CPA Letter articles from April 2002

CPA Letter archives from April 2002

GAO issues new auditor independence standards; certain non-audit services restricted.(General Accounting Office)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Late in Jan. the General Accounting Office issued its final standards on auditor independence. The changes in Government Auditing Standards ("Yellow Book") are significant and will impact audits of many governments, non-profit entities, and...

CPA2Biz + Rivio = a winning combination and powerful business solutions. (news update).(companies have merged)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... CPA2Biz has merged with Rivio, a leading provider of integrated Web-based application services for small businesses, to enhance its offerings to CPAs and their clients or employers. A formidable combination, the two companies leverage...

Foundation mailing encourages members to donate shares of Prudential stock.(result of Prudential Financial Inc.'s initial public offering)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... More than 200,000 AICPA members and member firms participating in the Insurance Trust life and disability program learned in early Mar. how many shares of stock they own as a result of Prudential Financial Inc.'s initial public offering. Around...

Business & industry members assess post-9/11 economic environment.(survey of financial executives)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... A poll of more than 150 financial executives taken at the AICPA's fall conference for members in business and industry shows that economic prospects appear better for the service sector than for manufacturing. Service sector respondents said...

AICPA's "Women's Financial Health Week" reaches 70 million consumers.
April 1, 2002... Women's Financial Health Week, which the AICPA presented Jan. 14-18 with Money magazine, reached an estimated 70 million consumers through coverage in print, television, radio and online media. Articles about Women's Financial Health Week...

Volunteer service applications due May 1.(aicpa.org/apply )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The deadline for volunteer service applications is fast approaching. Members interested in serving on a committee, task force or expert panel for the 2002-2003 committee year should apply online at volunteers. aicpa.org/apply by May 1.

CPA Letter supplements available.
April 1, 2002... To obtain any of the member-segment supplements produced this month with The CPA Letter: [fax] Dial 201/938-3787 from a fax machine and key in document nos.: large firms, 1550; medium firms, 1551; small firms, 1552; business & industry,...

Public meeting notices.
April 1, 2002... For detailed agendas, dial 201/938-3787 from a fax machine and key in document no. 1206 two weeks prior to these meetings. Accounting & Review Services Committee: Apr. 29-30, New Orleans Accounting Standards Executive Committee: Apr....

To the members of the AICPA.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Here's another update on Institute activities driven by Enron-related developments. While we're using this update to keep you apprised of late-breaking news on this issue, the balance of The CPA Letter is devoted to all the other ongoing...

Highlights of Board of Directors' February meeting.
April 1, 2002... Among other actions at its meeting Feb. 7-8, the AICPA Board of Directors: * Approved the strategic plan developed by the International Strategy Committee and gave the committee the authority to coordinate the AICPA's international...

Exposure draft of new fraud standard released for comment. (accounting & auditing news).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Auditing Standards Board on Feb. 28 issued an exposure draft titled Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit (The CPA Letter, Feb./Mar.). This proposed statement, which represents a revision of SAS No. 82, establishes standards...

Report of the nominations committee.
April 1, 2002... To Members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: Pursuant to Article VI, Section 6.1.6 and 3.3 of the bylaws, the following report of the Nominations Committee is submitted. Richard I. Miller General Counsel &...

Annual report of ethics division investigation activity. (disciplinary actions).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2001 Jan. 1 - Dec. 31, 2000 The following is a statistical report from the Professional Ethics Division of investigation activity for the years ended Dec. 31, 2001, and 2000. The AICPA and state CPA societies...

Firms terminated from peer review program. (disciplinary actions).(Goldman Lichtenberg Wasserman & Grossman and S. C. Golden & Co.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Effective Dec. 10, 2001, these firms were terminated from the AICPA peer review program for failure to cooperate with the AICPA Peer Review Board. Hearing panels deemed the following firms: * Did not complete corrective or monitoring...

Member firm expelled from SECPS. (disciplinary actions).(SEC Practice Section Executive Committee)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... On Dec. 17, 2001, a hearing panel of the SEC Practice Section Executive Committee concluded unanimously that the firm of Harold Y. Spector, CPA, of Pasadena, Calif., failed to obtain a concurring partner review on the audits of its SEC...

