Accountants Round Up

"Keep Your Web Site Fresh"

By Tom Kane: It should be no secret that web site content continues to be king for purposes of search engines. Keywords, title tags, etc. are just additional jewels on the crown. So, keeping your web site fresh in terms of new content, fresh tags and keywords is important.

Further, according to SEO expert Tom O’Leary at The Attorney Marketing Blog in a post today, smaller firms have an advantage over BigLaw when it comes to search engines. It isn’t that they couldn’t overpower the smaller firms with their extra people power, it’s just that they don’t.

Read complete post Keep Your Web Site Fresh
Source: Legal Marketing Blog, 30 June 2009. Copyright © 2009, Kane Consulting, Inc.

"CPA Firms Predict Economic Recovery Will Begin Late in 2009"

By AccountingWEB: Forty-seven percent of small- to medium-sized CPA firms believe the economy will begin to recover in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' 2009 CPA Firm Top Issues Survey. Ten percent of firms believe the economy is already improving.

"The majority of CPAs in small- and mid-size firms counsel businesses on financial matters, so it is encouraging that they believe recent signs of economic improvement will continue," said James Metzler, AICPA vice president for small firm interests.

Read complete article CPA Firms Predict Economic Recovery Will Begin Late in 2009
Source: AccountingWEB, 26 June 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Employers Cautious About Hiring Extra Accountants"

By WebCPA Staff: The majority of companies don’t plan to add more accounting and finance employees in the third quarter, according to a new survey.

Only 5 percent of the 1,400 CFOs in the U.S. polled by staffing company Robert Half expect to hire full-time employees in the third quarter, while 8 percent anticipate personnel reductions. Eighty-five percent of them say they plan to maintain their current staff levels.

Read complete article Employers Cautious About Hiring Extra Accountants
Source: WebCPA, 3 June 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Board to Ban Accounting Practice That Helped Lending Proliferate"

By Binyamin Appelbaum: The end is nearing for an accounting trick destined to be remembered as a hallmark of the housing boom, because it allowed financial firms to conceal a vast expansion in their lending from regulators and investors.

Under this strategy, firms placed trillions of dollars in loans in the financial equivalent of self-storage facilities.

Read complete article Board to Ban Accounting Practice That Helped Lending Proliferate
Source: The Washington Post, 18 May 2009. © 2009 The Washington Post Company

"For Some, Accounting Career Might Add Up"

By Eric Boehm: This week marks the beginning of a relaxing and carefree summer for most teens, but the 17 Rochester-area high school students participating in the Career Opportunities in the Accounting Professions program are thinking about their futures.

"The point of the program is that these kids will see that accountants do all kinds of things, that they aren't just bookkeepers," said Toni Spina, chair of the Rochester COAP program.

COAP was established in 1987 by the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants as a way to get minority students interested in accounting degrees.

Read complete article For Some, Accounting Career Might Add Up
Source: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, 30 June 2009. Copyright ©2009 Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. All rights reserved.

"Top 7 Reasons for Accounting Firms to Outsource"

By CPA Trendlines: Xpitax president Glen Keenan ticks off the reasons accounting firms can benefit from outsourcing.

Via CAmagazine:

1. The profession is aging. That ticking in the background may be the clock on the wall or it could be the countdown to the exodus of thousands of boomer-aged CAs now contemplating retirement. “There isn’t a new, fresh set of people to address the demands that are being put on the profession,” says Keenan. Worse, those boomers will be leaving with decades of hard-earned experience and knowledge.

Read complete post Top 7 Reasons for Accounting Firms to Outsource
Source: CPA Trendlines, 13 May 2009. Copyright 2000-2008 Bay Street Group LLC. All rights reserved.

"Accounting Salaries Hold Steady Despite Economy"

By Liz Gold: Young professionals who have earned the Certified Management Accountant designation earn more than their non-certified peers, according to a new salary study released by the Institute of Management Accountants.

