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Business and Industry
THE NEW ACCOUNTING ENVIRONMENT
Cynthia Harrington
The changes Sarbanes-Oxley and SAS no. 99 have engendered will add many hours to the already busy days of corporate CPAs. The bottom line: It will no longer be business as usual. Here’s what to expect.

Business Valuation
START A BV ENGAGEMENT THE RIGHT WAY
Timothy W. York
Clients need business valuations (BV) for varied reasons, some of which have an emotional component (as in death, divorce or retirement, for example), so they often are anxious about the process. That makes it especially important they understand how BV works. This article offers instruction on how to frame a BV engagement to minimize missteps.

Practice Management/Succession Planning
ADD A NEW OWNER TO YOUR FIRM
Stephen Weinstein
Many owner/partners of CPA firms know their future retirement likely will be funded by elevating other members to owner status, but before they do that, they must resolve a number of financial issues. This article describes some of them, along with time-tested formulas parties can use to negotiate fair terms for buying or selling a partnership interest in a CPA firm.

Professional Ethics
STREAMLINING ETHICS ENFORCEMENT
Lisa A. Snyder
An upcoming member vote will determine the outcome of two proposals that aim to enhance the ethics enforcement process and strengthen public confidence in the profession’s ability to oversee itself.

Technology Workshop/Fraud
TURN EXCEL INTO A FINANCIAL SLEUTH
Anna M. Rose and Jacob M. Rose
With a few adjustments, you can transform Excel from a simple electronic spreadsheet tool into a financial detective—uncovering bookkeeping errors and even fraud.

Personal Financial Planning
INVESTMENT TAX PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT
Delton L. Chesser, Walter T. Harrison Jr. and William R. Reichenstein
What’s the best way to accumulate assets for retirement? At a time of declining stock market returns, employer cutbacks in qualified plans and ever-changing tax laws, CPAs can help clients figure out how to accumulate enough capital to ensure a safe and secure retirement.

Insurance Issues
HOW TO TAME HEALTH CARE COSTS
Stanley B. Siegel
CPAs can help businesses keep group health insurance costs in line before the staggering premium increases lead to cuts in coverage.

The Fraud Beat
SHERLOCK HOLMES, CPA, PART 1
Joseph T. Wells
If the world’s most famous fictional detective were solving today’s corporate crimes, he probably would be a CPA, too. That’s because it takes both accounting knowledge and the unique skills of a detective to uncover fraud. In part one of this two-part series on fraud investigating, auditors will learn about the skills needed to uncover a fraud and how such an investigation differs from an audit.

News Digest
Banking…Government Accounting…International…Practice Management…Professional Issues… FYI.

Correction
A From the Tax Adviser correction for the May issue.

The Internet
Smart stops on the Web.

At a Glance: Charts and Graphics
Growth spurs hiring.
Raise salaries and your firm’s competitive edge.
How low can it go?
Dumping the AMT would be costly.

Letters
Ongoing debate over electronic filing.
E-mail’s a great communication tool.
An opinion on dividends’ taxation.
A future CPA wants to know.
Retention of CPA employees.

Checklist
Hold a memorable miniconference.

Tax Matters
Tax Case: Taxpayer precluded from itemizing deductions for AMT.
Tax Case: SCIN between family members is bona fide transaction.
Tax notes.

From the Tax Adviser
Employer benevolent funds.

Technology Q&A
Custom formats for spreadsheet numbers…Move whole paragraphs up or down…How to print custom headers and footers in Excel…Remove the character formatting from a single paragraph…A better way…Shortcuts.

Golden Business Ideas
Practical ideas for improving your business.

In This Issue