April 2000 - Journal of Accountancy

   PERSONAL FINANCIAL PLANNING Redesigning the budgeting function? Avoid built-in risks. The Planning Peril BY LAWRENCE B. MacGREGOR SERVEN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A REDESIGN OF YOUR organization’s planning and budgeting process is a risky business—for you and your company. Reasons: If the redesign lacks support and fails to deliver, the finger

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE DECISION OF HOW TO INVEST IRA ASSETS is complicated because the law does not allow taxpayers to hold certain investments in an IRA. CPAs will find little formal guidance on IRA investments from the IRS or the Department of Labor. IRA INVESTMENT GUIDELINES GENERALLY ARE limited to

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WORKPLACE TECHNOLOGY has entered a new era. What started as a handy (but still optional) business tool in the 1980s evolved into a high-priority requirement in the 1990s. But now technology is much more than a business priority: It’s become a prerequisite. MOST WHITE-COLLAR workers lack the skills

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MOST CPA FIRMS HAVE STATIC WEB SITES with fixed content. Practitioners can not easily change this data without prior knowledge of a Web programming language, such as html. DATABASE-DRIVEN WEB SITES allow practitioners to change Web content without knowing a Web programming language, thus saving CPAs the cost

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IF YOU WANT TO distribute financial reports throughout your organization electronically rather than on paper, give the reports a drill-down capability and not have to use e-mail technology, there’s a simple way that uses only your existing hardware and software. THE PROCESS APPLIES the hyperlink function of Microsoft

Exhibit 3: Exposure Draft vs. Assembly Service In 1995 ARSC issued an exposure draft, Assembly of Financial Statements for Internal Use Only. This chart compares that proposal with the new ED. Concept 1999 Proposal 1995 Proposal Relationship to SSARS no. 1 Replaces SSARS no. 1 by providing for two types

Exhibit 2: Compilation of Financial Statements Not Intended for Third-Party Use Illustrative Engagement Letter or Letter to Management [ Appropriate Salutation ] This letter is to confirm our understanding of the terms and objectives of our engagement and the nature and limitations of the services we will provide. 1. We

Exhibit 1: Compilation of Financial Statements Under the New ED 1 Submission of financial statements: Presenting to a client or third parties financial statements that the accountant has generated either manually or through the use of computer software. 2 Compilation of financial statements: Presenting in the form of financial statements

   AUDITING Proposed revisions to SSARS no. 1 make some bold changes. A New Approach to COMPILATIONS BY DIANE S. CONANT AND J. RUSSELL MADRAY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AICPA ACCOUNTING AND REVIEW SERVICES committee issued a proposed revision of SSARS no. 1, Compilation and Review of Financial Statements, in December