Those respondents in the 19 to 29 age category with a CMA earn an average of $72,096, a 21 percent difference from noncertified professionals in the same category, who earn $59,496 on average.

Read complete post Accounting Salaries Hold Steady Despite Economy
Source: Accounting Tomorrow, 1 Jul 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Regulate Derivatives? Start with Better Accounting!"

By Tom Selling: I can usually find enough time to write only one post each week. Consequently, much of what I considered to be high-quality fodder is washed away by the exigencies of my real work. This week, however, had too many interesting news items, and I can't let them go without at least something said about each of them:

• The FASB's own Investors Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Financial Accounting Foundation decrying that current events have eroded the FASB's independence...
• Joseph Nocera and Gretchen Morgenson, both of the New York Times, wrote separate stories (here and here) decrying glaring shortcomings of SEC enforcement activities...

Read complete post Regulate Derivatives? Start with Better Accounting!
Source: The Accounting Onion, 29 June 2009.

"Accountants Rank Soft Skills as More Important Than Technical Skills"

By AccountingWEB: Accountants have strong opinions about what constitutes leadership in this economy, according to a new survey by Ajilon Finance, a specialty finance and accounting staffing firm, and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). The survey, which polled over 700 accountants as part of IMA's Inside Talk Webinar Series, found that leadership priorities change depending on whether the economy is good or bad but that certain workforce activities and initiatives remain non-discretionary investments at companies, such as training and development and workforce flexibility.

Read complete article Accountants Rank Soft Skills as More Important Than Technical Skills
Source: AccountingWEB, 29 May 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Picking the Best Mobile Devices for Accounting"

By Liz Gold: Putting mobile technology to work, and choosing which devices to use when, was the main topic during a session at the Accounting Technology Show and Conference in New York.

James Bourke, a partner and director of firm technology at WithumSmith+Brown in Red Bank, N.J., offered a quick run-through of laptops and handheld devices that CPAs can and do use to make their lives more manageable. “I’m a really big advocate of making things small,” he said.

Read complete article Picking the Best Mobile Devices for Accounting
Source: WebCPA, 21 May 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Miami Jury Finds BDO International Not Guilty – Huge Implications"

By The Big Four: We recently blogged on the recent ongoing trial on BDO International vs. Banco Espirito Santo in Miami, Florida with a jury in session to decide on the issue whether BDO Seidman, the US country firm, was an agent of BDO International, and whether the global umbrella firm should hold financial responsibility for the liabilities of the US firm.
(http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2009/05/bdo-seidman-vs-banco-espirito-case.html)

There were two separate charges against BDO Seidman which were upheld in another court, one for compensatory damages of $170 million and the other for punitive damages of $351 million for a total of $521 million.

Read complete post Miami Jury Finds BDO International Not Guilty – Huge Implications
Source: The Big Four Blog, 22 June 2009.

"U.S. Accounting Board Tightens Loan Rules"

By Marcy Gordon: The board that sets U.S. accounting standards on Monday moved to end companies' use of a device that allowed them to park hundreds of billions of dollars in loans off their balance sheets without capital cushions and has been blamed for helping stoke banks' losses in the housing boom.

The change will tighten the use of so-called "qualifying special-purpose entities" by requiring companies to report to regulators the loans contained in them and to increase their capital reserves in proportion as a cushion against potential losses.

Read complete article U.S. Accounting Board Tightens Loan Rules
Source: The Seattle Times. 19 May 2009. Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company

"CPAs Tell Clients to Change Investment Strategy"

By WebCPA Staff: CPAs who also hold the AICPA’s Personal Financial Specialist credential are advising many of their high-net-worth clients to rebalance their portfolios, reassess their tax planning and control their expenses and cash flow, according to a new survey.

Eighty percent of the 529 CPA financial advisors surveyed by the AICPA in an online poll are strongly recommending their clients move toward a mix of growth and income securities. Sixty-five percent are also recommending more fixed-income securities.

