Recruiting

Barry Melancon, president and chief executive of the American Institute of CPAs, opened his annual remarks regarding the state of the profession at the Fall Meeting of Council and Members by addressing the current economic crisis and the controversy around fair value accounting.

“As the financial crisis on Wall Street unfolds with intense media coverage, we are losing sight of another crisis: more than a million families across the United States will face foreclosure in the next six months as the last of the subprime mortgages contracted in 2006 and early 2007 reset. Accelerating job losses and low wages aggravate the lives of tens of millions of families. In the rush to focus on Wall Street, these are the families whose lives must not be forgotten.”

What do you do when your team lacks accountability? In a prior article (Accounting Today, Aug. 18-Sept. 7, 2008), we explored how integrity and ownership affect accountability and how managing your personal integrity and identifying clear ownership for all things in your organization will enable you to develop a more productive, highly functioning team.

Two recent reports suggest that the movement to register tax return preparers will continue.

Sixty accounting firms have been honored as the Best Accounting Firms to Work For by Accounting Today.

An 83 percent majority of CFOs favor separating the roles of CEO and chairman, according to a survey by Grant Thornton.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has proposed a $150 billion Emergency Stabilization Fund to help small businesses, universities, students and municipalities cope with the credit crisis, with the money coming from the $700 billion financial bailout package.

Leadership style -- Personal mantra -- Biggest mistake women make when starting out -- Best management tip -- Best advice they've ever receivedLISA CINES

LISA CINES, CPA

Krista McMasters hasn't celebrated her new executive position at regional CPA and business advisory firm Clifton Gunderson just yet.

The Internal Revenue Service said it would send compliance questionnaires to about 400 colleges and universities asking about their unrelated business income, endowments and executive compensation practices.

As evidence of weakness in the overall labor market, jobs in the private sector fell by 8,000 over September with medium and large businesses especially hard hit — reporting losses of 30,000 and 6,000, respectively.

Barry Salzberg became CEO of Deloitte LLP in June of last year after serving four years as U.S. managing partner and has steered the firm toward increased revenues, better education, green consulting and even an employee video festival.

The Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession has approved and adopted a final report with recommendations on how to improve the sustainability of the profession, but not without some dissension.

Neil Romano detests the word "accommodation" when it refers to people with disabilities.

KPMG plans to host a 48-hour worldwide recruiting fair over the Internet next week.

Comparatively few universities will be educating students in international accounting standards this academic year, despite plans by the Securities and Exchange Commission to impose the new standards on U.S. companies.

Chief financial officers plan to hire more accounting and finance employees in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a newly released survey.

There might be a new, ready supply of seasoned CPAs for the busiest time of year. Staffing is still a problem for many firms, and it is particularly felt during the tax prep season when many accountants have to work extra hours because firms often aren’t able or can’t afford to hire additional full-time staff. The results of a recent Charles Schwab and Age Wave study, entitled ”Rethinking Retirement,” point to a possible solution. Surprisingly, 71 percent of the pre-retirees surveyed want to work in retirement. Even more fascinating is that 40 percent want to cycle back and forth between periods of work and leisure. In the write-up to the study, there is the observation that this is “a new style of work with which most employer policies are unaligned.” These numbers indicates there will be a ready supply of seasoned retired CPAs, which can supplement a firm during its busiest times, say February to April 15th, and maybe a month before tax return extensions are due. Firms benefit, as they only have to pay for these individuals when they are needed, they are employing experts at tax preparation, and those individuals are used to working during the pressured tax season. The retirees are happy because they are working on a limited basis, and, rather than working part-time, they have the desirable cycle of back and forth between periods of work and leisure. And with remote access, firms can tap into retired CPAs all across the country. Initially, firms will be using retirees from their firms, but I would expect that would extend quickly to other retired CPAs, and the AICPA and state CPA societies will help by publicizing best practices with regard to cycling back and forth. And like bike riding, which might have been difficult to learn but natural when mastered, this type of cycling will become another readily available staffing solution for firms.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy is looking into administering the Uniform CPA Examination outside the U.S.