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Now that tax season is over, many CPA firms can take a breath and give their staff a well-deserved break. But this time of year still presents work challenges and [...]

As CPA tax professionals gear up to prepare clients' 2023 tax returns, they will have to address recent changes in tax laws and rules, as they do every year. In [...]

The interrelated final standards on quality management issued in June 2022 by the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board and Accounting and Review Services Committee are intended to clarify and improve existing [...]

In June 2022, the AICPA's Auditing Standards Board (ASB) and Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC) issued interrelated final standards on quality management intended to clarify and improve existing quality [...]

Peer reviews improve the quality of services that firms and individuals provide by ensuring auditors comply with professional standards when designing systems of quality control and performing their work. Peer [...]

Assessing goodwill for impairment became more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic because of significant changes in business operations and overall economic uncertainty. Considering goodwill impairment triggering events between reporting dates [...]

Recent changes to FASB's standard for hedge accounting deliver to company finance teams new alternatives to account for their risk management activities that organizations may wish to explore. 'Companies were [...]

More Americans are living in multigenerational households than in years past, leaving CPA financial planners to help clients navigate the financial side of this growing demographic trend. That's no surprise [...]

Niche practices are a way firms can distinguish themselves from the competition or offer unique client services. Some firms specialize exclusively on one type of client, while others have a [...]

When accountants face the prospect of a business combination, there will be many challenges to prepare for in the deal and the accounting for it. One of the first challenges [...]

Audits of fair value measurements (FVM) are challenging because the valuations are typically developed by management (or third-party valuation professionals retained by management) using significant professional judgment and other qualitative [...]

Like many organizations, Ducks Unlimited endured financial hardships in 2009. The world's largest private not-for-profit waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization ran a deficit that year, and at fiscal year end [...]

Independence is a critical concern for CPAs and is the very foundation of attest services. Independence is a state of mind that permits CPAs to perform without being affected by [...]

Not-for-profits have different missions and goals than for-profit enterprises do, but both must have the right management team and business practices in place to function and grow. 'In a competitive [...]

Organizations in all industries must deal with the potential for fraud to occur, and design controls to prevent and detect it. Some not-for-profits have a unique environment that can contribute [...]

CPAs do a masterful job of taking care of their clients' business, but they also need to make sure they look out for their own. Just 6% of the CPA [...]

External auditors are under tremendous pressure to plan and execute audits in a constantly changing environment. New accounting and auditing standards, such as the converged revenue recognition standard that FASB [...]

The flurry of standard-setting activity around revenue recognition in the first half of this year has made the newly converged standard seem like a horse without a saddle. Some people [...]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Standard setters and regulators recognize that complexity in accounting standards is leading to confusion among financial statement users while unnecessarily burdening financial statement preparers. Various initiatives aimed [...]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Data analytics technology presents opportunities for auditors to gain a better understanding of their clients' business. To take full advantage of current technology, audit processes may need [...]

Demand for talented and experienced CPAs is high. As CPAs consider their career paths, many aspire to become a CFO in industry. A limited number of these positions are available, [...]

Jay D. Hanson has served as a PCAOB board member since January 2011. Prior to his appointment, he worked as the national director of accounting at McGladrey & Pullen LLP [...]

In January, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) celebrates its seven-year anniversary; since its inception, it has been led Iby Executive Director Cynthia M. Fomelli. The CAQ's stated mission is [...]

Leslie F. Seidman served as FASB chairman from December 2010 to June 2013, a culmination of her distinguished career with the organization, first as an industry fellow, later as an [...]

Accounting for leases, which always has been a complex area, is undergoing significant change with the release of new standards by FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Although [...]

CPAs have long relied on email to communicate through all stages of a client relationship. These tips from CPAs describe how to get emails noticed in clients' inboxes and how [...]

FASB has voted to extend the effective dates for certain preparers for its new standards for accounting for leases, credit losses (known as CECL), and hedging. Here's how to make [...]

At the annual AICPA National Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments in December 2013, IASB Chair Hans Hoogervorst took a retrospective look at his organization's accomplishments last year. These [...]

A few weeks ago, I heard the sad news that the brilliant comedian Robin Williams had passed away. Like so many other people, I grew up with his comedy, and [...]

This issue of The CPA Journal focuses on our recent roundtable of young CPAs (see p. XX). The experience surpassed my expectations, thanks to the participants' energy and enthusiasm for [...]

The challenge of effective financial reporting is a topic near and dear to my heart. I am writing about it again because at Baruch College's recent Financial Reporting Conference--the focus [...]

I recently attended the Thirteenth Annual Financial Reporting Conference at Baruch College in New York City. My attention was drawn to a recurring theme in many of the speakers' presentations--outreach--because [...]

In its March 2014 issue, The CPA Journal explored the challenges and opportunities of sustainability reporting, an important emerging topic that made the news recently. At a law school conference [...]

In my first message as CPA Journal editor-in-chief in the September 2013 issue, I noted that the accounting profession is exciting and constantly changing. As I was thinking about which [...]

When I first heard the term 'RoboCop' at a recent conference, I thought I must have misheard. But speakers from the SEC and the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) were [...]

For 83 years, The CPA Journal has earned the respect of CPAs and other financial professionals for its in-depth analysis of current issues. We do not do this alone; the [...]

Every milestone birthday is a time for reflection about the good times past, the things that might have been done differently, and the things still to be done. The 'Big [...]

It is with great anticipation that I share with you my first message as editor-in-chief of The CPA Journal. I would like to present my background so that you can [...]