Auditors: The World Needs You in the Fight Against Terrorism

What the Profession Needs to Know about Money Laundering. 

By Wm. Dennis Huber and Larry Crumbley

There are difficulties in measuring funds channeled into financing terrorist organizations and activities worldwide. Various sources estimate this funding to be between $590 billion and $1.5 trillion through money laundering. PwC suggests that “money laundering transactions are estimated at 2% to 5% global GDP, or roughly $1-2 trillion annually.”

However, financing terrorist organizations and activities is not necessarily the result of money laundering. Financing terrorist organizations and activities may be accomplished by reverse money laundering, or “money dirtying” which may make financing terrorist organizations and activities even more difficult to estimate.

Just as evidence of fraud cannot be ignored, so too evidence of financing terrorist organizations can no longer be ignored.

The goal of money-launderers is, like that of a corporate enterprise, to maximize profits and reduce risk while the goal of terrorists, on the other hand, is to further a political agenda or ideology, or to destroy or kill with no regard to profits and with little regard for risk. READ MORE →

Early Data Exchange Vital to Evaluate a Merger

Three possible outcomes from trading numbers early.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers

I have always been a big believer in the buyer and seller exchanging financial and operating information as early in the process as possible.

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Numbers aren’t everything, but they do speak volumes. The data enable each firm to gain an understanding of the other in a manner that is not always possible in conversation.

The data is also a good way to corroborate things that are said verbally. Here are some examples: READ MORE →

Six Success Secrets in Finance

How CPAs can master the essence of excellence. by Rick Telberg/On Finance Why do some accounting shops excel while others stagnate? Good question. And it’s probably best answered not by looking fearfully at the dismal swamp of stagnation, but by … Continued

Six Lessons for the First 100 Days

istock_000005531119xsmall.jpgNew finance execs must move swiftly to learn the ropes, set the pace.

by Rick Telberg

Finance executives are increasingly finding themselves in the middle of corporate decision making and responsibility. For newly appointed CFOs and finance managers, success is no small feat-the first 100 days are critical.

With the pressure on, new finance managers want to make their mark early, and, according to the McKinsey Quarterly survey by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, there are some activities that should make nearly every finance executive’s short list of priorities.

One of the most critical activities during an executive’s first 100 days is the gaining of and understanding of what drives his or her company’s business, whether it be how a company makes money or its returns on invested capital. At the same time, a CFO must also consider potential ways to improve such drivers. READ MORE →