Winter 2022 Edition

The New & Improved CPA Exam: A Look Inside the CPA Evolution Updates

By Heather M. Demshock, CPA, CMA, and Robert E. Duquette, CPA
 
Offers a detailed examination of CPA Evolution, a joint project of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the AICPA, which was created to transform the CPA licensure model and embrace the changing skills and competencies required of CPAs today and into the future.

Read

Story Time: CFOs Can Make Their Financial Tales Engaging with a Good MD&A Report

By Michael F. De Stefano, CPA
 
Explains the benefits of a management discussion & analysis report for CFOs working for entities operating within the private sector.

Read

CPA Conversations Podcast

An interview with the author. Listen In >

Accounting & Assurance

Material Misstatements: Find Them Before They Find You

By Charles B. Hall, CPA, CFE

Explores the dangers material misstatements present to the accuracy of the audit opinion.

Read

Federal Tax

Are Your Clients Prepared for a Wave of IRS Audits?

By Philip Karter, JD, LLM, and Kevin F. Sweeney, JD

Advises CPAs to ensure their clients are ready for a possible uptick in federal audits due to changes in tax legislation.

Read

State & Local Tax

Alternative Apportionment Options of State Income

By Jonathan Liss

Explains the concept and purpose of the statutory relief mechanism known as alternative apportionment.

Read

Ethics

Transparency, Accountability, and Governmental Ethics

By Nicholas Ring, CPA

Reviews the importance of ensuring ethical behavior by CPAs working in governmental accounting.

Read

CPA Conversations Podcast

An interview with the author. Listen In >

Liability Lessons

Long-Standing Client Relationships Pose Largest Professional Risk

By Jonathan S. Ziss, JD

Utilizes case studies to show that although long-term client/CPA firms can be the most satisfying, they can also be the relationships that bring the biggest risk of liability claims.

Read

Emerging CPAs

The Importance of Soft Skills for CPAs

By Carrie Steffen

Seeks to answer the question of whether the increase in technology tools has served to devalue the importance of conventional relationship building.

Read

Government/Not-for-Profit

GASB’s New Essentiality Criterion

By Khaled Abdel Ghany, CPA, PhD

Dives into GASB’s revised exposure draft, which states that for information to be included in the notes of financial statements it needs to pass three tests of essentiality.

Read

Careers &
Lifestyles

Interviewing Your Potential Employer Is a Must

By James J. Caruso, CPA, CGMA

Identifies the job search process as a two-way street, one where the employer is not only interviewing the job seeker, but where the job seeker is vetting their potential new place of business as well.

Read

Business Transformations

Due Diligence on the Flip-Side: A Seller’s Tool Too

By James P. Swanick, CPA, and Michael J. Tighe, CPA

Stress the importance for sellers to proactively review a buyer’s financial records and tax positions prior to entering into possible protracted negotiations.

Read

Forensic Accounting

How the Pandemic Impacts Determining Economic Damages

By James A. Stavros, CPA, CFF, and Allison Greenfield, CPA

Delves into some of the factors that should be considered when seeking to calculate lost earnings connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read

Employee Benefit Plans

Improving the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System

By JulieAnn C. Verrekia, CPA

Discusses the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System’s role in permitting plan sponsors to correct failures and continue to provide their employees with retirement benefits on a tax-favored basis.

Read

Legislative News

Reaching Across the Delaware on Cross-State Tax Matters

By Alexandra C. Fabian

Goes behind the scenes of a recent agreement between the PICPA State Taxation Steering Committee and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants to work together to solve cross-state tax issues.

Read

CPA Advocacy

PICPA Star Power You Didn’t Know We Had

By Jennifer Cryder, CPA

Showcases the valuable role PICPA members play in shaping the landscape for issues that affect the Pennsylvania business environment.

Read