The Beef Between the AICPA and Minnesota Over the 150 Hour Rule Heats Up
I’m dating myself here but do you remember the East Coast/West Coast rap beef of the 90s? That’s sort of what’s happening in the profession right now over proposed legislation in Minnesota that offers an alternative to the traditional 150 units of education required for licensure. Except in the case of 90s rapper beefs, Tupac […]
Unable to Bill For It (Yet), PwC Australia Tells Staff They Can’t Use ChatGPT For Client Work
Hate to be the burster of bubbles for anyone out there excited to unload your work on ChatGPT but PwC Australia has told its people that for now, playing around with AI should happen strictly off the clock. Australian Financial Review reports that in this morning’s internal newsletter, PwCers were told not to feed client […]
Big Clients Bitch to Big 4 Firms About Audit Fees, Get Pissy About Partner Pay
Across the pond, audit fees are up (22% in four years) and apparently the companies paying these fees are unhappy about it. Financial Times has seen a letter written from CFOs at FTSE 100 companies in the UK to their Big 4 auditors that says “[it is] difficult for us to sit quietly as Big […]
Angry CPA Exam Candidates Blew Up Barry Melancon’s Email All Weekend, Here’s Why
Scrolling Reddit this weekend I noticed several posts from r/CPA littered throughout my feed among the food porn, cats, and reality TV gossip, something about some score release debacle with strong hints of outrage. What the hell happened? Whatever it was, they were pissed. Oh my. Apparently up until this weekend the official AICPA score […]
The AICPA Has Written a Strongly-Worded Letter to the Treasury Department on Remote Work (UPDATE)
If you thought the AICPA’s only job is gatekeeping the CPA exam and selling you insurance offers you are WRONG. They also write strongly-worded letters, sometimes on behalf of our nation’s CPAs or, as in the case of this latest letter, on behalf of American taxpayers. Let’s see what they’ve been up to. From the […]
How Exactly Did EY Auditors Cheat on CPE Exams? Details From the SEC Order
With the EY cheating scandal making headlines even outside of our precious little accountosphere we decided to take a look at the full SEC order to answer the question — how and why were EY auditors cheating on CPE exams? This post will be long so we’ll get deeper into the CPA ethics portion of […]
The Economy’s So Bad the IRS Got Bullied Into Upping the Mileage Rate Midyear
As most of you have heard by now, the IRS is increasing the standard mileage rate by four whole cents as of July 1. Via Journal of Accountancy: While the IRS usually sets the optional standard mileage rates for computing deductible costs of operating an automobile only at the beginning of each calendar year, Thursday’s […]
AICPA to Senators: Don’t Even Think About Touching Cash-Basis Accounting
Maybe you've noticed, but there are a few things that grind the AICPA's gears: 1. Questioning the integrity of CPAs in a YouTube video, on the radio or anywhere for that matter. 2. Management accounting credentials that are not the CGMA. 3. Nationally syndicated columnists suggesting that anyone is more qualified than a CPA to […]
Friendly Reminder: Stop Talking About CPA Exam Specifics on the Internet
So, imagine my joy and pleasure when I received the following email from the AICPA this morning: Dear Ms. Gonzalez, In order to ensure that exam content is kept secure and to maintain the integrity of the CPA Exam, we regularly take a look at what candidates are saying on social media and in web […]
AICPA to EEOC: Classifying Partners as Employees Might Cause Full Destruction of Capital Markets
I could summarize the press release we just got on this but I think it's better if I quote the AICPA directly: In a letter to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the AICPA asked commissioners to reject staff appeals to investigate and litigate against accounting firms regarding partner retirement provisions, saying the classification of […]
Some Europeans Told the European Commission to Fire PwC Over Conflict of Interest
Over in Europe, PwC has won a €395,000 contract to come up with a report on the impact of country-by-country reporting, which basically forces multinationals to break out reporting by country versus "Europe" or "the Americas." Public country by country reporting for EU banks would include data from banks regarding their turnover, staff numbers, taxes […]
The AICPA Voiced “Deep Concerns” About the IRS’ Voluntary Tax Preparer Proposal
It isn't often the AICPA throws out serious words like "deep concerns," yet they just did in regards to the IRS' proposed voluntary tax preparer program. Those deep concerns are the program itself, how quick the IRS is trying to get it in place and the confusion that might result from stupid taxpayers thinking "regulated" […]
The AICPA Has Strong Words on Cash Accounting for the Ways and Means Committee
We all know the AICPA looooves cash. C.R.E.A.M. amiright? The AICPA has voiced "strong opposition to draft legislation that would limit the use of the cash method of accounting for pass-through entities and personal service corporations," which is a fancy way to say they aren't feeling this proposal at all. Why? Well you have to […]
Now’s Your Chance to Tell NASBA How You Really Feel (About Extending the CPA Exam Window)
The following message is for current and aspiring CPAs: it isn’t often that anyone asks your opinion unless it’s a client trying to get free work out of you but there is an issue in need of your immediate attention and feedback. NASBA is soliciting comments on a proposal to extend the CPA exam window […]