Here’s what you’re looking for: Edward Mendlowitz

MANAGEMENT

Forensic Techniques Help Beat Fraud

person taking inventory on a tablet

BONUS: 11 services that create a “control culture.”

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

Trained forensic professionals investigate accounting and financial transactions that are, or will become, subject to legal proceedings. It is an early step in a potential war, and many times it is the first shot.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Attorneys and c-level executives are often not familiar with forensic techniques and see them as a means to quantify a loss. Financial forensics also provides a means to deter and detect fraud. Today, I share my views on the value of forensic techniques used to deter fraud and encourage CVAs to consider attending the CTI’s Forensic Accounting Academy™ or Fraud Risk Management courses offered through the MAFF programs.
READ MORE →

AUDIT & ASSURANCE

Six Tasks Required for an Internal Audit

Internal auditing can help any sized business.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

Every business has a system of internal controls. Very small businesses likely rely on luck and the honesty of their one or two office staff. Small businesses rely on their independent auditors to check their system once a year and large companies employ one or more internal auditors on their staff.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

This post explains the internal audit process that applies to every size business. Businesses have voluminous transactions; multiple people involved, companywide; and assets that need protection.
READ MORE →

MANAGEMENT

What Internal Controls Mean to Clients

man writing in notebook

And how to explain them.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

What are internal controls? Auditors widely use this term. It also appears multiple times in engagement letters for audits of businesses and not-for-profits, but I do not believe many outside of the accounting profession really know or understand what internal controls are. I will try to explain it here.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Internal controls refer to an organization’s system of deterrence, oversight, checks and balances. An illustration is where someone in a business writes and mails the checks to pay a bill. If this same person then receives the bank statement and performs the reconciliation of that account, there would not be any control or oversight on that person and whether the payment was proper and not misdirected. They are checking their own work. This is how many frauds occur.
READ MORE →

MANAGEMENT

How to Get Organization Minutes in Order

A 34-point checklist.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow! The Checklist Handbook for Advisory Services.

Corporate, LLC, partnership and not-for-profit organizations are usually required to have minutes memorializing certain actions taken by the board of directors or governing body. Yet, many do not either because it has never been done, is a bother, is considered not necessary or overlooked through inaction or unawareness.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

However, it is something that should be done as a best practice, as recognition that there are non-active stakeholders who need transparency, or as tangible evidence that the actions recorded took place timely. In some instances, the IRS looks for minutes as a symbol that the affairs were handled on a businesslike basis or were not one-sided “secret” actions by those in control.
READ MORE →

PRO Member Exclusive

The Top Tip for Reviewing Tax Returns

What would you say?

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

Question: I know you have a lot of advice on how to review tax returns. What’s your single best tip?

MORE: You Have to Start Somewhere | Two Options for Collecting Past Due Fees | When Board Service Gets Tricky | Eleven Ways New Staffers Can Help Bring in Business | Busy Season Is Over, So It’s Time for Some Resolutions | Want to Merge? Six Steps to Take | How to Start Providing Family Office Services | Every Accounting Firm Needs Quality Control | No One Listens to You? Change How You Talk | 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Thirteen Things to Consider Before You Sell Your Practice | Uncooperative Partner Might Not be the Problem
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Response: I had never thought about this until this question was asked.
READ MORE →

MANAGEMENT

You Have to Start Somewhere

Wishful thinking won’t move you forward.

By Ed Mendlowitz
The 30:30 Training Method

Question: Thanks for the training memo. Although I requested your memo because I know I need help with improving efficiency and the like with my practice, many of your thoughts and ideas I have already thought of but simply did not implement them.

MORE: Two Options for Collecting Past Due Fees | You Can’t Win with Lowballing | Yes, You Have to Share Work Papers | Should You Merge? Here’s How to Chart Your Path | Hold Staff Accountable If You Want Them to Listen to You | How to Raise Your Rates | Higher Fees to Start: Ten Ways to Make Your Tax Season Better | Three Ways to Start an Accounting Practice | Free Consultation? Not Always | Referral Fee? Forget It
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Response: I think you hit part of the nail on the head in what you wrote – you’ve had many of the ideas and “simply did not implement them.”
READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

77 No-Brainer Opportunities in Small Business Advisory

The Checklist of Checklists Quick-Start Guide

man in glasses looking at document held by woman

You can take action starting today.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

This list is a guide to jog additional thought about a client’s business. I have done all of these, and, at some point, I started making a list to help me remember. I also used it to help staff choose a few items each time they performed services for a client as a value-added benefit to the client.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

The listing can also be used a guide for a separate engagement. Either way, the emphasis should be to provide information to the client about their business that the client does not already consider, focus in on or know about.
READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

How Siblings Can Derail a Family Business

hands holding rope in tug of war

Succession plans can be tricky …  for the advisor.

By Ed Mendlowitz
Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting

Someone has to be the boss. When the founder is active, he or she is usually the boss. But what about parents who step aside to have their children run the business? Particularly where there is more than one child working in the business?

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

I’ve seen some situations where two siblings can run the business as equals. And then, there are other situations where they can’t. What do you do?

READ MORE →

MARKETING & SALES

Ten Tax Issues That Add New Revenue

Plus four “how much” questions you can put numbers to.

By Ed Mendlowitz
How to Build a Stronger Tax Practice

As you see each tax prep client you should keep a list of additional services you can offer them. Also, continue this list when you review each return.

MORE by Ed Mendlowitz
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

I prepare a list of follow-up items during a tax season on my Microsoft Outlook task list. These items are entered as the issue or idea arises. It is simple, quick and very satisfying. The next job will be to make the time to follow up with the client, and do your “good deed.”
READ MORE →