SSARS 19 Compilation reports for NPOs

5 Comments / Compilations & reviews /

Compilation reports will change starting December 31, 2010.  Some sample reports follow.

Update – SSARS 19 had been replaced by SSARS 21. All the reports have been revised. See:

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SSARS 19 Compilation reports for NPOs Read More »

10 leading causes of death in 1850 and 2000

Leave a Comment / Economics, Pondering /

Fascinating display at the Reuben Fleet Science Museum in San Diego listing the top 10 causes of death in 1850, 1900, and 2000 caught my interest while on vacation.  Focus of their discussion is on the change over time, particularly the change from infectious disease to other causes.  Look at this list …

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10 leading causes of death in 1850 and 2000 Read More »

Revenue Recognition exposure draft – Topic 605

1 Comment / Accounting /

FASB has an exposure draft out on revenue recognition.  This post is a ‘heads up’, not an overall summary.  This will be a fairly substantive rule, so if you haven’t heard about it, might be good to take a look.  The document has a great summary on the first five pages of the introduction. …

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Revenue Recognition exposure draft – Topic 605 Read More »

Three implications of the seven-year document retention for CPAs

Leave a Comment / Audits, Peer Review /

What are some of the implications of California CPA’s having to retain their workpapers for seven years after the report date (section 5097)?  Accessibility, lockdown, and offsite backup seem to be three issues that make it more difficult that just keeping the files on your server for a long time. …

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Three implications of the seven-year document retention for CPAs Read More »

Visual description of the difference between audits, reviews, and compilations

1 Comment / Audits, Compilations & reviews /

Here is a visual picture that illustrates the different comfort levels someone can draw from financial statements that have been audited, reviewed, or compiled by a CPA. 

Here is a picture of assurance levels from reports issues by CPAs.

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Visual description of the difference between audits, reviews, and compilations Read More »

What comfort level is there from an audit, review or compilation report?

1 Comment / Audits, Compilations & reviews /

This is an explanation of the visual picture I drew in the previous post.  I will try to explain the differences between audits, reviews, and compilations with a minimal amount of the technical words we CPAs usually bring to an issue.  …

What comfort level is there from an audit, review or compilation report?Read More »

What comfort level is there from an audit, review or compilation report? Read More »

We live in an age of overwhelming complexity. Will you choose to adapt?

Leave a Comment / Pondering /

We live in an age of overwhelming complexity.  Things will not get simpler, the change will only accelerate.

Do I really need to explain that the complexity of everything is overwhelming?  Consider merely the new 990, increasing regulation of every area of running a ministry or business, and the exponential growth of fantastic technology tools.

We need to decide whether we are going to adapt or not.  It is actually possible to opt out of the growing complexity.  Consider the cost though.  If our ministries do not adapt they may die.  More likely they will shrivel, then shrink into irrelevance.  At a personal level, we need to adapt or get left behind.

I choose to adapt.  I may be struggling and bumbling in my efforts, but I will move forward.  How about you?

We live in an age of overwhelming complexity. Will you choose to adapt? Read More »

Financial statements should not refer to FASB documents

Leave a Comment / Accounting, Audits, Compilations & reviews /

Just a reminder that financial statements should not be referring to FASB documents or other accounting literature, such as FIN 48, FAS 157, FAS 13, FSP 117-1 or any of those other things we know by heart.  FASB Statement #168 established the Accounting Standards Codification to replace all the accounting literature then in effect. …

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Financial statements should not refer to FASB documents Read More »

Major changes to Review and Compilation Reports from SSARS 19

Leave a Comment / Compilations & reviews /

Remember that SSARS 19 makes a lot of changes to the review and compilation procedures.  In terms of the reports, the entire report is changing – the wording is completely different.

Update – SSARS 19 had been replaced by SSARS 21. All the reports have been revised. See:

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Major changes to Review and Compilation Reports from SSARS 19Read More »

Major changes to Review and Compilation Reports from SSARS 19 Read More »

Watch your Facebook settings, if you don’t want to tell everything to the world

Leave a Comment / Social media /

If you want everything you say on Facebook to be visible to the world, that is okay.  If you want to set limits on who can see how much, then you need to modify your privacy settings.  Best explanation I have seen on how to manage your privacy is found in this article from the Christian Computing Magazine.  Took me a while to wander through the settings and instructions at Facebook to learn what is covered here in just a few pages.

By the way, the magazine is free.  You can read it online or get email delivery.  Check it out. Sign up for a free subscription.

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Expanded 1099 reporting starts in 2012

Leave a Comment / Other stuff /

SEE this post for Update!  

Reporting requirements for 1099s will soon expand dramatically.  From the Journal of Accountancy: “(b)eginning Jan. 1, 2012, virtually all payments by a trade or business aggregating $600 or more to any single vendor during any calendar year will have to be reported at the end of each calendar year to the vendor and to the IRS on Form 1099. Vendors include almost anyone a trade or business pays in the course of doing business, other than its employees whose compensation is already reported on Forms W-2.” – the full article is available online. …

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Expanded 1099 reporting starts in 2012 Read More »

Revised accounting for leases – proposed changes to Topic 840

Leave a Comment / Accounting /

FASB has proposed massive changes to lease accounting.  Essentially, all leases with a term over 12 months will be recorded as an asset with an offsetting liability for the lease payments.

This is a casual summary (well, as casual as I can get when discussing accounting).  A separate post goes into more technical details.

A very rough analogy is that all leases in the future will be treated in somewhat the same way as a capital lease is handled today.  …

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Revised accounting for leases – proposed changes to Topic 840 Read More »