Double check your revised audit opinions with the AICPA Peer Review checklist

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You recall that your audit opinions will be completely revised starting with December 31, 2012 financial statements. The opinion is completely different.

I’ve discussed that here and here with sample reports.

After you draft your reports with the practice tools used by your firm, it would be wise to double-check them. What to use?

Check out Charles Hall’s article – The Clarity Project – Vetting Your Clarity Opinions with the AICPA Peer Review Checklist.

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Double check your revised audit opinions with the AICPA Peer Review checklistRead More »

Double check your revised audit opinions with the AICPA Peer Review checklist Read More »

Before you think about suing a blogger…

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….you might want to read this:

Libel in the Blogosphere: Some Preliminary Thoughts by Glenn Reynolds. It’s a free download. Only 14 pages long.

(Cross-posted from my other blog, Nonprofit Update.)

Although the paper was written in 2006, it is remarkably current.

Full disclosure time. Yes, I have a biased and vested interest in the idea of not suing bloggers. Take my comment with whatever size grain of salt you wish.

The biggest issue to consider is the pushback you may receive from the rest of the blogosphere if you even threaten a blogger.

A few minor points are that most bloggers don’t have enough of a deep pocket to make litigation worthwhile and you can probably get a near instantaneous correction with a polite request.

Back to the major issue.

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Before you think about suing a blogger…Read More »

Before you think about suing a blogger… Read More »

Don’t quite understand those LinkedIn endorsements?

2 Comments / Social media /

They haven’t quite made sense to me. Probably because of a complete lack of previous effort on my part.

Well, David Albrecht has a post that opens the door. Check out LinkedIn Endorsements and Accountants. He gives some background on the endorsement feature at LinkedIn. He thinks it is a good thing in terms of providing a basic level validation of your skill sets.

His comment: …

Don’t quite understand those LinkedIn endorsements?Read More »

Don’t quite understand those LinkedIn endorsements? Read More »

7 lousy reasons for putting documentation in your audit work papers.

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There is a lot of stuff accumulated during the audit that doesn’t belong in the workpapers. Toss it.

Charles Hall provides a list of reasons things are sometimes included in the audit file that don’t belong there: Seven Reasons for Unneeded Work Papers.

Of course the list starts with SALY. Look at the last item:

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7 lousy reasons for putting documentation in your audit work papers.Read More »

7 lousy reasons for putting documentation in your audit work papers. Read More »

To end the Too Big To Fail syndrome, require banks to have some serious amounts of capital

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That is the core point of a new book, The Bankers’ New Clothes, reviewed by John H. Cochrane in the Wall Street Journal – Running on Empty – Banks should raise more capital, carry less debt – and never need a bailout again.

Federal policy guarantees essentially all bank deposits. That creates moral hazard, which means banks can take extreme risks and depositors don’t care. The feds are on the hook for any failure, so why should bank management or depositors worry about risk levels? To mitigate risk, the regulators have thousands of pages of rules on the asset side of the balance sheet. Check this out: …

To end the Too Big To Fail syndrome, require banks to have some serious amounts of capitalRead More »

To end the Too Big To Fail syndrome, require banks to have some serious amounts of capital Read More »

Compliance with laws and regulations – new requirement for 12-31-12 audits

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Charles Hall has a good summary of the new requirement in the clarity standards on looking at your client’s compliance with laws and regs.

Check out The Clarity Project – Compliance with Laws and Regulations.

By the way, if you are in the field starting your 12-31-12 audits, you need to be implementing those new clarity rules.

Compliance with laws and regulations – new requirement for 12-31-12 audits Read More »

Check out Evernote for storing articles, ‘net resources, and lots of other stuff

1 Comment / Other stuff /

I’ve been using Evernote for about two months now. It is a great tool to store internet articles, PDF documents, and other files.

It gives you a great way to store, access, and search those interesting web articles you would like to look at again.

