The AICPA has a good summary of the changes created by the complete rewrite of audit rules.
It goes into a moderate level of detail, which is a good way to dive into the new standards. The summary is 22 pages long.
You can find the summary at:
Summary of changes from the clarified SASs Read More »
I had a great time watching the LeaderCast. After going through my notes a couple of times, wish I’d sent the above tweets. I have a few more here and here.
Tweets I wish I’d sent from the 2012 Chick-FIl-A LeaderCast Read More »
Part 2 of my journey through the peer review process.
Today I received a note that I forgot to answer one question on the Peer Review Scheduling Form. Oops.
Answered it and returned the form. Same day I received a letter that my initial form had been accepted. A copy of the 4 pages needed to get a reviewer approved were attached to the letter. These are the last pages in the Scheduling Form, so you will already know what they look like.
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Journey through a peer review – initial scheduling form approvedRead More »
Journey through a peer review – initial scheduling form approved Read More »
(cross-posted from my other blog, Outrun Change.)
One of the main computers I use in my business failed Sunday night. For various reasons, I’ve held off on making several major upgrades, like jumping to Windows 7 and Office 2010.
So I shopped for new computer, have it in place, and as of yesterday have almost all the software running. Still have a couple of things to bring online, but they can wait for the moment.
Making the jump to a host of new technology tools all at once highlights the volume of change surrounding us.
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Nothing like recovering from a computer failure to show how much change is going onRead More »
Nothing like recovering from a computer failure to show how much change is going on Read More »
There is a movement afoot in the CPA world to get rid of timesheets. A major part of the concept is to move away from billing by the hour and move toward “value billing.”
Instead of charging based on how many hours you spend, bill the client for what your services are worth or what you can negotiate in a lump sum.
In my tiny part of the accounting world, I’ve been billing on a fixed price basis for the vast majority of work for around 20 years or more. (So does that mean I was a value-biller before value-biller was cool?)
Getting rid of the timesheets entirely is an idea I have been highly uncomfortable with, but hadn’t thought through why.
Until now.
Ed Mendlowitz, CPA, has a great article at CPATrendlines explaining the reasons I’m uneasy. He explains 13 Reasons Timesheet Will Never Die.
In one sentence, look at the opposite side of the income statement – timesheets are a cost control.
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Dump the timesheets? Not so fast. Read More »
(Discussion in a previous post is moved into this new post because the old post wasn’t displaying correctly based on feedback I’ve received.)
Time to start thinking about the big changes to audit rules that go into effect for our 12-31-12 audits.
The AICPA has a good roadmap in the May 2012 Journal of Accountancy: Auditing transition
The suggestions:
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Roadmap to implementing the clarified audit standards and tools to read the mapRead More »
Roadmap to implementing the clarified audit standards and tools to read the map Read More »
(Links deleted and text of this post moved to a new post since this one is not displaying correctly based on feedback I’ve received.)
Time to start thinking about the big changes to audit rules that go into effect for our 12-31-12 audits.
The AICPA has a good roadmap in the May 2012 Journal of Accountancy:
Auditing transition
The suggestions:
…
Roadmap to implementing the clarified audit standards and tools to read the mapRead More »
Roadmap to implementing the clarified audit standards and tools to read the map Read More »
I have a post at my other blog, Nonprofit Update which provides an analogy to illustrate the differences between the levels of attestation services provided by CPAs:
Evaluating a used car as an illustration of the differences between compilation, review, and audit
The analogy compares three different ways to figure out the quality of a car. I suggest each of those ways is similar to a level of service. Here’s the conclusion:
Check out the full post for more details on the analogy.
Since my last peer review in 2009, I started blogging and started performing peer reviews. I’ve also been blogging about peer reviews.
So when I received notification yesterday, May 7, that it is time to start the paperwork for my current peer review, I thought it might be helpful to share my experiences with this journey through the peer review process.
Why? Haven’t all firms gone through the peer review process before?
Actually no. In California there are a number of firms who still have to go through their first mandatory peer review since 2012 is the third year of the phase in of that requirement. Other firms will perform their first attestation work and have to step into the peer review process. New firms are still forming. In larger firms, partners who have not been involved in the peer review process can get that responsibility assigned to them.
So, there are a lot of CPAs who could be helped by reading about this journey.
Yesterday I received a letter from the CalCPA Peer Review Program telling me it’s time to get started.
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Journey through a peer review – initial notificationRead More »
Journey through a peer review – initial notification Read More »
David Albrecht has background on the trend of the big firms reducing the number of names in the firm name down to one or a series of letters. Also gives some reasons why.
CPA Firm Branding and McGladrey LLP
Several reasons: appearance, ease of brand management, looks more ‘corporate’.
Good overview for those of us who don’t worry about the image of a zillion dollar firm.
Big firms rebranding multiple names down to one Read More »
A: Because all the documents are outside the organization being defrauded.
When it comes to corruption and bribery, it only takes a little planning for a fraudster to keep all the papers that contain any trace of a fraud outside the organization. A minimal amount of planning will mean there is no paper inside an organization that contains a hint of a problem.
I’ve discussed this issue using the example of an alleged fraud in the city next to where I live. The alleged part of the story is slowly turning to fact with one participant, the mayor, entering a plea agreement.
Now think about auditing the city. All the pieces of paper that show any hint of the fraud are outside the city hall. How would the city’s auditor find that?
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Q: Why are corruption and bribery frauds so difficult to discover?Read More »
Q: Why are corruption and bribery frauds so difficult to discover? Read More »
In March 2011 I discussed a corruption case in the city next door to where I live.
The local newspaper reports that the mayor has pled guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe from a local business. From the Daily Bulletin: Ex-Upland mayor pleads guilty, the very short version of the story:
{The mayor} was accused of conspiracy, extortion and bribery offenses that led the business owners to pay $45,000 in bribes.
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Guilty plea in corruption trial mentioned a year agoRead More »
Guilty plea in corruption trial mentioned a year ago Read More »
(cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)
I changed my e-fax provider today.
If you hadn’t thought about it before, or were unaware, you can buy an electronic fax service that puts faxes into your inbox via email. You can dump your fax machine.
Each time I change providers, I find out that the services have gone up and the cost has gone down.
This time around I learned it is a common feature to be able to send a fax from your email software. Just enter the recipient’s fax number plus an extension as if it were an email address, add attachments, and hit send. Your fax is on its way. Cool. Oh, toll-free numbers are now available for no extra charge.
Price?
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e-fax – Electronic facsimile services are really inexpensiveRead More »
e-fax – Electronic facsimile services are really inexpensive Read More »
While writing a post on my other blog, Outrun Change, about how much personal computers have changed in the last 30 years, I realized how many of the readers of my blogs are from outside the U.S.
On my two main blogs, Nonprofit Update and this one which Attestation Update, about 20% of the page views in the last 30 days have been from readers in other countries.
Welcome!
Not sure what that means for my writing, but I’ll keep that in mind.
Enjoy!
Welcome to readers outside the U.S. Read More »
Bill Sheridan, at CPA Success, highlights CPA Jody Padar in his post The ladder of success is a myth. It’s a lattice.
Ms. Padar says of careers:
It’s not necessarily a straight ladder up. There’s lots of different paths you can take to get to pretty cool places.
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Think of your future as a career lattice, not a career ladderRead More »
Think of your future as a career lattice, not a career ladder Read More »