December 2013

New level of service from CPAs – “Preparing” financial statements

1 Comment / Compilations & reviews / By

In October 2013, one of the accounting rule setters issued a proposal which creates a new level of service for CPAs. This will be called preparation of financial statements.

Such service will not be subject to the same rules that govern compilations, reviews, or audits.

When the client organization and CPA agree to this approach, the accountant can issue a set of financial statements without any cover report from the accountant. 

The accountant will not be obtaining any assurance on the financial statements and users should not infer any assurance.

I think this will be a big deal.

Technical description

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Upland bribery case – where are they now? Three have served their time. Ex-mayor has six months to go.

Leave a Comment / Fraud / By

Time for my semi-annual update on the location of defendants in the Upland bribery case.  Since my last update in July, a third schemer has been released. The former mayor still is in federal prison in Taft, California. That is a privately operated facility in Kern County.

Why am I still interested? Following the details of a specific incident helps demonstrate the tragedy of fraud. It’s also an education on the legal system.

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4 SSARS exposure drafts

Leave a Comment / Compilations & reviews / By

A new service provided by CPAs which won’t require an accountant’s report. It is called ‘preparation’ of financial statements.

Big revision to compilation standards.

Revision of the SSARS into clarity format.

I’ve not mentioned these four exposure drafts, since I’m only diving into the details now.  You can find the exposure drafts on this page.

The specific links are:

These will be a big deal. I think you will really like them.

It is amazingly easy to create video content

Leave a Comment / Other stuff, Social media / By

Tech tools available today make it easy for a novice to create usable videos. No one will confuse what you create with what comes out of Hollywood or Madison Avenue, but it won’t cost thousands of dollars per minute of content either.

To show how easy it is, I’ve accumulated several of my videos and briefly discussed them on my other blog, Outrun Change:

 

Here is my most popular video, with over 3,600 views:

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qeibzgSemY]

 

Making videos is incredibly easy. I hope my simple efforts will encourage you to try it yourself.

Keep in mind I’m working with a point-and-shoot camera, have zero editing experience, and possess a level of creatively that is only slightly higher than the average accountant.

Equipment that is not cheapest on the market, some minimal experience, and measurable levels of creativity combined with the astounding tools available today would result in great video for your organization.

Jump in, the water’s fine!

Need a place to keep track of all sorts of different types of files? Check out Evernote.

Leave a Comment / Other stuff / By

The New York Times has a great article introducing Evernote as a storage tool for all the stray web articles, spreadsheets and photos that don’t have a logical home otherwise.

Check out An App That Will Never Forget a File.

Here is an intro to a superb tool: …

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Why auditing isn’t like reading a history book

Leave a Comment / Audits, Pondering / By

Sometimes it’s weird reading a story about the Civil War. It’s the same when reading about an audit fiasco.

People do the oddest things.

As the first major battle of the war shaped up near Manassas Junction, lots of people rode out from DC in their carriages. They brought along picnic baskets so they could eat as they watched the battle. Would be a fun afternoon outing with the children.

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Get started blogging. Do it for yourself, even if nobody ever reads anything you ever post.

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Just the process of putting into words what you are thinking will produce tremendous growth. Actually thinking about what is going on around you, in your industry, or in the wider world will stretch you like nothing else.

Do it for yourself!

I have grown tremendously from writing on my blogs. Check out Seth Godin and Tom Peters making that point:

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=livzJTIWlmY]

 

A few great lines: 

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100 year history of the audit profession in under 300 words

1 Comment / Audits / By

Professor Dave Albrecht outlines the origins of public accounting and status today:  Black Friday, Black Accounting, White Christmas.

Picture then:  demand from customers (large companies) to providers (public accountants) for a value-added service (audit) the large companies wanted so they could differentiate from their competitors.

Fast forward 100 years.

Picture now:  a self-protecting group of large firms that resist market needs and loud requests for change.

History and sad state of auditing covered in about 260 words, located in the middle part of the post.

Check it out.