Charles Hall, at CPA-Scribo introduces Evernote for CPAs:

Evernote is a game-changer for CPAs.

It is every bit as useful for someone in the NPO world. Mr Hall continues: …

Check out Evernote for storing articles, ‘net resources, and lots of other stuffRead More »

Check out Evernote for storing articles, ‘net resources, and lots of other stuff Read More »

Lessons to learn *before* you get a call from a client saying they found an embezzlement fraud

Leave a Comment / Audits, Fraud /

Would this call ruin your day?

You answer the phone and your client says:

“George, we just found out our controller has stolen about $70,000 per year for the last three years. Since you guys have been doing our audit, I thought I’d call and discuss what we need to do.” The caller does not verbally say it, but he intimates, “where were you guys?” and “how are you going to resolve this?”

That’s the sobering start to Charles Hall’s post at CPA-Scribo – Fraud Stings Auditor.

He outlines three mistakes you may have made on your latest audits:

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Lessons to learn *before* you get a call from a client saying they found an embezzlement fraudRead More »

Lessons to learn *before* you get a call from a client saying they found an embezzlement fraud Read More »

Does too big to fail, too big to punish, and too big to manage mean you are too big?

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George F. Will suggests the answer to the question is “yes”: When banks get too big to fail, they are too dangerous to leave intact

One of the U.S. senators on the left end of the political spectrum thinks it is time to break up the too-big-to-fail banks.

Look at the concentration of assets in the TBTF range and the long history of TBTF: …

Does too big to fail, too big to punish, and too big to manage mean you are too big?Read More »

Does too big to fail, too big to punish, and too big to manage mean you are too big? Read More »

Refresh your audit planning and fraud assessment

Leave a Comment / Audits, Fraud /

As we roll into audit season, would be wise to revisit your audit planning and risk assessment. Gary Zeune can help you do that in his superb article, Fraud: The 15 biggest risks for 2013.

He reminds us that we really, really need to understand our clients and their overall environment. We need to look at fraud from different angles all the time.

Try these ideas to refresh your thinking:

#1 – Are there things going on in DC or issues for which nothing is happening that could devastate your client’s industry? If so, you need to pay attention to the action or lethargy in play.

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Refresh your audit planning and fraud assessmentRead More »

Refresh your audit planning and fraud assessment Read More »

“Tragedy of Fraud” e-book now available at Amazon

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits, Books you might enjoy, Compilations & reviews, Fraud /

“Tragedy of Fraud – The Ripple Effects from Fraud and the Wages Earned” describes the tragic consequences from fraud.

There are ripple effects that spread out to harm innocent bystanders.  The perpetrator draws a wide range of well-deserved wages that will be paid in full.

The book looks at two fraud incidents to learn what happens after a fraud is discovered. One took place in a local megachurch and the other in the mayor’s office of a small city.

The book closes with a discussion of the fraud triangle. That’s the idea that three components need to be present for a fraud to take place – opportunity, motivation, and rationalization. There are steps an organization can take to reduce those factors.

You can find the book at Amazon here.

This book is a compilation of blogs posts that have been previously published at Nonprofit Update and Attestation Update. The posts have been edited slightly and reorganized for easier reading.

Major sections of the book: …

“Tragedy of Fraud” e-book now available at AmazonRead More »

“Tragedy of Fraud” e-book now available at Amazon Read More »

RBS settles LIBOR manipulation case with $610M fine and one guilty plea

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Royal Bank of Scotland will pay $610M in fines. Their subsidiary in Japan will plead guilty to one criminal count of fraud in the U.S.

This parallels the settlement UBS reached, which I discussed earlier – UBS settles LIBOR manipulation claims for $1.5B and one guilty plea.

Summary findings from CFTC press release PR6510-13: …

RBS settles LIBOR manipulation case with $610M fine and one guilty pleaRead More »

RBS settles LIBOR manipulation case with $610M fine and one guilty plea Read More »