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RAY TO LEAVE PCAOBWashington, D.C. - The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's chief auditor and director of professional standards, Thomas Ray, has resigned to return to the private sector.

The transition to the Obama administration provides a unique opportunity for rethinking existing government policy, especially proposed changes left on the table by the previous administration. One place that deserves a good hard look is the Securities and Exchange Commission's pending proposal for U.S. convergence to International Financial Reporting Standards. It was certainly reassuring for us to hear that Mary Schapiro, Obama's new SEC chair, favors going slower in moving to IFRS.During her mid-January nomination hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Schapiro was asked about a range of issues. Regarding IFRS transition, Schapiro indicated that she didn't feel bound by the ambitious schedule laid out in the SEC's "Convergence Roadmap" released last November, and that she intends to proceed cautiously. This thoughtful position makes extremely good sense, as it is much more important to get this decision right than to make it quickly.

Given the current economic situation, conducting a financial planning practice isn't getting easier. With the financial uncertainty of the past several years, investors have become uncomfortable with the "business as usual" planning approach.To some extent, this is good news for planners, as it provides the opportunity to perform more in-depth planning for many clients, as well as providing clients with a more proactive approach to investing and planning. With investor goals undergoing frequent revisions, and the means to achieve those goals also increasingly unstable, clients are increasingly willing to allow you to play a more active part in monitoring their investments on an ongoing basis and suggesting changes when appropriate, not just at an annual or bi-annual planning session.

PCAOB STARTS REGISTERING BROKER/DEALER AUDITORSThe Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued guidance on the recent requirement for registration of auditors of privately held broker/dealers.

How can companies turn the Securities and Exchange Commission's XBRL mandate into an opportunity? By implementing an XBRL-enhanced document management strategy as part of their internal corporate filing workflow, which will both boost compliance and save money.Document management is based on applying the principles of structured content - documents that have been chunked into meaningful component parts and tagged in a systematic fashion. In the case of the corporate financial reporting process, the structure now being applied to financial content is XBRL, the financial XML standard that promises to transform, and perhaps revolutionize, how companies create and use their financial information to meet business objectives. With the SEC mandating the use of XBRL, now is the perfect time to take advantage of these two converging industry best practices.

DYNAMICS AX GOES GREENMicrosoft has added the Environmental Sustainability Dashboard to Microsoft Dynamics AX to help midsized businesses capture data that will allow them to measure indicators related to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions as part of their business processes. The tool will be available to Dynamics AX 2009 customers for free.

This sounds like an easy question, but it may be one of the most important decisions your firm makes as you move forward in rapidly changing times. In some firms, the name of the person will be obvious, while in other firms, people may name multiple people or simply say, "No one is really in charge of technology."Even in firms where the name is obvious, you should ask, "Do we have the right person in today's economy and rapidly changing technology?" Hopefully the answer is "Yes," but let's answer some probing questions before simply accepting the current IT leader. You should have a single person who acts as a focal point for leading IT. This does not necessarily have to be someone in the IT department. It can be a partner or other firm leader.

The tight economy means more accounting professionals pursuing fewer quality engagements. Consolidators, larger practices, telemarketers, rainmakers and others establish new footholds during tough times. These competitors squeeze firms of all sizes, forcing them to sell more effectively to survive. Without a booming economy as a propellant, accountants should base their growth on how well they can sell their services in a more competitive marketplace.If you want to be among the top 10 percent of business development specialists, you don't have to be 100 percent better in prospecting, client presentations or closing. If you become only 20 percent better in each step of a professional sales method, your opportunities to win engagements will protect your future. Small improvements can make the big difference between a winner and second place.

What's the hottest issue in the accounting profession right now?No, it's not IFRS, or fair value accounting or even the latest President Obama-driven tax legislation.

SoftwareSTILL GOING!