The tools available today are incredibly amazing and powerful. You can do astounding things.
I can publish several blogs at minimal out-of-pocket cost which are available world-wide. Very cool.
There are dangers, but that’s okay. We need to know the risks and then manage them.
I have two posts at my other blog, Nonprofit Update, that discuss some dangers and how to minimize them.
They are:
…
Manage the risks of your technology Read More »
For a fast summary of the rules for a compilation, review, audit, and agreed upon procedures, check out a superb post by Charles Hall, at his blog CPA-Scribo: Dating CPA Reports
For each level of service, the post summarizes the rule and provides a citation to the professional literature.
The post also has a discussion of coordinating the representation letter with the final review and dating the report.
Check it out.
What date should you use for a CPA’s report? Read More »
Four men have been convicted and sentenced in the Upland bribery case. The mayor had a scheme to shake down two owners of a local business in return for helping them get back their business license.
Where are they now?
Three are in federal prison and the fourth has not reported in.
…
Where are they now? 3 of 4 defendants in Upland bribery case are in prisonRead More »
Where are they now? 3 of 4 defendants in Upland bribery case are in prison Read More »
One of the biggest changes in the clarified audit standards is a new audit report. It will apply for audit reports issued in 2013 for our 12-31-12 clients.
This will be a biggie for 2013 work.
I previously provided a sample audit report for a commercial client of a one partner firm. Here is a sample report for nonprofit organizations I plan to use in my practice.
The new opinion is discussed in AU-C Section 700, Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements.
You can find all the new clarified standards on this page at the AICPA website. You can click directly to section 700 here.
Here is the new report for an NPO, set up with options for a one partner or multi-partner firm. Don’t forget the title, Independent Auditor’s Report. That is part of the report.
Independent Auditor’s Report
…
New audit opinion for 2012 – example for NPO client of one-partner or multi-partner firmRead More »
New audit opinion for 2012 – example for NPO client of one-partner or multi-partner firm Read More »
A brand new audit report is one of the biggest changes in the clarified audit standards. It will apply for audit reports issued in 2013 for our audits of 12-31-12 financial statements.
This is a biggie.
The new opinion is discussed in AU-C Section 700, Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements.
You can find all the new clarified standards on this page at the AICPA website. You can click directly to section 700 here.
Here is the new report, adjusting pronouns to a one partner firm. Don’t forget the title, Independent Auditor’s Report:
Independent Auditor’s Report
…
New audit opinion for 2012 – example for commercial client of one-partner firmRead More »
New audit opinion for 2012 – example for commercial client of one-partner firm Read More »
The New Mexico Office of State Auditor (OSA) has issued several official reports on the fabricated June 30, 2011 financial statements from the New Mexico Finance Authority.
This will be the first in a series of posts on the report.
You can find a 47 page report dated December 3, 2012 here. You can find a more detailed 174 page report dated December 12, 2012 here.
The longer report has a very helpful 10 page executive summary. If you are a CPA interested in learning about fraud, systemic failures of internal control, the importance of tone at the top, and all the other things that we CPAs look at, you will learn a lot by reading the executive summary.
Good news from the investigation
…
Official report on New Mexico Finance Authority’s faked audit report – Part 1Read More »
Official report on New Mexico Finance Authority’s faked audit report – Part 1 Read More »
If you are considering taking that huge step, check out the second edition of On Your Own! How to Start Your Own CPA Firm.
…
Thinking of starting your own CPA firm? Read More »
I just did something embarrassing and you are gawking at me. “Look, over there!” say I to distract you, thus ending the focus on my embarrassment.
That is an extremely short version of Grumpy Old Accountant Dr. Catanach’s post “H-P Throws Its Accountants Under the Bus! But Why?”
…
HP’s big bath and switch Read More »
The former controller of the New Mexico Finance Authority pled guilty to three felony counts on November 29, 2012. There were two forgery charges and one for securities fraud.
He was sentenced to five years probation. The sentence includes the provision for a conditional discharge.
A special report from the Office of State Auditor dated December 12, 2012 stated:
…
Guilty plea over faked audit report at New Mexico Finance AuthorityRead More »
Guilty plea over faked audit report at New Mexico Finance Authority Read More »
The following article is reprinted with permission of the California Board of Accountancy.
What You Want (and need) to Know about Peer review
The most important thing to know about peer review is that ALL LICENSEES are required to submit a Peer Review Reporting Form to the CBA regardless of the type of work performed, status of license, or industry of employment. Undergoing a peer review and reporting peer review information are two different things, so read carefully to determine your responsibilities.
There’s no doubt you’ve been hearing about Peer Review since at least January 1, 2010. That’s the date Peer Review went into effect, and all California–licensed firms that provide accounting and auditing (A&A) services, including sole proprietorships, were required to undergo a peer review once every three years as a condition of license renewal. Peer review is defined as the study of a firm’s A&A practice by an independent CPA using professional standards.
…
Overview of Peer Review from California Board of AccountancyRead More »
Overview of Peer Review from California Board of Accountancy Read More »
By agreeing to the settlement, UBS also acknowledges that several dozen traders, managers, and senior managers tried to manipulate multiple rates, including the Yen Libor, Euribor, and 4 currencies of the Libor index. Their subsidiary in Japan will plead guilty to one felony charge in the U.S.
This from multiple media reports. See especially the Wall Street Journal article, UBS to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Libor Charges (behind paywall).
One obscure part of the story may turn out to be the biggest – there may be individual prosecutions in the near future
Update: The U.S. Justice Department has unsealed formal charges against two former UBS employees. You can read multiple news reports, but can start at the WSJ’s Two Former UBS Traders Charged in Libor Probe, which says:
The former traders, … , who lives in England, and … a resident of Switzerland, were both charged with conspiracy, the Justice Department said.
Mr. … was also charged with wire fraud and price fixing.
A quick summary from the WSJ:
As part of the deal, UBS acknowledged that dozens of its employees were involved in widespread efforts to manipulate the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, as well as other benchmark rates, which together serve as the basis for interest rates on hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial contracts around the world. UBS’s unit in Japan, where much of the attempted manipulation took place, pleaded guilty to one U.S. count of fraud
The British regulator, Financial Services Authority, was able to specifically identify over 2,000 attempts to manipulate the rate with knowledge and involvement of at least 45 traders and managers.
…
The Wall Street Journal reports $1.5B is the expectation for a settlement next week. See their article A Shadow Over Banks as UBS Nears Deal.
(Behind paywall, so either grab yesterday’s paper quick or get an online subscription. Or do both.)
Criminal charges?
…
This was my depressing reading at lunchtime: Banking Industry Squirms Over European Rate Probe, in today’s Wall Street Journal.
Oh great. Looks like Euribor has been gamed by the big banks (pronounced eur-EYE-bore according to WSJ).
The article reports:
The European Union is expected soon to accuse multiple banks of attempted collusion in the setting of Euribor, according to people briefed on the probe.
…
Euribor, cousin of Libor, may have been cooked tooRead More »
Euribor, cousin of Libor, may have been cooked too Read More »
The webinar on the AICPA’s version of “small GAAP” mentioned earlier is rolled into a JofA article: A Quest for Relevance.
Check out the article for a summary of the new rules that can be used for small business accounting that avoid much of the extra complexity of GAAP.
…
More background on FRF-SMEs, the ‘small GAAP’ Read More »
Be attentive as you complete your PTIN renewal. Your name, address and certain other info is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
The AICPA has an article on the issue – Managing public PTIN information.
From the article:
…