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| Brought to you by the Maryland Association of CPAs |
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| | | | Podcast: The future of finance | | Finance executives throughout the country have been working together over the past couple of years to draft a blueprint for the future of the profession. Challenges and opportunities about. The AICPA’s Tom Hood takes a closer look at their work in this week’s episode of our “Future-Proof” podcast. (From the MACPA) |
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| | | NASBA extends CPA Exam window to 30 months | | The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy is giving CPA candidates up to two and a half years to complete the CPA exam after passing the first section of the test without losing credit, but individual state boards will still need to agree to the change. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | | ChatGPT bombs accounting class | | After conquering the Wharton MBA, the bar exam, 13 of 15 AP courses and the GRE verbal test, ChatGPT finally met its Waterloo in the form of an accounting class. The AI chatbot did not merely do poorly either — with a score of 47.4%, it utterly bombed, not even getting a D grade. These results came from a recent study from Brigham Young University. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | | | Economic confidence improves for accountants | | Finance professionals felt a little more upbeat about the world economy in the first quarter of the year, according to a survey from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | Study: Hiring slows, signaling recession risk | | Capital spending plans fell during the first quarter and hiring slumped to a level that usually coincides with recession, the National Association for Business Economics said Monday. (From CFO Dive) |
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| | Retailers’ ‘borderline misleading’ accounting targeted by SEC | | Attention, public companies that tout overly rosy earnings numbers that don’t comply with U.S. accounting rules: Watch out. The Securities and Exchange Commission is blitzing businesses with questions about alternative accounting measures and asking them to justify their use. (From Bloomberg Law) |
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| | Recession already here for many Americans | | The stock market may be closely watching the chance of an official economic recession, but many Americans across the country are already feeling the squeeze as they contend with higher prices and borrowing costs than they saw a year ago. (From The Hill) |
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| | Maryland General Assembly |
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| | | Maryland passes sweeping changes to employment law | | Maryland legislators ended their 2023 session with three significant bills headed to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk. First, Senate Bill 828 brings sweeping changes to the Time to Care Act, Maryland’s version of paid family leave. Second, Maryland’s minimum wage will increase to $15 sooner than employers anticipated, and third, the salary threshold under Maryland’s ban on noncompete agreements will increase, providing greater protections for low-wage workers. (From SHRM) |
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| | Lierman hopeful about modernizing comptroller’s office | | Wednesday marks the 100th day since Brooke Lierman was sworn in as Maryland’s 34th comptroller. The first woman to hold the position in its 172-year history, Lierman is still putting her mark on the office. (From Maryland Matters) |
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| | | | IRS made $1.2 million in unauthorized tech purchases | | The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found approximately $1.2 million worth of information technology purchases at the IRS occurred without the proper approval and authorization of management, as required. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | Werfel: IRS will audit individuals under $400K at 2018 rates | | The IRS will use audit rates from 2018 to determine what percentage of individual taxpayers reporting income under $400,000 a year will be audited, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. (From the Journal of Accountancy) |
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| | AICPA wants IRS guidance on crypto losses | | The American Institute of CPAs is asking the Internal Revenue Service to offer more guidance on how to help taxpayers compute their losses on digital assets such as cryptocurrency. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | Will the house win? Approaches vary to taxes on sports betting | | State treasuries are attempting to stack the deck in their favor in order to remain in the black by levying taxes against the entities that operate retail and mobile sports betting businesses. Although states are taking a wide array of approaches to capturing this surge in gambling revenues, it appears that, just like the house, eventually state taxation regimes always win. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | IRS tweaks crypto guidance for Bitcoin | | The Internal Revenue Service has slightly revised its 2014 guidance on the treatment of virtual currency to reflect the fact that some countries now accept Bitcoin as legal tender. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | | | | 5 critical ways the CFO role is evolving | | Today’s CFO must not be just a consumer of technology and enterprise applications but rather have a deep understanding of how digital products and services are driving competitive advantage and user engagement. (From Financial Executives International) |
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| | PCAOB flags widespread weaknesses in audits of SPACs | | The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board flagged widespread weaknesses in audits of special purpose acquisition companies, including flaws in estimating the fair value of warrants and failures in evaluating departures from generally accepted accounting principles. (From CFO Dive) |
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| | Watchdog calls out SBA over collection plans for PPP loans | | The Small Business Administration’s inspector general believes the agency can do a lot more to recover money on delinquent Paycheck Protection Program loans — and said it will send the wrong message if the SBA doesn’t take those steps. (From the Baltimore Business Journal) |
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| | | | PCAOB stresses need for more auditor skepticism | | The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board staff issued a report Tuesday emphasizing the importance of casting a more critical eye when auditing a company’s financial statements. (From Accounting Today) |