Chair's corner.(disciplinary processes of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... I have received many comments and questions lately from members and the media concerning the programs the AICPA has in place to investigate alleged audit failures and discipline its members. In light of these inquiries, I thought it would be...

Wanted: cases on ethics and fraud issues.
April 1, 2002... The AICPA and the AICPA Foundation are jointly sponsoring the creation of a Web-based collection of cases covering the topics of ethics and fraud, and we invite your participation in this project. Our goal is to improve our members' and...

Brokerage window investments in employee benefit plans. (regulatory matters).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... For 2001 plan years, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, and the Internal Revenue Service will now allow employee benefit plans to report investments made through participant-directed brokerage accounts as a...

Staples becomes latest AICPA affinity partner. (member news).(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Exclusive savings are in store -- or more specifically, online -- for AICPA members. Continuing a tradition of securing discounts on everyday expenses, the AICPA has forged a new affinity partnership with Staples, the nation's #1 office supply...

AICPA survey shows incentives, barriers to electronic filing of Form 990.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... To help assess how electronic filing of Form 990 is catching on among CPAs, the AICPA recently conducted a survey of past participants of the Institute's Not-for-Profit Conference. The 15-question survey asked about incentives to encourage...

Now available.(books from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards (No. 057184CPA04), as of Jan. 1. If you perform audit and attest engagements, you will quickly know the value of having this authoritative publication on hand. The convenient paperback...

Live Webcast on Planning and Performing Compilation & Review Engagements -- Tips and Tricks for 2002. (CPE news).
April 1, 2002... On Friday, Apr. 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:55 p.m., recognized experts Russ Madray, CPA, and Paul Murman, CPA, will lead a live Webcast that will offer a complete overview of compilation and review engagement issues, tips on planning and...

Investment Advisory Practice Workshop offered. (CPE news).
April 1, 2002... Add even more value to your attendance at the AICPA Advanced Investment Management Conference on May 30 - 31 in Las Vegas. Make plans to attend the "How to Set Up and Run Your Dream Firm - Investment Advisory Practice" Pre-Conference Workshop...

AICPA InfoBytes moves to new learning management system. (CPE news).(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The AICPA is pleased to introduce a new learning management system for online CPE courses, including AICPA InfoBytes and Learn2 Library, available through CPA2Biz. This new system brings you enhanced features and benefits, including: * A...

Uniform CPA exam beta pre-testing completed. (CPE news).(certified public accountant)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Beta pre-testing for the computer-based Uniform CPA Examination concluded successfully in Jan. Adding together all four pre-testing sessions, 145 students participated and took 278 pre-test examination sections. "Student reaction was very...

AICPA members staff USA Today hotline. (CPE news).(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Congratulations and thank you to the CPAs who made this year's Web-based USA Today tax hotline a big success. CPAs from across the country went online from their offices to answer tax questions from the paper's readers on Mar. 7 and 8. The...

New information security tools & training for AICPA members. (technology).(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Secure e-commerce competencies present an opportunity for CPAs. Those who understand security and e-commerce are seeing new projects unfold. The pillars of trust that enable secure e-commerce include authentication, authorization, data...

IFAC issues white paper on money laundering.(International Federation of Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... To help efforts to combat money laundering, the International Federation of Accountants has released a white paper on the subject for dissemination to its 156 member organizations and their 2.4 million accountants (www.ifac.org). The paper...

How to request copyright permission from AICPA.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Members and others who wish to reproduce content from any AICPA publication (or Web site) must first obtain copyright permission from the Institute. The most expeditious way to do so is through our Web site (www.aicpa.org). Click on the...

Consumers demand companies do more to protect their privacy; want privacy independently verified: AICPA/E&Y post-Sept. 11 survey.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants/Ernst & Young)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Results of a recent Harris Interactive survey conducted for Privacy & American Business, a think-tank devoted to business privacy issues, and sponsored by the AICPA and Ernst & Young show most consumers still do not trust companies to handle...