Associations

The timeline for adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the United States faces several hurdles, including the long-delayed appointment of several SEC commissioners.

The AICPA Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) did a remarkable job with its 2007 Top MAP Issues survey, and it was done without even changing the question that is asked each year or who was asked. It was done simply by taking a knife and cutting up the answers. The annual survey asks various practitioners in public practice: What are your top five MAP concerns?

Organizers were pleased with this year's turnout at the AICPA Tech Show at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

CPA2Biz, the marketing portal of the American Institute of CPAs, has teamed with Bill.com, a provider of online accounts payable software, in an agreement to provide Bill.com's products and services to accountants.

The American Institute of CPAs' Tax Division presented Alan Einhorn with its 2007-2008 Distinguished Service Award at its spring meeting.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission has released an exposure draft document offering guidance on monitoring internal control systems.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued a new standard that tightens ethics requirements for members on indemnification and limitation of liability.

I am constantly amazed and intrigued by what is being done via the Internet. In Practical Accountant, we report on how creative some firms are incorporating the Internet into their operations and going way beyond the proverbial virtual firm brochure. My guess is that creativity is stimulated by how others are using the Internet.

For those CPAs performing business valuations, January brought a new standard into their sphere, a long-awaited pronouncement that has garnered both praise and some mixed reviews.Despite the critique, most business valuation appraisers said that the American Institute of CPAs’ Statement on Standards for Valuation Services No. 1 was a long time coming, though it hasn’t drastically affected their day-to-day practices.

The American Institute of CPAs has begun publicizing the revised set of peer review standards that it quietly issued earlier this year.The new standards are designed to be more principles-based and less of a checklist-based process than older peer review standards. A key difference is the elimination of letters of comment and the old three-tier system of unmodified, modified and adverse grades given to firms by reviewers. The new standards require a simple grade of “pass,” “pass with deficiencies” or “fail.”

The American Institute of CPAs has sent the Internal Revenue Service a spreadsheet-full of comments on the draft instructions for the revised Form 990 that will be used by tax-exempt organizations to file their returns next year.

The AICPA is a very complicated and unique entity that continues to amaze me. In large part, it is because of the many roles that it performs with regard to the CPA profession and the significant impact it has on individual CPAs, firms, and companies.

The American Institute of CPAs' Private Companies Practice Section and the Texas Society of CPAs have begun their fifth annual survey of management policies at small and midsized CPA firms.

The House of Representatives has passed a bill containing a set of tax deductions and extensions, renewable energy incentives, and a provision equalizing the penalty standards for tax preparers and taxpayers.

The American Institute of CPAs gave out its public service awards at its Spring Council meeting to an individual and a firm for their contributions to the community at large.

The American Institute of CPAs outlined plans to simplify the plethora of auditing standards and eliminate any that had no clear objective.

With accounting standards moving toward convergence around the world, some accounting firms are beginning to worry that the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards could lead to litigation.

The American Institute of CPAs has approved the creation of the forensic accounting credential.

The American Institute of CPAs passed a resolution at its Spring Council meeting voting to recognize the International Accounting Standards Board in London as the international accounting and financial reporting standards-setter.

The House Ways and Means Committee has passed a bill that contains a provision advocated by the American Institute of CPAs equalizing the tax return reporting standards.