CPA Now Blog Archive

The process of making legislation can get messy, and sometimes you might be better off not watching it. But to remove some of the mystery of surrounding lawmaking, this blog describes the process in Pennsylvania through which state tax laws are enacted or, in some cases, repealed.

A cyber-incident preparedness plan could be crucial to weathering a post-cyberattack storm and ensuring your firm’s survival. Such plans can be of significant assistance in your efforts to recover quickly and smoothly from an attack and mitigate financial losses.

Clients value the insights of their CPAs, and often turn to them when it comes to important decisions, especially something as important as a strategy to transition out of their business. An often-overlooked option is the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). This blog highlights ESOP benefits so CPAs can be more conversant on this transfer option.

Pennsylvania is one of the few states with an inheritance tax, which technically requires a beneficiary to pay tax on any assets they receive from a decedent. But in Pennsylvania, it is the unmarried who encounter a more difficult tax situation with inheritance.

Red-teaming is designed to provide an independent, dissenting voice to challenge assumptions and anticipate potential threats, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. The objective is to mitigate groupthink and overcome conformity by purposefully seeking to reach an opposite conclusion relative to a strategy or the prevailing wisdom. Do you red-team at your organization? Would you even know where to begin?

PICPA's annual meeting is right around the corner, and this year we have more reasons to celebrate than ever … 125 reasons to be exact. This year marks PICPA’s 125th anniversary, and PICPA members are invited to come to Hershey May 31 through June 2 to embrace this historic moment, reconnect with peers, and move forward boldly into the profession’s future.

Since one of the three components of the COSO internal control over financial reporting is effectiveness and efficiency of operations – which includes financial performance measures and safeguarding of assets – one would think those involved in manufacturing operations would know about the COSO Internal Control Framework. That does not seem to be the case.

Every CPA Exam candidate’s time is precious. While there are no shortcuts to passing the CPA Exam, there are steps you can take to expedite the process. This blog provides three tips on how to pass the CPA Exam faster so you can start along your professional journey sooner.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a significant announcement that will greatly impact what is known as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting for public companies. The PICPA surveyed its members on their awareness, level of interest, and assumptions related to ESG reporting, including their understanding of its impact on their firms and companies. Find out more about the survey results in this blog.

The Pennsylvania elections -- both state and federal -- are receiving national attention this year, and the May 17 primary will determine which candidates will move forward as their parties' nominees for the November general election. This blog provides an overview of your primary election options, at both the state and federal levels.

Until very recently, there were absolutely no regulations about how businesses could collect, store, and sell personal information, with or without permission. Now, dozens of states have introduced consumer data privacy bills. It is vital to note what these laws require and to whom they apply.

Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled in January that a Philadelphia resident taxpayer who worked in Wilmington, Del., was not entitled to a credit against her Philadelphia Wage Tax liability for state income tax paid to Delaware. The court determined that Philadelphia’s taxing and crediting policies were justified on the grounds that state and local income taxes are levied separately. However, the court’s analysis in this case raises several important local taxation questions.

Sales and Use Tax Bulletin 2021-05 covers the taxation of equipment rental and equipment rental with operators. The bulletin restates the presumption that when a vendor provides the use of equipment with an operator, the transaction is a rental of equipment. As such, the charge is subject to Pennsylvania sales and use tax. This is very important to vendors of equipment rentals and services involving the use of equipment who should review their contracts to verify that the sales and use tax treatment is consistent with Pennsylvania regulations.

Statements on Auditing Standards Nos. 134-140 increase plan management’s and the plan auditor’s responsibilities for determining whether an ERISA Section 103(a)(3)(C) engagement is permissible. The most significant impact of the new standards relates to plan management’s responsibility for certified investment information. At the engagement-acceptance level, the auditor is required to inquire how plan management determined the certifying entity is a qualified institution.

The CPA Evolution Initiative intends to change the CPA licensure model and is expected to take effect in January 2024. As a result, current college sophomores and freshmen will be among the first candidates to take a revised Uniform CPA Examination in 2024. The fundamental shift encompasses a new core-plus-discipline model. Find out more about this big change in this blog.

Success as a managing partner today requires some lofty attributes to help you and your firm perform at the highest levels. This blog shares four characteristics that are necessary to both gauge and achieve performance excellence as a managing partner.

With both the political and economic environments seemingly ripe for such a discussion, the Pennsylvania General Assembly appears poised to address a variety of tax law changes. One that could appear on the legislative agenda is PICPA’s effort to address the growing inequity in state and local taxation via an elective pass-through entity tax.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has embarked on a fundamental reexamination of its financial reporting model, and it had appeared that it was about to reinforce existing unreliable and misleading cash-basis-like principles for governmental funds statements. Maybe its “redeliberations” are a sign it is having second thoughts.

With several well-known global companies beginning to accept cryptocurrency as payment, the emergence of crypto-IRAs, and students handling their own investments in this area, the time has come for cryptocurrencies to be included in the accounting curriculum.

Clients will sometimes turn to their CPA for assistance with certain finance-oriented human resources matters, such as helping to recruit a new CFO or “redesigning” the client’s accounting department. CPAs who provide these consulting services must remain vigilant to not step into the role of management and to ensure that there is no expectation gap with respect to the scope and limits of the human resource services rendered.