Madoff CPA: “Don’t Cheat!”

If there’s one thing CPA David Friehling really couldn’t stand, it was a cheater.

Friehling (via ClusterStock)

Friehling (via ClusterStock)

At least that’s what Bernie Madoff’s auditor-of-record says in a column he wrote for “The Trusted Professional,” the newsletter of the New York State Society of CPAs.

Here’s the entire column from April (at the NY CPA Society)

Cheating on Taxes Is Cheating Ourselves

By David Friehling, Rockland Chapter President

I assume we are all deep into tax season. I took a minute to step back the other day to think about what I was really doing: enabling our government to collect money. Government uses our funds to operate departments and services that support the common good. We are all provided with roads, street lights, defense and recreational opportunities. Some of us are also provided with various forms of assistance – and if not us, our elderly parents, or disabled friends and neighbors, etc.

When we see our clients and they ask us to stretch the truth, we are just cheating ourselves. Read more

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Posted on December 19, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

The Solo CPA’s Top Work-at-Home Tips

How a solo CPA finds success and happiness working from home.

by Rick Telberg
On Careers

With past recessions as a guide, it’s easy to predict that more CPAs will be working harder and longer in 2009. And many of those work-hours will be spent at home or on the go.

Ballman

Ballman

Whether you’re climbing the corporate ladder or launching your own practice (or both), you’ll need to know how people succeed at it.

So it’s worth checking in with veteran soloist, Harry C. Ballman, MBA, CPA/PFS. Ballman has been soloing since leaving the Big Eight in 1978. Ballman is a past president of the Washington, D.C., CPA society and currently an elected member of the governing AICPA Council.

Here are Ballman’s suggestions for going it alone: Read more

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Posted on December 18, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 4 Comments

Madoff’s Auditor… Doesn’t Audit?!

AICPA: Madoff’s auditor claimed it didn’t do audits. Ethics probe launched.

Friehling & Horowitz, the small New York auditing firm that certified the financial statements of Bernard Madoff Investment Securities, has been telling the AICPA for 15 years that it doesn’t perform audits.

By denying it did audits, the firm avoided reviews by the AICPA. New York is one of only six states that doesn’t require accountants to be peer-reviewed. “The plain fact is that this group hasn’t submitted for peer review and appears to have done an audit,” said AICPA spokesman Bill Roberts, noting the Institute has now launched an investigation into the firm.

Because of the Madoff scandal, New York State is moving to join the ranks of peer-review states.

Read more

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Posted on December 18, 2008
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Bowman’s Reports: CBIZ Acquires Tofias

Within just a few weeks of ending an 18-month absence in New York with the acquisition of Mahoney Cohen & Company, CBIZ is filling a huge hole in Boston by acquiring Cambridge, Mass.-based Tofias, according to Bowman’s Accounting Report. Subscribe here.

The two transactions add about $93 million to CBIZ’s top line. In addition, the deals reinforce CBIZ as a major player in acquisition deals, says Allan Koltin, the Chicago based consultant. It also establishes a high-bar for making an acquisition. CBIZ is paying premium prices for the practices.

Stay tuned. BOWMAN’S soon will report additional insight into the acquisitions.

Related:

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Posted on December 17, 2008
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SEC Officially Mandates XBRL [UPDATED]

Welcome to “The Age of Transparency.”

UPDATED: 5:50 pm to add AICPA comments

The Securities and Exchange Commission has officially adopted a rule mandating XBRL filings beginning in 2009.

With this rule, the SEC is effectively mandating that all public companies, beginning with large cap filers, submit their SEC reports in Interactive Data format, specifically in XBRL. XBRL software, an evolution of XML, the code the Internet was built upon, makes it much easier to Read more

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Posted on December 17, 2008
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New IRS Reg 7216 Worries, Confuses CPAs. But Help Is on the Way

Under new IRS Reg 7216, CPAs are obligated to get written consent when they “send out” work on tax returns.

But there’s precious little concrete guidance available yet, the deadline is approaching and many tax practitioners are confused and worried.

So what to do? I’ve been asking around. And, while there’s no cut-and-paste template available yet, a clearer picture is emerging.

Read more

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Posted on December 17, 2008
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Mack Lawhon’s Four Success Strategies for 2009

They work for one of the nation’s leading CPA firms. Now put them to work for you.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

Heading into the worst economic crisis in a generation, CPAs and CPA firms are being tested to provide more than impeccably accurate work. They are being challenged as never before to add new value and create new opportunities for their clients and their companies.

“It could be a tough deal for CPAs,” Mack Lawhon, chief executive of the Fort Worth-based Weaver & Tidwell, was saying in his genteel Texas drawl. When I talked to him a few days ago, Lawhon had just closed on the acquisition of another CPA practice, bringing his firm to 42 partners, 375 staffers and an annualized run rate of $60 million.

Read more

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Posted on December 15, 2008
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CPA Firms Gain Amid Dismal Jobs Report

Your mother was right: “Become an accountant and you’ll always make a living.”

Take a look, for instance, at the latest jobs report from the U.S. Department of Labor, which showed the overall economy lost 533,000 jobs in November – but it also showed gains for CPA firms against non-CPA accountants and bookkeepers.

Read more

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Posted on December 15, 2008
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Will Small Business Surge in this Recession Too?

Small business formations actually accelerated in the last two recessions.

It’s more evidence that the CPA profession is counter-cyclical. But can it happen this time?

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Posted on December 15, 2008
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