Audit & Accounting

The American Institute of CPAs and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are gearing an expanded version of their 2003 Privacy Framework towards a broader business audience.

There are only two conferences for accountants that my colleague, Jeff Stimpson, and I never miss attending. Winning Is Everything, presented by the Advisory Board, is one of them.The Advisory Board’s members are four of the leading consultants to accounting firms -- Jay Nisberg, president, Jay Nisberg & Associates; Allan Koltin, president and CEO, PDI Global.; Gary Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting; and Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G Financial Services and co-founder of the Leading Edge Alliance.

Teams of accounting students from 22 colleges have accepted an invitation to participate in the inaugural KPMG National Audit Case Competition.

A board within the International Federation of Accountants has issued revised standards to increase the clarity and usability of International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

Successful filing of electronic tax returns, as well as meeting the accounting requirements of FIN 48, are the biggest challenges facing corporate tax professionals in 2007, according to an informal survey by Thomson Tax & Accounting.

CMS DISMISSES E&YCMS Energy Corp., a Jackson, Miss.-based electric and natural gas company, dismissed its auditor, Big Four firm Ernst & Young, and named PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new independent accountant.

In today's financial services landscape, it is becoming more important for accountants to evaluate the health of their current practices and to implement certain necessary changes to remain competitive. With consolidation happening almost on a weekly basis, financial services firms are becoming the one-stop shop for clients. And if you poll your clients, you'll find out that that's exactly what they want - one trusted place to have all of their financial matters attended to.Accountants are also seeing pressure from the proliferation of low-cost accounting software, companies that are giving away tax preparation services for free or at an extremely low cost, and the fact that the Internet is providing clients access to information that was once the private domain of accountants.

TSCPA FINANCIAL EDUCATION WEB SITE GARNERS AWARDThe Texas Society of CPAs received an Award of Excellence in the 2007 Associations Advance America Awards competition. The TSCPA received the award for its consumer financial education Web site, www.valueyourmoney.org. The site gives users access to free personal finance information for 11 specific stages in life, such as high school, couples and marriage, life crises, and retirement and estate planning. Resources available online include worksheets, quizzes, podcasts, a personal finance calendar, and materials for companies to use in educating employees about money matters.

A $170-million malpractice suit against BDO Seidman kicked off in a Miami court last week.

More new tax laws, continued new e-filing mandates, an expected increase in total returns, and a delay in processing are certain to mark the start of the 2007 tax filing season.Recent changes in the tax law, primarily those involving three tax deductions - for state and local sales tax, higher education tuition and fees, and educator expenses - mean that the Internal Revenue Service will not be able to process some individual returns until early February. "We will not be processing any returns, whether they are filed electronically or on paper, that contain the extended tax breaks until early February," confirmed IRS spokeswoman Nancy Mathis. "We estimate the number of returns affected by this delay is approximately 930,000 returns out of 136 million returns we expect to be filed."