Less than three months ago, the Public Accounting Report published an article indicating that Big 5 accounting firm Deloitte & Touche was "bucking the trend" of restructuring and insisted that it would keep its "full service" image available to clients.However, in an article in the Financial Times this week, Jim Copeland, CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu has indicated that increasing pressure from regulators might force the Big 5 firm to consider restructuring, eliminating the ability to offer both

The arbitrator ruling on the separation of Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting has delayed releasing his findings until July 31. A decision on the split was due by the end of April.A quick end to the proceedings seemed likely after Consulting chief Joe Forehand said he was prepared to enter round-table discussions with Arthur Andersen.But a spokesperson for Andersen said that nothing further had been pursued down this path. He also warned that the profession may well hear more about the divorce from the arbitrator before the end of July.

We are seeing a continuing trend in more mergers and multi-discliplinary practices thanks to consolidation.Evidence of this is the Seattle-based accounting and financial services firm, Moss Adams, LLP, who now holds a dominant position over its competition within the construction industry.This is due to a merger with another Washington firm, Thoreson & Co., whose has mostly construction clients.Moss Adams, which generated $150 million in revenue in 1999, has more than 1,100 employees in Washington, Oregon, California and London.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has developed its own digital certificate system to compete with market leader VeriSign.The new company is called 'beTrusted,' and is based in Columbia, MD with 120 employees.

This is the fourth in a series of editorials by Results Accountants' Systems.MAKING YOUR PRACTICE MORE PROFITABLEAccounting businesses are mature industry. There is intense competition for clients which is typical when the principal services offered in the industry have a very generic look and feel about them. Clients are able to drive prices down because switching costs are relatively low.Accounting firms have very similar cost structures to their intra-industry competitors.

Tony Cord, formerly Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions for American Express Tax & Business Services, Inc., has joined 1st Global as Director of National Business Development.Mr. Cord was a key player in the accounting firm consolidation efforts of American Express over the past few years. 1st Global, Inc., is a development partner for leading CPA and tax firms seeking to successfully integrate a comprehensive financial services business into their accounting practice. As Director of National Business Development for 1st Global, Mr.

Looking for ways to ease your firm through the next two weeks of busy season with minimal stress? AccountingWEB invited members to share their ideas in an online workshop on busy season stress busters, and got some pretty good ideas!Read through the transcripts of the session for details, or scan through some of the best ideas below. Either way, be sure to tap into the brainpower of the AccountingWEB community and finish up tax season with a smile on your face! 

For more information contact Jobst ElsterTallahassee, FL- March 6, 2000 -- Solution 6 Holdings Limited (ASX:SOH), the world’s leading provider of IT solutions to professional service firms, today announced that Pannell Kerr Forster, the eighth largest firm of accountants and business advisors in the UK, has purchased CMS OPENâ for use throughout all of its UK offices. CMS OPEN is the global practice management and time and billing software system produced by CMS/Data Corporation, which was acquired by Solution 6 in October 1999. P

PricewaterhouseCoopers has said this week that the firm definitely would not participate in a bid process identifying firms that could help the Securities and Exchange Commission monitor Web sites.PWC said the SEC's online version of 'wire tapping' might invade the privacy of otherwise innocent people. The accounting firm, along with more than 100 other companies, were invited in January to submit a bid on an automatic surveillance system.The SEC is collecting data from online chat rooms, Web sites and forums to identify potential fraud schemes.