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An audit released today provides the first, high-level accounting of some of the circumstances surrounding the major fraud scheme that targeted Washington state’s unemployment benefits in the spring.

Through the EAQ, the AICPA shares resources and education to help Peer Review firms avoid the most common audit quality issues. Check out the latest resources including: COVID-19 Audit Implications, Auditing Revenue Recognition, Risk Assessment and more.

For many, the holiday season is a time to look back and reflect on the year gone by – and what a year it was! But it is also a time to look forward, plan, and consider how we can do better in the coming year. Often, this results in making resolutions for the new year, and in that spirit, let us consider five technology resolutions that you might consider adopting for 2021.

Today, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and a coalition of more than 560 organizations representing millions of employers and American workers sent Congressional leaders a letter urging passage of legislation making it clear that expenses related to a forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan are tax deductible. The letter states that without legislation, there is “…the specter or a surprise tax increase of up to 37 percent on small businesses when they file their taxes for 2020.”

Did you know that the WSCPA offers events for Enrolled Agents? The WSCPA is an IRS-approved continuing education provider.

When it comes to corporate America, Blanca Cobb is in the relationship business. It isn’t only what’s said, but also seen that can either make or break business relationships. With an eye to uncover what you miss, Blanca will help you figure out the cues to possible deception in every day interactions.

While we wait for the certification of the election at both the local and national level, here are a few key takeaways from what we here at the WSCPA are watching.

A survey by cybersecurity software provider Symantec found that three in 10 small- and medium-business owners said employees have lost a company-issued mobile device or had one stolen. Of those, more than 25 percent said the event resulted in a data breach. When it comes to your business, how are you protecting the data on your company’s mobile devices?

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, working remotely has opened new potential access points and vulnerabilities that hackers are exploiting. CPA firms are already prime targets for identity thieves, and these new vulnerabilities exacerbate the profession’s cyber-related challenges.

With clients continuing to put downward fee pressures on auditors, firms need to look for additional ways to gain efficiency on their audits. One of the easier ways to do this is to look at data analytic tools that are designed to help automate the auditor’s work or audit analytics tools.

Forty-three percent of cyber attacks worldwide targeted small businesses with less than 250 employees. Sixty percent of small companies were unable to sustain their business over six months following a cyberattack. It’s no wonder, then, that 93 percent of organizations are now using cloud services in some form and 80 percent expect their IT budget to be cloud-based within an average of 15 months. If you haven't moved to cloud services, here are reasons to make the move now.

Accounting brings with it a heavy mental workload—and even accountants who absolutely love crunching numbers eventually start to feel the strain. Automation helps reduce mental stress and decreases frustration related to deadlines. The result? Your firm has happier team members who can focus their efforts on high-value tasks and do more of what they enjoy.

Procedures historically performed by newly-licensed CPAs are being automated, offshored or performed by paraprofessionals. The CPA Evolution initiative aims to transform the CPA licensure model to recognize the rapidly changing skills and competencies the practice of accounting requires today and will require in the future.

This past year has further emphasized the importance of thinking strategically about your online presence, and it’s clear this will become even more critical in the future as digital inevitably becomes the dominant business channel. The AICPA and CPA.com have long recognized this trend and it’s the reason why we were compelled to secure .cpa, the new restricted Internet domain, on behalf of the profession.

As remote work takes hold at CPA firms and organizations, getting a grip on internal controls is essential for overcoming the security risks of an at-home workforce. Here are eleven steps to ensure your internal controls remain relevant in a remote environment.

In the last two years, 43 states have expanded their rules regarding tax “nexus”, whether a business has to collect and/or pay state taxes to a state. If you have not reviewed your filing obligations within the last two years, it is important to review them immediately. As a guide Mark Hugh presents these Frequently Awkward Questions.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy board of directors has approved updated language to the Uniform Accountancy Act (UAA) Model Rules that will pave the way for the CPA Evolution project.

Increased resources and focus will be needed to address the consequences of systemic racism and unconscious bias, writes Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, a former AICPA chairman who is executive director, Finance Thought Leadership for Oracle. She offers 12 steps for revamping or even starting inclusion initiatives.

As I sit here this evening, following the first presidential debate, my initial thought is that we have not progressed much in the last few months – the pandemic is still significantly impacting our lives and business, there continues to be social unrest, and we seem to have somehow become more divisive in politics.

Nonprofit Standards, BDO's annual benchmarking survey, now in its fourth year, is intended to help nonprofit leaders make decisions that balance both a nonprofit heart and a business mindset, and gauge their own well-being, especially in times of uncertainty.