evolve as a highly anticipated weekly dialog between the Institute and its members,” notes Berkowitz.

READ MORE →

Undergraduate recruitment

In search of the ideal employer

Aug 18th 2005
From The Economist print edition

Students are in demand again and becoming increasingly choosy

COME September, the campuses of America will be swarming not just with returning undergraduates, but also with employers set on signing up the most able 10% of them. ?We are seeing a far more competitive market for talent,? says Steve Canale, a recruitment manager at General Electric (GE). Students who recently could have expected two or three offers in their final year are now getting as many as five. To gain a competitive edge, firms are arriving ever earlier on campus with their recruitment caravans. They are also starting to look at (and select) summer interns more as potential full-time employees than as mere seasonal extra hands: 60% of GE’s graduate recruits in America this year, for instance, will come from its crop of more than 2,000 interns. Many interns will have employment contracts in their pockets before they even return for their final year of study.

Firms are working harder to polish their image in the eyes of undergraduates. Some have staff who do little but tour campuses throughout the year, keeping the firm’s name in front of both faculty and students, and promoting their ?employer brand?. GE focuses on 38 universities where it actively promotes itself as an employer. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), an accounting firm, targets 200 universities and gives a partner responsibility for each. PWC says that each of these partners spends up to 200 hours a year ?building relationships on campus?.

That particular investment seems to have paid off. Each year Universum, an employer-branding consultant, asks some 30,000 American students to name their ideal employer. In this year’s survey, published recently, PWC came second (up from 4th in 2004), topped only by BMW (see table). Yet the German carmaker, which knocked Microsoft off the top spot, steers clear of campuses, relying for its popularity, says Universum, on the ?coolness? of its products.

Students, it seems, are heavily influenced in their choice of ideal employer by their perception of that employer’s products and services. Soaring up this year’s list were Apple Computer (from 41st to 13th) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (from 138th to 10th). The success of Apple’s cool iPod has had a powerful effect on the firm’s ability to recruit top undergraduates. Likewise, the positive portrayal of the FBI in some recent films and TV shows has allegedly helped with recruitment.

The accounting firms say that the fall of Enron and Arthur Andersen has done their recruitment no harm: instead, they claim, it has made students realise that accounting is not mere number-crunching, but also involves moral judgments. The ?Big Four? accounting firms are all among this year’s top 15 ideal employers.

Undergraduates now do much of their research into future employment online. There seems to be a close correlation between their choice of ideal employer and their choice of most impressive website?where PWC, Microsoft and Ernst & Young win gold, silver and bronze respectively.

Even so, some top firms think they still appreciate the personal touch, and are sending their most senior executives to campuses to meet students and to give speeches. ?The top attracts the top,? says Claudia Tattanelli, boss of Universum in America. Jeffrey Immelt, GE’s chief executive, is a keen on-campus speaker and has visited six leading universities in the past year. In the process, he may have shaken hands with one of his successors.

READ MORE →

“I found this want ad…”

… writes Warren Hennigan from Santa Ana, Calif.

“…in the bi-monthly newsletter from the local chapter of our CA Society of CPA’s. What is this world coming to?”

SENIOR TAX ACCOUNTANT?Are you looking
for a workplace where family values and
Biblical principles are part of the culture?
XXXXXX & Co. in Santa Ana seeks tax
accountant with a minimum of four years?
public accounting experience. E-mail
r?sum? to xxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.com or fax
to (714) 543-xxxx.

So Harvey Goldstein writes back…

Warren:
What’s the matter with that?
We pray after each tax return we prepare.
:-)

Harvey
www.slgg.com
www.upyourcashflow.com READ MORE →

Intuit Doubles Down on Accountants

New and Enhanced Programs Aim to Solve Accountants? Most Critical Needs

News Release from Intuit

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., – Aug. 18, 2005 ? Intuit? Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) today announced that it?s increasing its committment to accountants by rolling out a series of new and enhanced programs. From free technical support for QuickBooks ProAdvisors? and a new accountant-dedicated support team to free in-person training seminars in 80 cities, the company has amassed one the industry?s most comprehensive programs for accountants. READ MORE →

Benefits: The New Weapon in the Battle for Staff

Fringe benefits are fringes no more: Today they play a vital role in the competitive landscape for talent.

by Rick Telberg
for the AICPA Career Insider

The accounting and finance profession is clearly struggling mightily to address chronic staff shortages and work/life balance issues. As a result, benefits packages seem to be gaining increased importance in the battle for talent and competitive advantage.

[RELATED REPORT: "STAFFING: Which Benefits Matter Most"]

To be sure, employers in the tax, accounting and finance fields face hiring pressures little different from those found in other industries. And the attitudes of CPAs are hardly unique to the CPA profession. The employment situation is a national, perhaps global, situation, requiring broad new economic and social policy initiatives.

Until that day comes, however, businesses and employees alike will be facing the same issues. The winners in this struggle will gain a competitive advantage in a market where even the slightest advantage can be significant. READ MORE →

Small Businesses Stand to Lose 30% More to Fraud

6% of small business revenue is lost to these familiar faces.

Amazingly, small businesses stand to lose 30% more than large businesses due to fraud. Fraud is probably the last thing a business owner thinks about when establishing his business but it deserves to be much higher on the list of concerns.

Average Fraud Scheme Losses

Source: Certified Fraud Examiners Association READ MORE →