Practice news

Technology

Companies Prepare For New Wave of Pay-Tracking Software

A new generation of software that uses pay-tracking technology and incentive-payment applications promises to help management find mistakes that often escape audits and other means of error detection. Mistakes in bonuses and commissions can add up quickly. For example, there have been media reports that as much as $4 million in phony sales commission was pocketed by more than a dozen employees at WorldCom before the company was forced into bankruptcy.
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Community News

Dos And Don'ts For Releasing Records of Deadbeat Clients

A slow economy means slow-paying clients and increased client turnover. This can add up to tough ethical questions for accountants who prepare tax returns. One especially tough dilemma arises when a former client, who hasn't paid his bill, demands that copies of all his records be provided to his new accountant.
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Practice Management

AAM Session Overview: Trashing The Timesheet

This is the sixth of a series of articles on sessions presented at the 2002 Association for Accounting Marketing Conference.By Karen Bergh, Senior V.P., RainMaker Pro, Inc. for the Association for Accounting Marketing Ron Baker, Founder of VeraSage Institute, shared in his topic "Trashing the Timesheet" his philosophy of how accountants should free themselves from the "tyranny of time" as an indicator of performance.
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Practice Management

SEC OKs 98% of U.S. Oaths - Europeans Prepare to Swear

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the final results of the corporate certifications due by August 14, 2002.
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Practice

Accounting Scandals Take a Toll on Bank Lending Practices

The Federal Reserve Board recently reported that few banks have encountered significant problems with the accuracy or completeness of financial statements submitted to them, but many are tightening up lending practices after widely-publicized accounting scandals and accusations about the roles of banks in cover-ups of unexpected business failures. The Fed's report is based on a survey conducted from May through July.
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Practice

Companies Report More Conservative Pro-Forma Earnings

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned investors about relying on pro-forma earnings, some well-known companies still reported earnings with these numbers during the second quarter reporting season.
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Community News

Complying With The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Four Top Priorities

If you're feeling baffled by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, you're not alone. Attorneys say this 66-page document is complicated, confusing and open to interpretation. Many accounting firms and their corporate clients are still sifting through the provisions and trying to develop an action plan to guide their clients through the compliance requirements in the coming months.
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Practice Management

Deloitte Responds to Growing Risk of Unethical Behavior

Deloitte's Chief Executive James E. Copeland announced plans to revitalize and expand the firm's ethical awareness program.
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Practice Management

AOL Swears To Financials But Warns of Accounting Errors

AOL Time Warner is probably the first company to walk a fine line by swearing to its accuracy of its financials, while simultaneously warning of potential accounting errors. The company submitted its sworn statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission on schedule, but also said it is reviewing the propriety of several advertising transactions that amount to approximately $49 million. The amount is immaterial compared with AOL Time Warner's total revenues.
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Practice Management

Report Issued in Grant Thornton's Special Investigation

Carnegie International announced it has received the report of an 8-month investigation into Grant Thornton's actions in connection with a pending lawsuit. Carnegie said a court-appointed Special Master found Grant guilty of negligence and recommended the firm be ordered to pay all reasonable costs of the investigation, which could amount to $1 million or more. The investigation had been ordered during a temporary suspension of a trial that began in November 2001.
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Practice

Creating a Culture of High Achievement

by Sam M. Allred, CPAWe live in a time of unprecedented change, both in our profession and in the world market place. Stakeholders and staff in accounting firms are wondering what changes are on the horizon in the wake of Enron, World Com and the other debacles in our financial markets. In these uncertain times, the most important thing that leaders can do is to give their partners and staff members focus and a sense of confidence.
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Practice Management

Insurers Demand Assurance of Accounting Reform

Although they play a less visible role than the Securities and Exchange Commission, insurance companies carry a big stick today when it comes to enforcing accounting reform. Companies that don't measure up to insurance company standards can find their D&O policies canceled or their rates raised.D&O stands for directors and officers liability coverage.
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Practice Management

How Smart Leaders Reach Out

by Cheri L. Swales, MonsterDedication to your company is not the only thing you need to consider when developing your career. Volunteering can be an important part of your leadership skills repertoire. Networking is the best way to enhance your career status, and volunteering is one of the best networking opportunities.
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Practice Management

CFO Compensation Survey - How Do You Stack Up?

CFO.com has posted the results of its CFO Compensation Survey, and the results show that CFO compensation seems to be stagnating, but you probably wouldn't guess that based on the compensation amounts shown below. The survey considers the salary, bonuses, and long-term incentives of 234 finance executives employed at 350 companies with earnings of $1 billion or more. The top 10 earners and their total compensation package are: Michael E. Lehman, Sun Microsystems, $37,201,000Mark H.
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Practice

EY Study: Workers Speak Out on How to Stop Fraud

Investors may have been shocked by corporate fraud, but not workers. Results of a recent study by Ernst & Young show workers are aware of workplace fraud and they have some pretty good ideas about how to stop it. Common Offenses The study, which was conducted between June 3rd and 6th, found employers lose 20% of every dollar earned to some type of workplace fraud.
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Practice Management

20 Ways You Can Detect Fraud

Here is a list of items to help you detect fraud in your company or a client's company. 1. Unusual BehaviorThe perpetrator will often display unusual behavior, that when taken as a whole is a strong indicator of fraud. The fraudster may not ever take a vacation or call in sick in fear of being caught. He or she may not assign out work even when overloaded. Other symptoms may be changes in behavior such as increased drinking, smoking, defensiveness, and unusual irritability and suspiciousness.2.
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Practice Management

Four Ways Companies Combat Accounting Scandals

Shareholder Value Magazine surveyed top executives of publicly held companies to help assess the prevalence of accounting scandals and the corporate response. Respondents to the survey were primarily investor relations professionals of micro cap, small cap and mid cap companies.
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Practice Management

Florida Firm Finds Compilations Don't Prevent Lawsuits

An Orlando, Florida accounting firm was recently sued after its client went bankrupt -- a familiar scenario for national firms that do audits of public companies. But this suit was different in that it involved a local accounting firm that didn't do anything more than a compilation for the client. The firm is Averett Warmus Durkee Bauder & Thompson.
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Practice Management

Software Startup Says Growth Was Fictitious, Blames CEO

Silicon Valley companies had been mercifully spared the bad publicity of accounting scandals -- until HPL Technologies announced at a press conference earlier this week that much of its growth was based on fictitious transactions.The San Jose-based software company said it had uncovered massive accounting fraud that was apparently orchestrated by the company's founder and chief executive officer (CEO) who took the company public a year ago.HPL's audit committee chairman estimates that at leas
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Practice Management

AAM Session Overview: The Accounting And Consulting Firm of The Future

By Lisa Dickson, Marketing Coordinator, Bland, Garvey, Eads, Medlock + Deppe, P.C. for the Association for Accounting MarketingAnother successful Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) conference has concluded in San Antonio, Texas. This conference opened with a war cry by VeraSage Institute founder, Ronald J. Baker. Baker, a CPA and marketer, has shed some light on what direction the accounting industry in heading. He has challenged us to see beyond the present atmosphere of the tradition accounting firm and reach for excellence in our industry.
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Voice of the Editor

What would you do if one of your clients won the lottery? We asked several accountants to weigh in with their advice for the lucky Powerball winner, and the tips we received are useful for anyone who receives a windfall, whether it's a lottery win, an inheritance, a big bonus on the job, or a killing in the stock market.
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Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
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