Associations

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission issued a request for proposals to develop guidance to help organizations monitor the quality of their internal control systems.

I visit the Web site of the AICPA, www.aicpa.org, on a regular basis, using it as a springboard to various sections on the site. I was used to a page coming up with numerous hyperlinks that allowed me instant access to what I was looking for. Imagine my surprise last week when I went to aicpa.org and saw a completely different look to the home page.On initial glance, it now has a much cleaner, uncluttered, and attractive look. There is much less text and fewer hyperlinks. I was looking for the Audit and Attest Standards section, which used to have a hyperlink on the home page that allowed one-click access. I saw on the top of the home page the terms “Standards and Performance,” but, alas, it turned out just to be a phase describing one the areas within the AICPA’s focus.

The American Institute of CPAs has released a second exposure draft of a proposed statement on standards for valuation services.

Political fundraisers for the accounting profession have already contributed nearly $6 million to the campaigns of more than 300 candidates in this fall's congressional elections, including House and Senate hopefuls from both political parties and every spot on the American political spectrum.Donations from the accounting industry's free-spending political action committees have been spread around to an assortment of candidates, ranging from liberal Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Barney Frank, to arch-conservative Mississippi Republican Sen. Trent Lott.

Fueled by growth in its new business lines, CPA2Biz Inc., the online marketing portal for the American Institute of CPAs, posted its second consecutive year of profitability, posting year-end net income of $1.5 million for the period ended July 31, versus profits of $150,000 for fiscal 2005.

A “practice privilege” requirement introduced in Illinois -- which would have required out-of-state CPAs to register with a state agency -- appears on the verge of meeting a fate close to a similar proposal in California. That fate being, in this case, compromise. Both the Illinois CPA Society and the American Institute of CPAs had objected to the new registration requirement -- with the society requesting a delay to the law’s Oct. 1 effective date and the institute voicing its concerns over the “onerous” stipulation in a Sept. 28 letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Contained in a broader piece of legislation that made changes to the regulation and licensing of CPAs in the state, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation would have required CPAs from other states to apply for temporary practice privilege or obtain full licensure as a CPA in the state of Illinois, regardless of whether the CPA or client ever entered the state. According to the AICPA, thousands of CPAs from across the country could have been impacted. On Sept. 29, the Illinois regulation department filed an emergency amendment, which read that out-of-state accountants would not have to follow the new requirement, “So long as the individual CPA is temporarily practicing in this state incidental to practice in another state and does not solicit Illinois clients nor have a physical presence in Illinois.” After much debate, a requirement that would have required out-of-state CPAs doing business in California to register with the state’s Board of Accountancy never made it out of committee this past June. Several taxpayer groups said that not requiring the registration could make it easier for accounting firms to market improper tax shelters without proper oversight. Proponents of the bill, including the state Board of Accountancy and the California CPA Society, said that their intention was merely to eliminate unnecessary red tape for neighboring accountants to provide basic services across state lines.

Lawmakers have passed a provision as part of the sweeping Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act of 2006, that exempts CPAs from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s requirement that they send clients an annual privacy notice.

Political fundraisers for the accounting profession have raised a record-breaking campaign war chest of more than $8 million dollars to support congressional candidates in the fall elections.Big accounting has already channeled more than $5.9 million in campaign contributions to candidates for House and Senate seats in 2006, and the industry's total stake in this year's congressional elections may well top $10 million by the time the dust settles in November.

The top-scoring candidates on the 2005 Uniform CPA Examination have been announced by the American Institute of CPAs.

A recently released exposure draft from the American Institute of CPAs contains two different interpretations under the institute's independence rules.

Optimism about the U.S. economy among CPAs serving in corporate America's C-level suites is declining, according to the latest Business and Industry Economic Outlook survey from the American Institute of CPAs.

Despite some ruffled feathers over incentives designed to sway the American Institute of CPAs to relocate more than 300 jobs here, the Durham County commissioners approved giving the institute a $400,000 incentive package as part of its relocation strategy.The approval came on the heels of a minor controversy last month, when an AICPA spokesman was quoted in a local paper as saying that the incentives did not play a major role in the institute selecting Durham as its relocation venue.

A trio of state accounting boards have objected to the 'jointness' of a joint project from the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Institute of CPAs to form a committee to look at the financial accounting and reporting standard-setting process for private companies.

The American Institute of CPAs announced the trio of recipients of the 2006 Outstanding CPA in Government Award.

A trio of professional groups have joined forces to launch a research project to explore user perceptions of financial statement audits and auditor reports.

There is a nice addition to the AICPA Web site at www.aicpa.org/YoungCPANetwork. It is geared to those just beginning their careers in accounting. The sections that caught my attention were Mentoring, Career Planning & Development, Work/Life Balance and Professional Issues.

For my 14th birthday, my father surprised me with tickets to see a winner-take-all-match at Madison Square Garden between two of the greatest tennis players of a past generation -- Rod Laver and Richard "Pancho" Gonzales.

The American Institute of CPAs praised a new law that will prevent states from taxing the retirement income of non-resident partners last week.

In a significant move toward unifying a number of related standards and harmonizing them with a new international standard, the Auditing Standards Board has voted out a proposed statement on quality control.It was one of three exposure drafts issued for comment by summer's end.

The American Institute of CPAs has been working to mend fences with local officials in Durham, N.C., after the county manager threatened to pull a $400,000 subsidy package for the institute's relocation of its New Jersey headquarters.