CPA Now Blog Archive

When in doubt, blame it on the creative accountants! That seems to be the mantra among many in politics, the media, and elsewhere, particularly when it comes to tax policy and tax planning strategies. I don’t know why the phrase “creative accountants” bothers me – I live with the “lobbyist” tag, after all – but it does, and I’m not even a card-carrying member of the esteemed CPA profession.

It’s a well-known fact that the FDIC insures deposits in banks up to the first $250,000 in any single bank. Any funds on deposit over this amount are considered uninsured and subject to loss if a bank were to go into bankruptcy. These rules apply to commercial bank accounts as well as individual accounts.

The AICPA, for its part, released a completely new special purpose framework designed for small businesses. Called the Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities, (FRF for SMEs), this new framework offers a simplified financial reporting option for those entities that are not required to use U.S. GAAP. Is this new framework right for your business or clients? The devil, as always, is in the details.

The PICPA offers our members a free service to schedule courses in their offices, which we call on-site training. A lot of our members may not know that this service is available.

I work closely with PICPA’s Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board and the CPA Image Enhancement Committee, and these questions are what we talk about at the committee meetings. The conversations are interesting, enlightening, engaging, and, believe it or not, fun!

The relationships between a CPA and his or her clients can last for many years, having been built on a foundation of trust and professionalism. However, the increase in third parties asking for comfort letters threatens these relationships and challenges the integrity and ethical behavior of the CPA as well as their billable hours.

The end of a busy tax season for our members represents the beginning of a busy season for PICPA networking, and we look forward to re-engaging with members.

More state economies are shifting from manufacturing to services, and budgetary challenges are not letting up. State legislatures across the nation are aggressively looking to close budget gaps with new revenues. One of the first places legislators are looking is at sales taxes on professional services.

I don’t know about you, but when I first heard that the pope had resigned, I was waiting for the punch line. By now, we know it wasn’t a joke. The white smoke confirmed that there is a new leader of the Catholic Church. How does that relate to accounting? Change. Succession planning. Diversity.

With the Capitol rotunda’s white marble steps as a backdrop, members of the PICPA Fiscal Responsibility Task Force yesterday released a second report. The task force, created by the PICPA Council in 2010, is designed to position PICPA as a key public policy stakeholder in Pennsylvania.

The PICPA will be in full strategic mode over the next several months, and, based on recent member volunteer activity, we will have plenty to keep us busy. The PICPA could not function, and could not be effective, without the countless hours that our members provide.

There is an old joke people make when referring to their grandparents’ criticisms of what they perceive as a lax culture. In a good-natured mimic of their elders, they say, “When I was young, I walked to and from school! … In the snow … in my bare feet … and it was uphill … both ways!”

PICPA leadership has decided to review our governance and structure model to determine its ongoing effectiveness in the changing profession in which you operate, as well as to be sure that we are providing engagement, or volunteer opportunities, to all of our members across multiple generations.

You worked hard to expand your expertise, build your practice, gain the trust of your clients, and create a livelihood. You probably don’t want to leave it all to chance or wait until retirement is on your door step before addressing what should happen to your business.

The talent and commitment of our member volunteers who choose to engage with the PICPA directly contributes to the value that all members receive for belonging to the organization. And the more members who become involved only strengthen the PICPA and improve our value to you.

Reforming PSERS and SERS is a priority for the Corbett administration and many legislative leaders. Actuarial valuations are revealing, and a cause for budgetary concern.

The PICPA Professional Issues Update tour around Pennsylvania is an excellent opportunity for PICPA members to receive two hours of free CPE while interacting with PICPA leadership and your peers on key issues affecting your profession.

The Philadelphia Business Journal recently published a special report, "The Quest for Diversity: Accounting Lags Behind" that discusses how the profession’s poor performance trails others in recruiting minorities. Are you rolling your eyes yet? I’ve been to enough Diversity Committee meetings to guess that you probably are.

I’m not really sure when we lost the notion, but there was a time when technology was supposed to make our lives more efficient. It doesn’t seem as if it has.

It never ceases to amaze me though, that we continue to get members to step up to the plate for media interviews, phone banks, and other tax assistance programs, regardless of the time of year. I could understand if our call for volunteers elicited a few, “It’s tax season, don’t bother me” responses, but luckily, that’s not how 40 members responded who helped us fill volunteer requests so far this tax season.