"The new preparer penalty is incredibly complex – over 200 pages long – and impacts all signing return preparers and those who advise them," said Matt Kadish, an attorney and shareholder in the Cleveland law firm of Kadish, Hinkel & Weibel. Kadish and his father Steve Kadish provided a detailed update on the latest federal tax developments in one of the most popular sessions at The Ohio Accounting Show in Cleveland.

The Ohio Accounting Show in Cleveland is one of The Ohio Society's most popular events, annually attracting more than 1,100 CPAs and offering more than 90 sessions over two days. The event also features a robust exhibit hall with the latest products and services targeted towards CPAs.

Changes in attest services was another hot topic during the Accounting Show. Soon CPAs may be able to help small businesses produce high quality financial statements and still provide a level of assurance regarding those statements.

During a packed session, Michael Glynn, CPA, AICPA technical manager – audit and attest standards, discussed the upcoming exposure draft that would introduce a new stop on the assurance continuum. The proposal is part of the larger Reliability Project from the AICPA Accounting and Review Services Committee (ARSC).

ARSC is considering whether CPAs should be able to help clients prepare their financial statements and still report on compilation and review engagements with a new form of report language.

"We have a proposal drafted and will present it at the ARSC meeting in early November," Glynn said. "Depending on whether there are changes, the resulting exposure draft could be released in late 2008 or early 2009."

The U.S. move towards international financial reporting standards (IFRS) is another topic with wide-spread impact for CPAs. "IFRS has something to do with everyone in this room and CPAs nationwide," said presenter Bruce Pounder, CMA, CFM with Leveraged Logic in North Carolina. "At this point, there's nothing that's not changing."

The Ohio Accounting Show in Cleveland also covered a variety of other impactful topics, including the economy, upcoming elections, FASB developments, new reporting requirements, and practice management trends.

The Ohio Accounting Show travels to Cincinnati this week before moving to Columbus Oct. 29-30. Each show offers its own lineup of nationally known speakers on the major issues facing CPAs.