Weinstein Spira’s blog, The Balancing Act, provides helpful information on technical accounting and CPA firm culture.
Top Categories: Culture Tax Audit Our Team Employee Benefit Plan Audits
Accounting also personally referred to me once as “the necessary evil”, has a rough reputation. Pocket protectors, ten keys, panty hose, and even maybe an abacus is what people imagine when they think of my profession. Although, not entirely inaccurate, I believe the...
Does your company have a significant number of leases? Are you required to apply accounting under Accounting Standards Codification 842, Leases (ASC 842)? If so, you may want to explore purchasing software to assist with accounting for those leases. Lease accounting...
Let's start with a sobering statistic: The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimates that organizations lose 5% of their revenue to fraud annually. What could you do if that 5% wasn’t missing? Whistleblowers Have an Impact on Detecting Fraud The ACFE...
Working on the audit side of public accounting for 10+ years, I have performed audits of countless sets of financial statements. There are various reasons that a client may need this service, ranging from fulfilling a periodic requirement in their debt agreements to...
Did you know? The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued several new auditing standards a few years ago, which are effective for the December 31, 2021 audits. Many of the standards affect what auditors do and how we document our work, so you...
This blog article highlights potential oversimplification hazards that controllers and accountants may face with their fundamental, yet superficial, knowledge of ASC 842. Read time: 3 minutes. Avoid the Risk of Not Knowing ASC 842 By this time, most accountants are...
The cash flow statement is an important part of a company’s overall financial statements. It provides a close look at the actual cash inflows and outflows for the period presented (typically one year). Simply put, it summarizes the changes in cash and cash equivalents...
Companies that offer retirement plans know how hard it is to incentivize people to take complete advantage of this benefit. The hesitancy could be due to a lack of financial education regarding the power of compound saving or the lack of sophistication regarding the...
In case you haven’t heard…a new accounting standard is coming that will affect accounting for business leases of all kinds for the calendar year ending December 31, 2022 (for privately owned businesses). In this blog post, I will focus on restaurant leases as this...
Entrepreneurs are true leaders who actively help move new technologies to market, serving a valuable role in our economy and the overall progress of our society. But for any entrepreneur to thrive in the competitive technology space, it is imperative to have a healthy...
Let’s face it, no one looks forward to the auditing process. It is much more fun to go play golf or take care of everyday business challenges, than get ready for your auditor’s visit. Often, people perceive the audit as beginning on Day 1 and, therefore, don’t focus...
It’s Business Now, But It Started Out Personal I learned about asset misappropriation at an early age—first, when learning how to count the shop’s nuts and bolts and agreeing to a count sheet for “Take Your Kid to Work Day;” and then sleuthing how the family car went...
These days, financial statements are under more scrutiny and subject to stricter regulations to meet high quality standards in the U.S. and around the world. Whether you are a private company needing to comply with your bank’s credit agreement, or a publicly held...
Introduction Hello, again, my fellow knowledge-hungry, number-crunchers! Welcome to Episode 3 of the three-part mini-series on Revenue Recognition (a.k.a. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Rev Rec). Like the late, great Stephen Hawking did with the universe,...
Welcome back, all you eager readers! I know you’ve been awaiting this like the world awaited the final season of Game of Thrones. So here it is, Episode 2 of the three-part mini-series on Revenue Recognition (a.k.a. Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Rev...
Introduction to Revenue Recognition The accounting community has been all abuzz in 2018-2019, as the new Revenue Recognition standards (officially titled, Revenue from Contracts and Customers) must finally be applied to everyone’s financial statements. Briefly...
As many of my audit and consulting clients are in the restaurant and hospitality industry, I am familiar with the various challenges they face to effectively manage inventory. Like most other industries, the goal is to have minimal capital tied up in inventory, while...
After six years of working as an auditor, surviving just as many busy auditing seasons, I have learned how to work in a whole different world that keeps me continually on the go! This experience has led to fine-tuning the contents of my audit bag, so that it holds all...
A company’s financials provide important information regarding current economic wellbeing and, if you know what to look for, can provide information on potential future success or failure. Whether you’re an auditor, a tax accountant, a company looking to acquire...
In my 23 years of auditing Employee Benefit Plans (EBPs), I have found there to be several misconceptions surrounding the EBP audit process. In this article, I would like to help clear the air in hopes of making this process more positive and productive for all...
As you may know, the new lease standard, ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on February 25, 2016, is now effective for public business entities, along with certain not-for-profit entities and employee benefit...
If you deal with Excel regularly, then you are probably searching for a quick and easy way to add immediate visual clarity to your spreadsheets. Many Excel files include large amounts of data which are not arranged or presented in any useful graphic fashion....
Frequent users of Excel are routinely looking for ways to condense an enormous volume of data into useful information. Proficiency with the pivot table feature in Excel can provide a pivotal method by which to encapsulate numbers into what you and your viewers are...
Are you tired of switching between tabs on your single Excel workbook? Want the ability to calculate backward? Fortunately, Microsoft Excel now has functions to solve these demands. In our newest addition to the Excel Hacks series, I will be showcasing the “New...