The Conference Board index of leading indicators climbed 0.4% in July, slightly above expectations. The increase was led by industrial production. Nonfarm payrolls added 255,000…
Tax & Accounting Update is provided by Thomson Reuters and based on material published on Checkpoint, its online news and research platform. The Update is…
Giving some serious thought to women's financial planning issues can be beneficial to both CPAs and their female clients. When advising married couples, it is…
The winners of the 2015 Max Block Distinguished Article Awards were honored during The CPA Journal Editorial Board meeting on August 9, 2016. This award…
Life insurance can be a significant estate asset for many individuals. However, unanticipated problems can arise when trying to collect that asset. In 2011, a…
Depreciable Asset Lives
The Forgotten Estimate in GAAP
In the early days of what is now modern, authoritative GAAP, paras. 46–52 of Accounting Terminology Bulletin 1, Review and Résumé, issued by the AICPA…
Risk of Recession The probability that the U.S. economy will fall into recession within six months increased from 17% in April to 20% in May,…
Tax & Accounting Update is provided by Thomson Reuters and based on material published on Checkpoint, its online news and research platform. The update is…
Many CPA candidates will find it advantageous to investigate which resources exist to help them pass the CPA exam. The majority of the best resources…
According to the AICPA report “Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits,” hiring at public accounting firms rose…
The Next Version of the CPA Exam
Changes Are Coming Next Year
The AICPA recently released its report covering the next version of the Uniform CPA Examination (AICPA, Practice Analysis Final Report, Apr. 4, 2016, http://bit.ly/294IHtx), launching…
Recruiting and Retaining Talent: One Firm’s Story
2016 Max Block Award Honorable Mention in the Area of News & Views/Opinion
Whenever I talk to another CPA firm—big, small, or anywhere in between—about the biggest challenges facing their firm, they almost always say recruiting and retaining…
The CPAs of Tomorrow
Graduate Student Perspectives on the Value and Purpose of the Profession
As an accounting professor at Mount Saint Mary College, the author teaches a graduate accounting research course. Students in this capstone seminar are all working…
On June 23, 2016, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. According to Prime Minister David Cameron, “Over 33 million…
From Analysis to Action
The Evolution of Accounting Ethics Education
The overemphasis within accounting ethics education on developing ethical reasoning skills (the “why”) to analyze dilemmas may be failing to engage students in the action…
It’s Amazing What CPAs Can Do
Made to Measure
This issue features our annual coverage of Baruch College's Financial Reporting Conference. Each year, leading regulators, issuers, auditors, and users discuss the most pressing issues…
A Historical Episode of Professional Skepticism
The SEC’s Thomascolor Case against Haskins & Sells
“To perform their role properly—to assure that reported financial and economic successes are not illusory—auditors must approach their jobs with independence and skepticism.” —PCAOB Chairman…
The Materiality Mystery
The Gap in GAAS
This article is intended primarily to provide an airing of omissions and other flaws in generally accepted auditing standards, primarily regarding the use of materiality…
RPA | Department of Labor Finalizes Retirement Advice Regulation
A Practical Perspective for 401(k) Plan Sponsors and Investment Committees
The retirement plan marketplace has confused, if not outright misled, CPAs, their plan sponsor clients, and investment committees with the many types of non-fiduciary and…
SLT | New York State and City Prior Net Operating Loss Conversion
An Overview of a Complex Area in Recently Enacted Legislative Reform
New York State and New York City's corporate net operating loss carryover rules have always been an area of confusion, and they have been made…
TPP | Avoiding the Worst-Case Scenario
The IRS’s Domestic Voluntary Disclosure Practice
Most CPAs are by now familiar with the IRS's heavily publicized Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), which allows taxpayers with previously undeclared foreign assets to…
SEC | The Audit Committee Financial Expert
A Closer Look at What That Means
In 2003, the SEC adopted rules implementing section 407 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX), requiring a public company to disclose whether at least…
Risk management procedures are intended to protect a company's long-term viability amid dynamic markets and regulatory changes. In today's economy, companies face a rapidly growing…
Reimagining the Financial Ratios
Comparing Brand Values in the Technology Industry
Last year, in “Reimagining the Financial Statements” (The CPA Journal, April 2015, http://bit.ly/1SSQXz7), this author restated certain fiscal metrics of Apple Inc. to incorporate the value…
At the SEC, regulators are trying to bring U.S. securities regulation and disclosure into the 21st century. In April, the SEC issued Concept Release 33-10064…
“We're actually confusing people more than we were helping people understand what's going on in the business.” — Gregory Hayes, CEO of United Technologies, explaining…
The use of sustainability reports for public and private companies has blossomed in the last few years. Reports run from as few as five to…
Sustainability—Not GAAP Measurement
A Unique Opportunity
Ed Weinstein and Stanley Goldstein have been close friends for four decades and have agreed on almost everything. They were quite surprised a year ago…
FASB’s New Standard for Classifying Deferred Taxes
An Expedient Solution
For companies issuing classified balance sheets, current U.S. GAAP requires deferred taxes to be reported in two amounts (i.e., the net current deferred tax asset…
Old Habits Are Hard to Break
The Expectation Gap and the Case against Careless Use of Outdated Language
“For in spite of language, in spite of intelligence and intuition and sympathy, one can never really communicate anything to anybody.” —Aldous Huxley, “Sermons in…