Accounting education

Kaplan CPA Review has introduced online review courses for CPA candidates.

It will probably come as no great surprise that there are plenty of retired people living in Florida and that many professional services firms cater to the elderly. Clearly, a trusted CPA firm is certainly a good place to turn to for a financial professional to handle eldercare needs. Add to this the fact that the U.S. Census Bureau says that within three years, approximately 40 million people in this country will be 65 years or older. What’s rather alarming is that 30 percent of all known cases of fraud are committed against the elderly; that’s considered twice the normal rate. So, what can be done? Who to trust? No one, of course, has the patent on catering to the elderly, and there are plenty of top notch CPA/Financial Planning firms doing it. However, one came to mind recently when this firm purposely took the concept to the next level and developed what it called FamilyFirst Elder Planning Services. The idea was to provide seniors and their families with a safety net. The range was a wide one from providing financial expertise and professional assistance, to safety and well being, to even hurricane preparation. Friedman, Cohen, Taubman & Company in Plantation, Florida, has a special division assists its elderly clients in continuing to live an independent lifestyle by catering to their individual needs and keeping their families informed. The firm says that FamilyFirst can benefit everyone who has time constraints but who want to help a loved one in need to maximize and maintain their independence. In short, they look to relieve the pressures of managing one’s own financial affairs, or help that loved one make the most of their resources and financial choices. “We understand the pressures that families encounter when having to make financial choices for an aging loved one,” says Tracey Kinker-Gebert, CPA Manager of the firm’s Elder Planning Services. “We have devised this program that not only helps relieve the burdens of managing financial affairs, but keeps a close eye on the client’s routine activities and overall well-being. This is extremely comforting for relatives who may not live close to their elderly family members.” Kinker-Gebert, who was recently elected as the Chair for 2007-2008 Elder Care Committee for the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, developed the FamilyFirst program. “As our client base aged, our experience and love for working with the aged along with the opportunities for elder financial exploitation, the need for such services became apparent.” The firm’s FamilyFirst Elder Planning Services assists its elderly clients in making the best financial decisions in their retirement years. From guardianship reporting to routine financial, accounting and tax transactions, the program acts as a safety net for seniors and their families. This program allows clients to integrate FamilyFirst’s custom services into every aspect of their life, meeting their initial needs and modifying the plan as their needs change. The firm says that FamilyFirst provides periodic reports to family members regarding their loved one’s financial activities, offers to coordinate home inspections and home maintenance and also creates in-depth weather protection plans. Its advisors also help coordinate with geriatric care managers, home healthcare providers, investment advisors, attorneys and other professionals to ensure the clients are receiving the proper protection and care.

The National Association of Black Accountants and the Howard University School of Business Center for Accounting Education are launching an effort to encourage a greater number of black CPAs.

The Houston Business & Tax Law Journal plans to hold a symposium in October on the patenting of tax strategies, an idea that has already generated some controversy among patent defenders and critics.

The American Institute of CPAs presented awards to 10 budding CPAs who achieved the highest cumulative scores last year on the four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination.

The government is frustrated over seniors' difficulties with the expanded Medicare menu. Evidently, having so many choices has led to confusion, rather than informed decisions.Maybe they should seek advice from corporate executives, who face a similar dilemma deciphering their compensation alternatives. While highly paid employees may appear to suffer from nothing worse than an abundance of riches, many are wasting money through inaction or ill-advised choices. The effects of these decisions on their retirement plans can be significant. It's an opportunity for wealth advisors to serve a unique market niche.

SEC ADOPTS FRAUD MEASUREThe Securities and Exchange Commission voted to adopt a sweeping anti-fraud rule that targets money managers who deliberately mislead investors.

Microsoft has launched Microsoft Money Plus, an update to its personal financial software targeted at consumers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The future of the accounting profession will be largely determined by its response to escalating talent shortages and other challenges of the post-regulatory-reform era, says a distinguished group of leaders in this field. The Robert Half International Financial Leadership Council recently met and recommended a number of strategies for addressing these issues. It’s all set forth in a new report, Charting the Future of Accounting, Finance and Audit Professions. The Council, which represents a diverse range of leaders from the corporate world, public accounting firms, industry associations, and top accounting universities in the U.S. and Canada, discussed the impact of changing workforce demographics on today’s accounting landscape and the recruitment and retention challenges associated with these shifts. Some of the key findings and recommended solutions are:

Two accounting students have launched a used books site to combat the rising prices of textbooks.

Albridge Solutions has added mutual fund and exchange-traded fund research to its Albridge Wealth Reporting software.

CCH and H&R Block signed an agreement that gives Block tax preparers and franchisees access to tax-training courses from the online CCH Learning Center.

