California CPA articles from May 2004

California CPA archives from May 2004

CalCPA image campaign promotes the profession.(CalCPA News)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... New CalCPA radio spots recently hit the airwaves. The 60-second ad features a testimonial from Roger Valine, president and CEO of Vision Service Plan, referring to CPAs on his staff as "the steady rock of my business." Additionally, in April...

Sign up for committees online.(CalCPA News)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)
May 1, 2004... Get involved locally--sign up for a chapter committee or discussion group. It only takes a moment as you can sign up in real time online. Online applications for chapter committees and discussion groups are available on your chapter's...

State of the restatements.(table with statistics, 1998-2003)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] State of the Restatements While the number of financial restatements has been rising since 1998, 2003 saw a slight decline. However, of the 323 restatements in 2003, the number of restated audited annual financial...

Abusive schemes counter-marketing toolkits.(IRS Lowdown)(IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division produces information to help tax professionals)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division has produced information to help tax professionals discuss abusive tax avoidance transactions with clients. The toolkits cover anti-tax law evasion schemes, abusive home-based business tax...

E-file for corporations and exempt organizations.(IRS Lowdown)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... For the first time, corporations and tax-exempt organizations can e-file their income tax and information returns. The new system--which allows tax professionals to attach documents to returns as PDFs--began accepting electronically filed...

AICPA explores financial reporting for private cos.(AICPA News)(concerns grow over how Sarbanes-Oxley relates to private companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Concerns over how Sarbanes-Oxley relates to private companies has led the AICPA to form a Private Company Financial Reporting Task Force to study issues related to private company financial reporting. Specifically, a growing frustration...

Slight uptick.(News & Trends)
May 1, 2004... SLIGHT UPTICK Of 1,400 CFOs surveyed, 6% expect to add staff in the second quarter of 2004. Robert Half International

Current petition process working fine.(Speakout!)(members encouraged to vote no on the proposed bylaw change to Article12)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... We encourage all members to vote NO on the proposed bylaw change to Article 12. This change increases the number of signatures required for a member-initiated bylaw change from 50 to more than 800. It also requires that bylaw changes...

Bylaws Committee's work not done.(Speakout!)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... I believe the proposed bylaws amendment regarding member-based initiatives is overzealous and overreacting to recent CalCPA history. The Bylaws Committee recommended the proposed changes to CalCPA Council and council approved, by one vote, the...

Bylaws changes are for the better.(Speakout!)
May 1, 2004... Included in this issue of California CPA are proposed changes to CalCPA's bylaws that have been approved by CalCPA's Board and Council. Members will be asked to vote on the bylaw changes at CalCPA's Annual Members' Business Meeting in July. ...

New audit quality center for benefit plan audits.(AICPA News)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The AICPA has opened the doors on its Audit Quality Center for CPA firms that audit employee benefit plans. The center is accepting applications for membership, and is the second of three Audit Quality Centers the AICPA has launched in...

AICPA considers additional outsourcing guidance.(Outsourcing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee is considering issuing additional guidance in the Code of Professional Conduct regarding the responsibilities of its members who use third-party service providers in client engagements, also...

Exodus.(News & Trends)(California companies plan to move jobs out of the state )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... EXODUS Nearly 40% of California companies plan to move jobs out of state because of the unfavorable business climate. The California Business Roundtable

Risk management and legal resources.(Web Focus)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The Peninsula Silicon Valley and San Jose Silicon Valley chapters' websites now feature valuable new resources for CalCPA members in business and industry. These resource focus on risk management and legal information. Expanded topic areas...

Hello and Goodbye.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... HELLO AND GOODBYE 39% of Americans say they will use their tax refunds to pay back debts. The Million Dollar Round Table

To apostrophe or not to apostrophe.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... When is an apostrophe appropriate with the abbreviation CPA? Only when the abbreviation is used as a possessive noun. Here's the scoop: * CPA (the abbreviation of certified public accountant) can be either a noun (the CPA) or an adjective...

Non-spouse beneficiaries of IRAs and 401(k)s.(Correction)(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... In the Estate Planning article titled "Inherited IRAs" from the March/April 2004 issue of California CPA, the article should have indicated that a non-spouse must determine the life expectancy factor from the Single Life Table in the year...

CBA revises regulations regarding disclosure.(Outsourcing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... The California Board of Accountancy has approved plans to expand a 14-year-old disclosure requirement regarding outsourcing. The board plans to revise Sec. 54.1 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations, which prohibits the...

Comfort Zone.(News & Trends)(Sarbanes-Oxley compliance)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... COMFORT ZONE In a poll of 1,022 investors, 57% said they would be very unlikely to invest in a company that failed to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley. Harris Interactive

In memoriam: Tindall Evans Cashion.(News & Trends)(past president of California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
May 1, 2004... Tindall Evans Cashion, CalCPA president from 1970-71, died Feb. 5, 2004. Cashion joined CalCPA in February 1941. He served as the San Francisco Chapter president (1963-64) and authored The First Seventy Five Years, a history of CalCPA...

Announcements.(Member Milestones)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(several appointments)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Gilbert Associates, Inc. has promoted senior associates Tonja Fontes and Trisha Pena to manager, and has hired Reed Showalter as a tax manager... Haynie & Company, CPAs named M. Todd Rounds associate partner, tax, and Michael L. Zurovski...

Firm news.(Member Milestones)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(several mergers of accounting firms)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Gatto & Pope, LLP joined with Larry M. Katz, CPA to form San Diego-based Gatto, Pope, Walwick & Katz, LLP... Pearson, Del Prete of Palo Alto and Vavrinek, Trine, Day of Rancho Cucamonga have merged... Hutchinson and Bloodgood LLP and Codiga &...

