News

Outsourcing is a hot topic right now for the profession as CPA firms struggle with staffing constraints. Current challenges associated with firms attracting and retaining talent are expansive and include issues such as staffing qualified professionals for complex engagements, employee burnout, unrealistic and “heavy” workloads, as well as limitations on the ability to maintain and foster high-touch client relationships.

Job interviews have long been an essential part of the hiring process. But now, some public accounting firms are turning the lens on themselves. They're conducting "stay" or "retention" interviews with existing employees. The goal is to understand how they can be a more attractive workplace and reduce employee turnover — a top issue for many public accounting firms.

Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. These three words—and the efforts required to realize them—have become increasingly important as demographic and social shifts transform our country. In turn, the actions organizations take across these fronts are coming under more scrutiny than ever before as employees, consumers, and investors increasingly aim to align their individual values with those of the organizations they choose to work for, do business with, and support.

When CTCPA member Destiny Hartmann says that the organization has changed her career trajectory, she’s not exaggerating. As a junior at Eastern Connecticut State University, Destiny volunteered to contact local CPA firms to try to get firms to come to the Eastern career fairs and talk with students.

By Timothy P. Hedley, PhD, CPA, CFF, CFE, Executive in Residence – Fordham University, CTCPA Chair-elect, and ESG Committee Chair

By Jim Norton, CPA, Principal – GRF CPAs & Advisors and CTCPA Advisory Council Chair

By CTCPA Chair Michael Maksymiw Jr., CPA, Aprio Firm Foundation

A U.S. accounting firm is not prohibited by a White House executive order regarding U.S. sanctions against Russia from providing tax advisory and preparation services to the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian company in certain scenarios, according to guidance issued Thursday by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig updated members of the Senate Finance Committee Thursday on the Service's performance in the soon-to-be-concluded tax filing season, as well as longer-term assessments of its efforts to modernize its operations, fill staffing gaps, and improve taxpayer service and enforcement.

By Jim Norton, CPA, GRF CPAs & Advisors Budgeting. Planning. Budgeting and planning. Financial planning and analysis. FP&A. Projections. Models. Forecasts. Pro formas. These are just a handful of terms that are often used interchangeably when talking about the process of analyzing an organization’s financial position. The buzz phrase that seems to resonate most with people lately is financial planning and analysis, or FP&A.

Meet Joel Black, Chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and Richard Jones, Chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

It's tempting to look for automation opportunities and jump right in. And while this strategy can deliver some quick wins, your firm will see better results if you create a process for innovation and a process around automation.

Change management is a buzzword we’ve heard a lot during the technological revolution. We all probably have our own idea about what it means – and the feelings it elicits.

America is changing. According to the 2020 Census, the proportion of the population identifying as white alone has fallen below 60%. The future of our workforce will be more racially and ethnically diverse. This demographic shift coincides with greater consciousness around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) and extends to women and persons of other underrepresented demographic groups.

The bill requires CPAs to keep work product and workpaper related to work for a client for at least seven years after creation unless the law requires a longer retention. Current law only specifies that CPAs must retain workpaper as required by law.

Deciding on the best audit approach isn’t a cookie-cutter process. While a long-standing relationship with a client or in-depth industry knowledge can give auditors a leg up, defining an effective audit approach requires careful consideration and planning for every engagement.

Meet Alan Skelton, Director of Research and Technical Activities for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and Hillary Salo, Director of Technical Activities and Chair of the Emerging Issues Task Force for the Financial Accounting Standards Board.