I attended a breakfast meeting the other day with executives from The Money Management Institute, which is a national organization for the managed account solutions industry. The Institute represents portfolio manager firms and sponsors of investment consulting programs, and the leading advocate for the industry on regulatory and legislative issues. Its membership list reads like a Who’s Who of firms that offer financial consulting services to individual investors as well as related professional portfolio management companies, among others. Present at the meeting were Christopher Davis, its President, Kevin Hunt, Chairman of the Board of governors and Executive Vice President of Old Mutual U.S. Holdings, Len Reinhart, President of Lockwood, an affiliate of Pershing, and Mary Deatherage, Senior Vice President, Wealth Management, at Smith Barney. It was a fascinating group who discussed various aspects of financial planning for clients including certain case studies and how they were dealt with. I learned that as recently as five years ago, financial planning for clients was pretty much handled by wirehouses for the planning and CPAs for the taxes. That has now changed dramatically, they say. Because of the advent of the Baby Boomers and their needs toward retirement, and the fact that people are retiring at an earlier age (57) than ever before, not to mention the broker/dealer and SEC business going on, CPAs are now replacing wirehouses in dealing with financial planning and investments. In fact, it was mentioned that insurance agents as financial advisors have slid downward somewhat because people simply don’t want to get involved with advisors who take commissions. It looks like it’s a question of trust, and many CPAs who have substantial financial planning practices tell me that clients are rather edgy whenever the CPA raises the specter of an insurance policy or certain investments that appear to have commission-strings attached. So, the CPA who is doing fee-based or fee-only planning is rising rather rapidly, especially fee-only. It is also interesting to note that the managed account solutions market grew at a healthy 6.7 percent to reach $1.34 trillion in assets just in the first quarter of this year alone. According to figures furnished, it outpaced the S&P 500 index, which returned only .64 percent during the same quarter. What also came out of this meeting is the fact that those who use financial planners are more loyal to their advisor than individuals who use full-service brokers or investment advisors and that client loyalty is built on responsiveness and investment returns. According to the Spectrem Group in its Affluent Market Insights for 2007, once advisors have turned a prospect into a client, they must retain that client. “As important as investment returns, low fees and low expenses are, they are not the primary driver of loyalty among the affluent. Simply returning phone calls promptly is the best method for advisors to develop loyalty. It is also important to investors that advisors provide a contact if he or she is not available.” In addition, Spectrem says that “giving “gifts at holidays, remembering birthdays and providing free tickets to special events does not develop loyalty.” Hmmm. How about a box of imported, dark chocolate? Does the trick for me.

Large companies in the United States are getting better at managing potentially critical business risks, according to a new study.

Although there are reams of literature and generally accepted guidelines stating that people typically spend 75 percent to 80 percent of their pre-retirement income during retirement, some advisors have found that's not necessarily the case.In fact, some say the spending levels are about the same.

By now, your clients should have heard the term "REIT," or real estate investment trust, in the investment world, but they may be wondering what one is and how it works.First, they should know that REITs are not new. They've been around for more than 45 years. However, it has only been since the 1990s that REITs have gained popularity.

IRS RULES ON PARTIAL TERMINATIONThe Internal Revenue Service ruled that a partial termination of a qualified plan occurred where 23 percent of a plan's participants were no longer active due to the closing of one of the employer's four locations. Therefore, all plan participants were fully vested.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has now bolstered its ethical standards for financial planners who can use its CFP certification designation. The intent is to get the American consumer to the point of trusting that their financial planners who have this particular mark will be placing the clients’ interests well ahead of their own. According to Karen Schaeffer, who chairs the CFP’s Board of Directors, the demand for financial planning is high and growing. “Each day millions of Americans must make important financial decisions, from Baby Boomers on the verge of retirement to the younger generations looking for ways to build their nest eggs.” She adds, “As company-sponsored pensions are being replaced by self-administered 401(k)s and IRAs, and as more responsibility for medical coverage shifts to individuals, Americans today are often required to make a broader range of fiduciary decisions than the decisions their parents made, and more people are finding professional financial planning assistance a necessity.” Interestingly-enough, in a recent survey commissioned by the CFP Board, 97 percent of the more than 1,100 participants identified trustworthiness a the most important factor they considered when looking for a professional financial advisor. That’s pretty much where that code of ethics and practice standards come in, and it also helps to explain the CFP Board’s dedication (and rightly so) in making ethical financial planning available to the public. By the way, some recent updates to these ethical standards, which take effect in July of next year, significantly strengthens the ethical requirements for the more than 55,000 CFP professionals. The CFP people even help the consumer by listing a series of questions that a consumer might want to consider when retaining a financial planner, such as: What experience do you have? What services do you offer? What is your approach to financial planning? Will you be the only person working with me? How will I pay for your services? How much do you typically charge? Could someone besides me benefit from your recommendations? Have you ever been publicly disciplined for any unlawful or unethical actions? Can I have it in writing? I love that last one! According to Schaeffer, “Integrity, competence, and the desire to create trusting relationships with consumers are the cornerstones of CPR certification.” The CFP people deserve a big ovation. They certainly are following through on that.

You might be surprised what qualifies as an unforeseen circumstance for the partial exclusion of gain on the sale of a personal residence. Under this special rule, taxpayers are allowed to exclude gain up to a reduced maximum exclusion amount under Section 121(c) if the sale is due to a change in place of employment, health, or unforeseen circumstances even though it was used for less than two of the five preceding years as the personal residence.

Three academics from the U.K. who have written a book about auditing, and a Virginia professor who has developed a taxation education curriculum, will receive awards from Deloitte & Touche’s not-for-profit Deloitte Foundation.