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| | | Four philosophies for managing a CPA firm | | When we discuss how CPA firms are managed, there are two kinds of firms. The first kind of firm argues that there is not much that needs to be managed at a CPA firm. The second kind of firm understands that CPA firms are just like other businesses. (From CPA Trendlines) |
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| | | | Forensic Valuation Conference | | Insights into Business Valuation, Forensic Accounting, and Litigation Support. |
| MACPA has designed the Forensic Valuation Conference specifically to serve the critical niche of CPAs involved or interested in these sectors. This year’s topics include: |
| • | Reasonable Compensation Using IRS Job Aid |
| • | Data Analytics |
| • | Market Approach |
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| Jim Hitchner will be our keynote speaker! This will be a great event! |
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| | | Accounting Educators Symposium | | The modern world doesn’t work without CPAs, and there are no CPAs without accounting educators. This conference is designed for you. The Accounting Educators Symposium is an annual event that connects you with other educators, updates you on accounting industry trends, and equips you to help your students succeed. It’s about giving you the knowledge you need to better help your students succeed. |
| Topics to be covered: MACPA Update, State Board Update, Changes to the CPA exam, Insights into the Pipeline of Accounting Students, ESG, and Ethics. We will also have a panel of recent graduates. |
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| | | Employee Benefit Plan Audit Conference | | Employee Benefit Plans are important to the hiring and retention of employees for any business. However, there are many aspects of plan operations that if not properly administered by plan sponsors can lead to errors and possible loss of exempt status. The Employee Benefit Plan Audit Conference equips CPAs who audit these Employee Benefit Plans with guidance on planning and performing more efficient and effective audits in accordance with the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide and Department of Labor audit requirements. |
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| | Diversity, equity, inclusion |
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| | | Companies are losing momentum on DEI | | Nearly three years after many companies across the nation made bold pledges to support diversity, equity and inclusion, new data shows many of those efforts are losing steam — and the trend is having some significant consequences. (From the Baltimore Business Journal) |
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| | | | What does an MSP do, anyway? | | What if your system goes down due to a power outage? What if you can’t access certain files, and daily operations comes to a complete halt? How long will it take for your business to be up and running again? In any business, especially CPA firms, it is imperative that you have a plan in place and have literally prepared for anything. That is where a Managed Service Provider, or MSP, comes into play. This article takes a closer look. (From DTC) |
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| | | Risk update: AICPA firms’ 5 hot risk topics | | Watch this three-minute video for a quick recap of the five hot risk topics on the minds of today’s AICPA firms — and takeaway resources available to help address them. Hosts Lisa Simpson and Amy Massaro review AICPA firms’ top-of-mind risks, and they point to articles and resources on the AICPA’s Policyholder Education and Resource Center to help mitigate these exposures. (From Aon) |
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| | | | May 10 webinar: Launch higher revenue advisory services | | Discover six essential steps to starting a successful financial planning & analysis practice. In this May 10 webinar, a panel of experienced leaders will share insights and practical tips that can help you expand your services and explore new avenues for growth. (From CPA.com) |
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| | | May 17 workshop: Expand your CAS service line | | Top-performing CAS practices have reported offering financial planning and analysis (FP&A) services and consider them a high-growth advisory service area. Join this May 17 workshop to learn the critical components required to extend your service offering to the virtual CFO level. (From CPA.com) |
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| | | How CAS firms can succeed with non-profits | | Sixty percent of the top 100 firms report increased demand for client advisory services from non-profit clients. This need has positioned firms to grow their CAS services into more valuable advisory-level relationships. Download this resource to uncover practical insights from leaders in the field specializing in CAS for non-profits. (From CPA.com) |
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| | | Top drivers of transformative organizations | | Cloud computing, data analytics and A.I. are ushering in exciting new opportunities to reimagine what’s possible, but the pace of innovation can also be daunting for many organizations. A full-scale transformation is required to evolve, innovate and grow. Here are four ways leaders across the profession are harnessing emerging technologies to stay ahead of disruption. (From CPA.com) |
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| | | Taking automated AP services past that first client | | In today’s times, for businesses that are trying to pivot quickly, every step toward real-time data and managing cash flow has the potential to make or break their success. Take a step in the right direction by downloading this e-book. Learn more about the value added to clients when AP is automated; how to create a bill pay offering for your clients (and your firm); and how to break the bonds of hourly billing through automation. (From BILL) |
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| | | Business development and marketing your firm | | Download this e-book to take a deep dive into thought leader insights on mastering business development—providing detail on the customer journey, prospecting strategies, and mastering the business development conversation. The book includes seven stages of the client journey and why each touch point is critical to reach your growth goals; five proven strategies to accelerate movement in the area of business development; key action items for change; and more. (From BILL) |
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| | | AccounTrends: A podcast from Intuit Accountants | | Tune in to AccounTrends, Intuit Accountants’ dynamic podcast for tax and accounting professionals hosted by Intuit’s Jasen Stine. Updated every two weeks, we will bring you insights and advice from the accounting industry’s top experts and thought leaders. AccounTrends is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Subscribe today! (From Intuit) |
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