Recent Issues of the Short Form e-Newsletter

The Short Form e-newsletter of the WSCPA is delivered to members on a weekly basis.  The Short Form is customized to each recipient's segment and profile and offers news, chapter event information, education opportunities and announcements relevant to members of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants. If you are a member and do not receive the Short Form, please update your profile here (under Communications Preferences, Short Form, select Yes).

Articles from Recent Short Form e-newsletters Including Last Week, June 6, 2013:

IASB: 3 Steps to More Relevant Disclosures (June 6, 2013)
Accounting bodies and regulators across the globe are wrestling with the task of how to improve the usefulness and clarity of disclosures in financial statements. Following a public forum on the topic, the IASB has decided to facilitate more relevant disclosures with three main courses of action.

FASB to Consider Business Combination Concerns (June 6, 2013)
FASB has promised to give consideration to various stakeholder concerns that arose during a recent post-implementation review (PIR) of its business combinations standard.

How CPAs Can Protect Baby Boomers' Nest Eggs from Derailers (June 6, 2013)
Unexpected life or economic events can cause damage to the retirement savings of baby boomers in America. But there are strategies CPAs can implement to stop the bleeding.

10 Skills for Mapping Your Journey to Partnership (May 30, 2013)
Do you have firm partnership in your sights? If so, there are steps CPAs can take to strengthen their skills, expand their knowledge and develop personal characteristics that can bring them closer to achieving that goal.

Hitting The Intergenerational Sweet Spot (May 30, 2013)
The stereotype Millennials get tagged with goes like this: they are a generation of smartphone addicts who live for feedback and praise, lack appropriate deference, feel entitled to rapid advancement but are unwilling to "pay their dues," prioritize personal life and work-life balance over employers' needs, and think they should be able to work wherever, whenever, and however they want. Although this portrait drives a robust market for multigenerational workforce training, it misconstrues the qualities of employees born in the last two decades of the 20th century  while over-hyping the differences between them and older employees.

AICPA Backs DATA Act (May 30, 2013)
The American Institute of CPAs has expressed its support for the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, which would establish government-wide financial data standards for federal funds.

Hiring Outlook Looks Promising for Accounting Grads (May 30, 2013)
While overall employer expectations for hiring college graduates this fall are likely to remain relatively flat, more than half of companies report they'll be pursuing graduates who majored in accounting, according to a recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Change in Definition of Attest Clears Hurdle (May 23, 2013)
The AICPA governing Council on Sunday approved a resolution to change the definition of attesta key step in an effort to promote the quality of services for both clients and the greater public.

COSO Releases Updated Internal Control Framework (May 23, 2013)
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has released Internal ControlIntegrated Framework 2013. The update incorporates two decades of experience from organizations in applying the original 1992 Framework. To achieve this, COSO sought extensive input from the business community.

Changing Standards for Leases: What Lessees Need to Know (May 23, 2013)
Off-balance-sheet reporting is one of the most attractive features of operating leases. This treatment and associated bright-line criteria, however, are the source of much criticism. In response, recent FASB and International Accounting Standards Board decisions indicate these structures will likely be brought onto the books of lessees, consistent with the right-of-use (ROU) model.