Read complete article CPAs Tell Clients to Change Investment Strategy
Source: WebCPA, 23 June 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"AICPA: Demand for IFRS Knowledge among CPAs Increases"

By SmartPros: The U.S. accounting profession recognizes a need to acquire knowledge of international accounting standards even as the Securities and Exchange Commission revisits plans for adoption, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Asked to rate the level of familiarity with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) they think they need, 36 percent of CPAs surveyed said they want advanced or expert knowledge, meaning they would become very familiar with the specific principles of IFRS. 

Read complete article AICPA: Demand for IFRS Knowledge among CPAs Increases
Source: SmartPros, 15 May 2009. © 2009 SmartPros Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Charting A Firm's Social Media & Communications Policy"

By Michelle Golden: Rare is the firm that hasn't yet addressed controlling Internet usage, text messaging, instant messaging (IMing), and other forms of communication. This topic can quickly become heated, with some partners feeling very strongly that most, if not all, Internet activities are unproductive. A couple of comments like "Chris is checking Hotmail" and "Pat is on Facebook," and it isn't long before a policy is issued:

Access banned to third-party e-mail Web sites, instant messaging, blogs, and all social media sites. The Internet is to be used for research only!

Read complete article Charting A Firm's Social Media & Communications Policy
Source: Practical Accountant, 20 May 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Women Make Slow but Steady Climb Through Ranks of CPA Firms"

By AccountingWEB: Women CPAs have been making a slow but steady climb through the ranks of public accounting. Yet in the seventh year the Illinois CPA Society, through its Women's Executive Committee, has conducted its Annual Survey on the Role of Women in CPA Firms, the findings show the struggle continues to reach the very top leadership positions.

Read complete article Women Make Slow but Steady Climb Through Ranks of CPA Firms
Source: AccountingWEB.com, 19 May 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Forensic Accountants Reconstruct Madoff Books"

By WebCPA Staff: A court-appointed trustee has hired a team of forensic accountants to recreate customer accounts as part of the liquidation of Bernard Madoff’s scandal-scarred investment management firm

The accountants are recreating the customer accounts from paper records found at Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, as well as records sent in by claimants who are hoping to get back some of the money lost in the estimated $65 billion Ponzi scheme.

Read complete article Forensic Accountants Reconstruct Madoff Books
Source: WebCPA, 15 May 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Another Fair Value Rule Tweak Is in the Works"

By Robert Willens: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) is proposing another in what has become a regular series of amendments and clarifications to its landmark pronouncement, FAS 157, Fair Value Measurements. The latest amendment/clarification, issued on June 8, is in the form of a FASB Staff Position - FSP FAS 157-g, Estimating the Fair Value of Investments in Investment Companies That Have Calculated Net Asset Value per Share in Accordance with the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide, Investment Companies.

Read complete article Another Fair Value Rule Tweak Is in the Works
Source: CFO, 22 June 2009. © CFO Publishing Corporation 2009. All rights reserved.

"Tips For Getting the Most From Mobile Devices"

By AccountingWEB: Accounting firms with a growing mobile work force may be struggling to understand how best to manage the complexity of employees working from disparate locations – how to give workers the IT support they need, while getting the most from the technology for the good for the firm.

It's a big question, and one that is growing in importance. "By 2011, upwards of 75 percent of employees nationally, and one billion workers worldwide, will be classified as mobile," said Stephen Drake, program vice president for Mobility & Telecom research at IDC.

Read complete article Tips For Getting the Most From Mobile Devices
Source: AccountingWEB, 10 June 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Small Business: Accounting in the clouds"

By Ted Needleman: Cloud' computing is all silver lining for small businesses (and their accountants, too)

It's been a 30-plus-year technology evolution from the accounting machines made popular by such companies as NCR and Burroughs, to the debut of the PC and, ultimately, to this decade's rising popularity of remotely hosted applications.

Read complete article Small Business: Accounting in the clouds
Source: WebCPA, 15 June 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.