What are YOUR top tech issues? The AICPA has released a survey, asking members to prioritize into its annual list of “Top Ten Techs” the technology issues that will have the most impact in 2009. How many of these are you ready for… ? Audit Process Improvement — This initiative is about auditing, process documentation, and the utilization of appropriate tools for continuous monitoring and collaborative auditing. Strategies include continuous auditing, management control systems, continuous control monitoring, and remote auditing. Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery Planning — Business Continuity Management and Disaster Recovery Planning are the holistic processes organizations use to mitigate the risks to systems and people when unexpected events occur and include the maintenance of a documented plan [...]
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What you need to know to make your firm more effective. What are today’s best leadership strategies? Join the study; get the answers. by Rick Telberg/At Large In these treacherous and tumultuous times, the difference between winners and losers – survivors and casualties — may well hinge on the qualities of leadership. Some firms and finance organizations are already falling by the wayside. Others are clearly gaining new and powerful competitive advantages that could last for years. Some will flourish; some will perish. But how do you navigate this transformational era? And how do you insure your own success and survival? We took our questions to Bob Bunting (pictured), one of the profession’s most respected authorities on leadership.
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Maybe it’s time to scrap “independence” for comps and reviews. In this three-minute video, AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon (pictured) explains the Accounting and Review Services Committee’s Reliability Project. The AICPA says the project “aims to enable CPAs to perform limited assurance engagements for clients when the external CPA performs certain control services. The accountant would still be precluded from providing any assurance service when he or she has a financial or relationship interest in the company. It is expected that current compilation and review standards will be maintained. The ARSC plans to expose a new standard in late 2008 or in the spring of 2009.” I first reported on the trend in January, February, March and April. And [...]
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For comps and reviews, maybe. Who really needs or wants an “independent” accountant, anyway? Leading accounting firms are pushing a revamp of the rules for compilations and reviews that would drop the traditional ‘independence’ requirement and replace it, instead, with a new standard aimed at reliability. The idea has been cooking for a couple years, but it’s only now starting to get some buzz in the profession. The AICPA’s powerful Accounting and Review Services Committee is now looking at the idea, pushed there by an ad hoc Reliability Task Force of the AICPA PCPS executive committee.
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Keeping CPA exam candidates on track. What are firms doing to help? Join the survey; get the results. by Rick Telberg/At Large It’s too early to celebrate, but there are signs that the profession’s talent shortage may be poised to ease. A record number of new graduates are flowing into the market, CPA firms are hiring more employees than ever and the number of CPA exam candidates is returning to historical levels. To be sure, the talent pinch remains acute and the forecast for headcount growth could yet be clouded by the economic slowdown. But 203,000 college students are majoring in accounting today, up 19 percent from three years ago, according to the AICPA. Last year, more than 64,000 students [...]
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2 in 3 CPAs call it “great!” by Rick Telberg/At Large The dog may be barking in the yard, the kids screaming upstairs and the spouse bugging you. But, what the heck, you’re working from home and the odds are you love it. Two thirds of CPAs who work from home-running full-time practices, side businesses or handling overflow from their office day jobs-classify the experience as “great!” Just the same, they’re also quick to warn that not everyone is cut out to conduct business in the bosom of their families. Most of the tales that work-at-home CPAs reveal in a new CPA Trendlines study could serve as scripts for happy situation comedies, but some also have the makings of high [...]
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Web-based accounting startup teams with CPA2Biz. Bill.com, a Software as a Service (SaaS) company that provides businesses on-demand accounts payable software, has forged a strategic alliance with the CPA2Biz unit of the AICPA. The deal provides Bill.com with a one-stop solution to its accounting marketing and gives the AICPA the opportunity to partner with a Silicon Valley star to develop some long-sought-after projects, including a CPA “dashboard.†For accountants, it provides a simple and innovative accounting service to gain and retain clients. The announcement was timed for the AICPA Information Technology Conference this week in Las Vegas.
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Is the talent crisis over? Chart: Accounting degrees awarded – 1971-2007 (Source: AICPA) CPAs rate their jobs. Join the survey. Get the answers. by Rick Telberg/At Large Having trouble finding more good accountants? If so, you are far from alone. For Cheryl Mills, a senior manager at a CPA firm in New York City, retaining qualified staff has become an uphill battle. “We have lost 60 percent of our workforce this year,” says Mills.”The rapid turnover makes investing in staff difficult.” Echoing that sentiment, Neil Schembre, who works at a small firm in Fanwood, N.J., says, “Staffing is the lifeblood of my business.”
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Some 57 percent of key AICPA members are pessimistic or very pessimistic about the economic outlook for the U.S. over the next 12 months. That’s relatively unchanged from 59 percent who held negative expectations in the first quarter. The survey found just under 12 percent of CPAs in executive positions expressed optimism about the economy, virtually unchanged from 11 percent in the first quarter.
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B2B media luminary shares some tips. Via http://www.aicpalearning.org, Hank Berkowitz writes: When it comes to B2B e-newsletters for financial professionals, no discussion would be complete without checking in with Rick Telberg, President of Bay Street Group Research in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Arguably the most widely-read journalist and analyst covering the accounting profession, Telberg is the co-author of a new research report: Beyond the Click: Maximizing Advertising ROI in B2B E-Newsletters. Request a FREE copy of the executive summary of the report, here. CPA Marketing Insider (CMI): Rick, it sounds like you’re not a big fan of using clicks to measure the success or failure of online ad campaigns, especially in e-newsletters. Rick Telberg: Correct. I’m just not seeing much of [...]
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