Awards.(Member Milestones)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Allen Budzichowski and Emma Swain receive awards)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Allen Budzichowski has received the Toluca Lake Community Service Award for 2003 for his outstanding contributions to the community... Emma Swain won the Innovation and Growth Award co-sponsored by the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of...

Accomplishments.(Member Milestones)(several appointment notices)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Tracy Bolton has been appointed to the board of directors of San Diego-based Home Start... R. Stanley Goldman was elected as one of a four-member presidium of the Golden Pacific Region of B'Nai B'rith... Chris Weed has been accepted as a...

Members in the news.(Member Milestones)(California Society Certified Public Accountants)
May 1, 2004... Carl Pon and Mike Kinson were featured in December articles in the San Gabriel Valley Daily Tribune and the Whittier Daily News... Mike Ng had an article published in the January issue of The CPA Journal... the January Journal of Accountancy...

Self portrait.(News & Trends)(multinational companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... SELF PORTRAIT 57% of audit committees and 47% of boards at U.S. multinational companies have performed a self-assessment in the past year. PWC Barometer Survey

California paid family leave: {beginning July 1, employees are allowed six weeks off--with partial pay--to care for a newborn or other family member. Here's how employees & employers can prepare}.
May 1, 2004... Bob has worked full time for his employer for a little more than five years. It's Aug. 1, 2004 and his wife calls and tells him the bad news--their son has cancer. The doctors are confident they can treat the disease, but treatment must begin...

Witnesses: do they have to keep draft reports?
May 1, 2004... In November 2001, Judge Robert E. Payne of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia made a decision in Trigon Insurance Co. v. United States of America, 204 F.R.D. 277 (5th Cir. 2001) that may impact the way CPAs in...

A new tax court? Also, state legislators discuss outsourcing, disclosure.(Government Relations)
May 1, 2004... AB 2472 (Wolk) and SB 1424 (Burton) would establish an administrative California tax court to decide sales and use, insurance and income tax appeals. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to the authors, the tax court would increase public...

Independence standards--putting it all together.(Independence Issues)
May 1, 2004... Do you provide services for your audit, review or compilation clients that impair your independence? Separation of nonattest services from attest services no longer applies just to audit clients. All CPAs are subject to new rules following a...

On your own: practical advice for starting your business.(Venturing Out)
May 1, 2004... Many CPAs dream of being their own boss, reaping the direct benefit of their hard work, free from the constraints of employer-related structure and expectations. Yet taking the leap into business ownership carries with it an ever-present fear...

Play it safe: keep your data from prying eyes.(Data Security)
May 1, 2004... You've seen the identity theft ads on television that feature people boasting about what they've bought using someone else's credit card and identification. There's the attractive woman who sounds like a computer geek itching to buy a 45-inch...

What's in it for me? XBRL revolutionizing business reporting.(XBRL Technology)
May 1, 2004... XBRL is the revolutionary information standard that enables the electronic tagging of business reports, including financial statements. XBRL allows for greater transparency and ease of use of the information contained within financial reports....

Planning for the unthinkable: what's your plan to ensure people are ok, business isn't lost?(Disaster Preparedness)
May 1, 2004... At 11:15 a.m. on a mild Monday in December, Rusty Roy headed out of his office to get a muffin from the local bakery, a mid-day routine. But as the Paso Robles-based CPA made his way out the door, he noticed his phone's blinking message light...

Let me in: data sharing between applications is closer than you think.(Application Integration)
May 1, 2004... A lucky few work with only one or two computer applications a day. Everyone else must navigate a variety of programs and often enter the same data into several different applications. There must be an easier way, right? Shouldn't you be...

The first call: CPAs must plug into IT issues to become the clients' go-to resource.(Information Technology)
May 1, 2004... Hey, CPAs: Are you receiving your client's first call about business growth? Growing clients need help and often don't know where to turn. As their CPA, are you receiving the first call when these clients are seeking advice on key decisions?...

Cut the cord: going wireless opens a whole new way of doing things.(Wireless Technology)
May 1, 2004... The wireless revolution continues to change the way individuals and businesses work, access information and communicate. As the technology becomes more affordable and gains broader acceptance, more and more individuals and organizations will be...

Communication: key to meeting challenges.(Practice Management)
May 1, 2004... While the CPA profession is always evolving, the dramatic shift in regulatory oversight and standard-setting has been fairly revolutionary during the past few years. Interested in what this upheaval has meant to CPA firms, I've spent the...

Taking the right steps as investment fiduciaries.(Investment Practices)
May 1, 2004... Responsibilities of investment fiduciaries have been brought to the forefront by recent misfeasance and malfeasance in the investment community. In response, The Center for Fiduciary Studies and the AICPA have published Practices & Standards...

Notice of meeting.(Special Section)(California Society of CPAs)
May 1, 2004... The Annual Members Business Meeting of the California Society of CPAs will take place at 10 a.m. Friday, July 16 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. The Annual Members Business Meeting will include a membership vote on: 1) the minutes from...

New addition to CalCPA family.(From the CEO)(CalCPA Institute)
May 1, 2004... CalCPA enters a new era of expanded services to our members and the public with the formation of the CalCPA Institute. The Institute is a supporting 501(c)(3) organization and its initial activities will be to support our financial literacy...

Filing season gems: everything from refinancing points to giving advice on minds of CPAs.(Tax)
May 1, 2004... Over this past filing season, the TaxTalk listserve was quite active and filled with practical questions and answers. Here are some of them. Points When Refinancing With the Same Lender If a taxpayer has been amortizing points and then...