Journal of Accountancy articles from June 2004

Journal of Accountancy archives from June 2004

The Team Approach to Tax, Financial and Estate Planning.(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... CPAs are the best professionals to serve their clients' entire financial needs, but they need to know when and how to coordinate with other experts. Over the last twenty years we have worked with thousands of practitioners who have decided...

Help companies assess their internal audit needs.
June 1, 2004... Now that the SEC has approved the November 2003 New York Stock Exchange rule that listed companies must have an internal audit function, clients and employers are asking their CPAs how it might affect their businesses and exactly what it...

Small firms: think big! More work at large firms means more opportunity for smaller ones.
June 1, 2004... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT HAS CREATED new requirements for public companies, spurring greater demand for professional services and for a range of engagements that offer opportunities to well-positioned smaller firms. ...

Marketing materials and malpractice exposure: advertise what you're qualified to do, not more.
June 1, 2004... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * CARELESS ADVERTISING ASSERTIONS can lead to lawsuits. When a plaintiff's lawyer evaluates a potential accounting malpractice claim, he or she typically will examine all of the advertising materials the CPA provided to...

Tips for the Sarbanes-Oxley learning curve: the act has brought more complexity to firm management; here's some broad-based help.
June 1, 2004... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT HAS HAD a far-reaching impact on CPA firms, whether large, midsize or small. Firms that audit public companies have been working out strategies for coping successfully in their internal operations...

Should you upgrade to Microsoft Office 2003? The answer depends on how you use the Office suite now and how you want to use it in the future.(Product/Service Evaluation)
June 1, 2004... Each time Microsoft introduces a major product upgrade, users ask whether they should invest the time and money in it. With the launch of Microsoft Office 2003 System last October, the question has taken on more significance than for most...

Advise businesses on external IT resources: help clients and employers find the best IT vendors - when needed.(information technology)
June 1, 2004... Companies can't compete effectively if their information technology (IT) systems don't have the power or flexibility to perform essential business functions. But many organizations find it difficult to set up or maintain the IT resources...

Enterprising views of risk management: businesses can use ERM to manage a wide variety of risks.(enterprise risk management)
June 1, 2004... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT (ERM) IS A STRATEGY organizations can use to manage the variety of strategic, market, credit, operational and financial risks they confront. ERM calls for high-level oversight of risks on a...

Acquiring contingent liabilities.
June 1, 2004... It often is difficult to determine the existence of a contingent liability. Even when the potential liability is known, it's not easy to correctly value it. Failure to properly consider the tax impact era contingent liability could have a...

Time to distribute corporate earnings? Taking advantage of the lower tax rate on dividends received. (from The Tax Adviser)
June 1, 2004... The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) reduced the individual tax rate on corporate dividends received to 15% for individuals in the 25%, 28%, 33% and 35% tax brackets (5% (0% in 2008) for individuals in the 15% and...

Golden business ideas.
June 1, 2004... The Right Way to Use PowerPoint Do you use PowerPoint, the Microsoft presentation software, to make sales pitches for new clients? Or do you use it, as a consultant would, to lay out in-depth analyses in an effort to convince a client or...