CPA Letter articles from January 2001

CPA Letter archives from January 2001

SEC's Final Rule on Auditor Independence Generally Reflects Negotiated Compromise.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Input from AICPA Members Made a Difference Having received input from a wide spectrum of AICPA members critical of its proposed rule on auditor independence, the Securities and Exchange Commission worked with the AICPA and its members to...

Other Countries Express Interest in Joining Global Credential Initiative; Comprehensive Research Effort Begins.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The accountancy institutes of France and Italy may possibly be joining the new global business credential initiative (The CPA Letter, Dec. 2000). Both countries have expressed interest to the international consortium developing the proposed new...

Another Communications Award for the CPA Vision Project.
January 1, 2001... Coming on the heels of several other awards conferred by prestigious national organizations, the CPA Vision Project now has won first place in the 2000 Gold Circle Awards Competition from the American Society of Association Executives. This...

cpa2biz Web Portal Looking for Firms to Participate in Pilot Program.
January 1, 2001... cpa2biz.com, the Web portal for the CPA profession and the small business community being developed by the AICPA and its state CPA society partners, is looking for a limited number of CPA firms to participate in a pilot project. Participating...

Reprint Permission Form for AICPA Publications Available from Fax Hotline, Web Site and Dedicated Phone Number.
January 1, 2001... Members who wish to reprint an article from any AICPA publication (or its Web site) must first obtain copyright permission from the Institute. You can easily obtain a copyright permission form by using our 24-hour faxback system, calling the...

ISB Extends Comment Deadline on Conceptual Framework Exposure Draft.
January 1, 2001... The Independence Standards Board has extended the comment deadline for its exposure draft of a conceptual framework for auditor independence. Comments now are due Feb. 28, instead of Feb. 15. The ED is available at www.cpaindendence.org.

Comments Wanted on Tax Issue.
January 1, 2001... The AICPA's Estate Tax Expatriate Task Force, part of the Tax Division's Trust, Estate, and Gift Tax Technical Resource Panel, is seeking input and feedback from members regarding concerns CPAs and their clients have with existing Internal...

2001 Technologies, Applications and Issues Affect Service Delivery.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Regardless of the size or scope of a CPA's responsibilities or business intelligence, technology continues to affect and permeate the services delivered to clients, employers and other users of CPAs' services. Embracing and recognizing that...

AICPA Offers Interactive Online Publications Via www.CPAWeb.org.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Subscriptions can now be purchased to two AICPA online publications: reSOURCE Online--AICPA's Accounting and Auditing Literature and e-MAP (Management of an Accounting Practice-Online). The reSOURCE Online Library consists of Professional...

SSAE No. 10, Attestation Standards: Revision and Recodification, to Be Issued.(Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The Auditing Standards Board in early Feb. will issue Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 10 (No. 023029CPA01). The SSAE will: * Change the title of AT section 101 to Attest Engagements. * Clarify the applicability...

SOP Issued on Demutualizations by Insurance Enterprises.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Statement of Position No. 00-3, Accounting by Insurance Enterprises for Demutualizations and Formations of Mutual Insurance Holding Companies and for Certain Long-Duration Participating Contracts (No. 014928CPA01), has been issued. The SOP...

chair's corner.(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Now that the SEC's final compromised rule on auditor independence has been released, I want to be sure each of you knows that the AICPA served as your advocate during the arduous negotiations to reach a reasonable outcome. Press reports talked...

SysTrust Version 2.0 Released.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Version 2.0 of the SysTrust[TM] Principles and Criteria for Systems Reliability has been issued. The SysTrust Principles and Criteria provide the basis for the SysTrust assurance service, which is designed to increase the confidence of...

WebTrust Addresses Privacy Concerns; More Countries Offer Service.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Privacy is a huge and growing issue among online shoppers in the U.S. and abroad. Market research by many organizations shows that fears of online shoppers, and even business vendors, range from loss of sensitive corporate data to lost credit...

CPA Performance View[SM] Update.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Last month marked the first anniversary of the launch of the CPA Performance View[sm] service. To date, hundreds of members have been trained to provide CPA Performance View engagements, and hundreds of other professionals have been introduced...

Tax-Time Reminder About Long-Term Care Insurance.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... The ElderCare Task Force would like to remind CPAs that many long-term care insurance policies qualify as a deductible medical expense. To qualify, the contract must only provide coverage for qualified long-term tare services and comply with...

now available.(Review)
January 1, 2001... New Edition. Audits of Investment Companies - Audit and Accounting Guide (Revised) (No. 012364CPA01) will help CPAs in investment companies prepare financial statements in conformity with GAAP, and assist independent auditors in performing...

Disciplinary actions.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... As a result of an investigation of alleged violations of the Code of Professional Conduct of the AICPA and/or state CPA societies, the following ethics case has been resolved by settlement agreement under the Joint Ethics Enforcement Program:...

Firms Terminated from Peer Review Program.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... Effective Aug. 29, 2000, the following firms were terminated from the AICPA peer review program for failure to cooperate with the AICPA Peer Review Board. Hearing panels deemed that these firms did not complete the corrective or monitoring...

Committee Member Volunteering Process Update; Application Date Extended Beyond Tax Season to May 1.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2001... A committee restructuring effort initiated during the summer of 1999 resulted in dramatic changes to the committee environment. The most notable change was a new emphasis on short-term, well-focused task forces in place of some of the standing...