CPA Now Blog Archive

The PICPA’s Personal Financial Planning Committee has been addressing the importance of PFP as a growth opportunity for many years. The surge in interest in personal financial planning has inspired new programs at the PICPA.

Donita R. Rudy has spent the past 25 years assisting clients from a variety of industries and business sizes with financial, strategic, and turnaround management services. In this Q&A she explains how crisis management is a process whereby you maintain control when the uncontrollable happens.

Unplanned distributions from traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs) can have a serious unanticipated tax consequence. From Social Security benefits to health care costs, a lot can be affected by unchecked distributions.

Many CPAs in personal financial planning or forensic accounting can share war stories about clients or neighbors who have been taken advantage of, not only by strangers but also by family and friends. CPAs are in a position to spot potential fraud perpetrated on their clients, and the PICPA is developing resources to help identify early warning signs of elder fraud.

Most of us know that financial abuse of elders is a problem. Maybe you've witnessed it among your own family or friends. But just how big a problem is it? Try $36 billion per year.

The vast amount of analytical work performed in today’s business environments is through the use of rudimentary spreadsheets that typically focus on some level of retrospective review of budget to actual performance. Still, business owners can manage three common areas of concern through some relatively simple data analysis.

PICPA’s proposed changes to the Pennsylvania CPA Statute cleared its final hurdle and was unanimously approved by the state House.

Medical marijuana may now be legal in Pennsylvania, but the U.S. Congress maintains that marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug. That means the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime. This creates hesitation from banks when considering accepting customers whose businesses relate to marijuana.

CFOs, like any employee, could leave for any variety of reasons. Employers don’t want to have to hire the first person that comes along, but they do need someone with the expertise to fill this spot almost immediately. Many CPA firms can fill this CFO need until the company finds the right fit.

Every accounting program includes accounting and auditing, tax, and other core business courses, but no matter what your long-term career goals are there are additional courses you should consider to enhance your skills and increase your appeal in the job market.

Because Medicare plans can change coverage each year and because your particular health situation may have changed, you should spend some time to ensure that your health insurance coverage best meets your needs.

This past August, the Greater Philadelphia Women of the PICPA Committee hosted a Path to Partner panel, which spoke on their professional journey, the role mentors played in helping them along the way, and whether they feel like they’ve achieved success.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the average employee will stay with one employer for less than five years. Among CPAs, just switching jobs isn’t the only lane to travel to achieve success. CPAs can also get off the highway and switch career paths: from public practice to private industry, or vice versa.

Jeremy Spencer started his career as a chef. So how did he eventually become a CPA?

Recruiting in accounting has lost its edge. Gone are the days when college fairs and job boards provided an ample supply of highly qualified candidates. In fact, some partners have labeled the current environment one of the worst talent droughts in decades.

The time has passed when CPAs could mull over the potential of using historical financial data to help map future growth. It’s time to embrace technology and start digging into the data to uncover opportunities.

After almost a decade of study, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released an accounting standard on the credit losses on financial instruments. In rethinking how credit losses should be recognized and measured, however, FASB created a standard that affects the accounting for a wide variety of financial instruments and a wide variety of entities.

When PICPA Council met on Sept. 20, 2016, to discuss the work done by our five strategic task forces and to make plans for the future, the room was filled with new ideas and opportunities for the PICPA. So much, in fact, that we identified three new volunteer opportunities.

Too often, we pick a beneficiary when we open an account then forget about it. They rarely get changed, and that can cause unforeseen headaches. Having the correct beneficiary designation is a simple and effective estate planning strategy.

Form 5500 is the primary documentation disclosed to participants and beneficiaries of employee benefit plans. It is an essential compliance tool for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and it is in the process of being modernized to fit today’s plan operations and practices.