As a trusted adviser, a CPA is often the first resource clients turn to for many financial issues. While often these questions are in the context of a service the CPA may already be engaged to provide (tax compliance, estate planning, etc.), it is not uncommon to receive other requests that seem simple but can carry unique challenges. To read the full article in The Tax Adviser, click: Third-Party Verificat ...

Blockchain is forecast to transform many industries by providing fast, verifiable transfer and tracking. At its core, blockchain is a distributed ledger that records transactions between every user in the chain. Although it’s commonly regarded as a single technology, there are different types of blockchain: public and private. To read the full article in In The Black, click: What’s the Difference Between a ...

CPA candidates in Europe will no longer have to undertake intercontinental travel to sit for the CPA Exam. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Launch of CPA Exam in Europe Provides Convenience for Candidates. ...

A newly released international auditing standard for auditing accounting estimates and related disclosures is designed to help auditors keep pace with changes in accounting standards for loan provisions and insurance contracts. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: International Audit Standard Addresses Estimates. ...

As public company auditors prepare to deliver new information in auditors’ reports, firms need to develop consistent processes for determining what should be disclosed. As auditors prepare for a new auditing standard requiring the disclosure of critical audit matters (CAMs) in their reports, they are traveling in uncharted territory and contemplating new information that they will be providing to investors. ...

Hermann Sidhu, CPA, global assurance digital leader at EY, walks us through EY’s exciting new project to use drones to help audit large warehouses and outdoor inventories. The goal of the project is for drones to autonomously scan bar codes, QR codes, and other labels and transmit that data to EY’s online auditing platform. It has the potential to make audits faster and more seamless for both auditors and c ...

Our firm bills clients in six-minute increments, so I've started tracking my beginning and ending time for each job in Excel. Is it possible to round my time calculations to the nearest six-minute increment (a 10th of an hour) in Excel? To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Microsoft Office: Rounding Time in Excel. ...

What is the best choice when faced with an array of choices for finding specific data in a financial model? Consider this vector analysis. Conspicuous by its absence, LOOKUP may seem a less versatile function upon first glance, but it is quite useful for modelling. To read the full article in Financial Management, click: Things Are Looking Up With This Excel Function. ...

Can you recommend a file-naming strategy that would make files easier to find on my computer—not just for me, but for others in my office in case I get hit by a bus? To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Microsoft Windows: How to Best Name and Search for Files. ...

The Big Four firm announced that it will drop the final interview stage of its student recruitment process and replace it with an assessment event. To read the full article in Economia, click: EY to Scrap Final One-to-One Interviews. ...

Business travelers who incur expenses while traveling away from home have new per-diem rates to use in substantiating certain of those expenses. The new rates are in effect from Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2019. The IRS provided the 2018–2019 special per-diem rates, including the transportation industry meal and incidental expenses rates, the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction, and the rates and ...

The IRS issued guidance clarifying that taxpayers may generally continue to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business, despite changes to the meal and entertainment expense deduction made by the tax law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. According to the IRS, the amendments specifically deny deductions for expenses for entertainment, amusement, or recrea ...

The IRS proposed new rules under the global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) provision (Sec. 951A) added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Sec. 951A requires U.S. shareholders of controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) to include in their gross income their GILTI income for that tax year (the inclusion amount). The new provision applies to tax years of foreign corporations beginning after Dec. 31, 2017, and t ...

One of my favorite mantras for support advisors is this, “Details are your responsibility.” In the financial planning field, great plans live and die in the finer points. But, most practices just don't have the time and resources to check complex calculations. That’s where you come in. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: New to Planning? How to Add Value at Your Firm. ...

I’ll get this assignment started as soon as I’ve checked Facebook. And Instagram. And Gmail. Oh, is it time for lunch already? Sound familiar? Most people arrive at work with good intentions, planning to be productive, collaborative, and successful, according to Greg Dewald, chief executive of Bright!Tax. “In the internet age, though, this can actually be a big challenge, as we are constantly bombarded with ...

Public company auditors remain the group investors trust most to protect their interests, but investors’ confidence in U.S. capital markets and U.S. public companies has dropped in the past year, according to a Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) survey report released Tuesday. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Investors Trust Auditors, But Confidence in U.S. Markets Drops. ...

Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal earlier this year. European businesses that pull out of Iran because of U.S. sanctions may end up being sued by EU states. A European Commission spokeswoman told reporters in Brussels that EU firms are banned from following U.S. demands to cut business ties with Iran, unless specifically authorized to do so. To read the full article ...

Philip McNeill looks at five key aspect to consider before moving to the cloud. The main points to consider are: a cyber attack on cloud services is a top risk in 2018; ensure extensive due diligence before joining the cloud; taking care of the obvious, like password security, can help protect against a cyber attack. To read the full article in ICAS, click: Cloud Security: Five Key Considerations. ...

The proposed rules include a way that taxpayers can group or aggregate separate trades or businesses and an anti-abuse rule designed to prevent taxpayers from separating out parts of an otherwise disqualified business in an attempt to qualify those separated parts for the Sec. 199A deduction. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Qualified Business Income Deduction Regulations Propo ...

Clients will be better paying off their mortgage before the retirement date to get rid of the feeling of having a debt burden. Carrying no mortgage debt into retirement will also give clients guaranteed return and greater flexibility in their budget. And about that tax deduction, it is not enough of a reason to keep a mortgage. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Yes, Clients Should Pay Of ...