October 1999

Home · Online Publications · Journal of Accountancy · Online Issues · October 1999

October 1999 Vol. 188 No. 4
Table of Contents

Publisher's Info Page
Articles

This symbol identifies articles in the home study CPE Program.

Employee Leasing
THE TEMPORARY EXECUTIVE
Marlene Piturro
An average of 5.6 million executive temps are at work every business day. Is this option a good one for you or your company?

Management Accounting
MANAGING THE CASH GAP
Germain Boer
The easy-to-visualize “cash gap” concept helps financial managers show operating managers how to use cash effectively.

Business and Industry/Practice Management
LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS?
Catherine L. Carlozzi
CPAs who’ve switched from public practice to industry have a unique vantage point when it comes to working with their companies’ accounting firms. Here they share what they’re looking for in a CPA firm.

Practice Management
A GRACEFUL EXIT
Chris Malburg
Businesses and retiring owners both can have healthy financial futures if they create smart exit strategies. Take advantage of your client relationships to help such owners position their companies for continuing successful operations after they leave.

Not-for-Profit Tax
TOWARD INCREASED ACCOUNTABILITY
Randall W. Luecke, Kevin J. Shortill and David T. Meeting
The IRS introduced disclosure requirements designed to expand—and standardize—the information tax-exempt entities make available to the public.

Auditing
HOCUS-POCUS ACCOUNTING
Douglas R. Carmichael
Revenue-recognition manipulation is an aspect of fraudulent financial reporting that auditors must look for. One method often linked to overstated revenue is the bill-and-hold sales transaction, which is complex and difficult to audit.

Software
HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE
J. Carlton Collins
The third of the three-part series on choosing accounting software examines the Internet features of the leading products and how well they deal with international commerce and the year 2000 issue. The article also focuses on ways to assess a software package’s user-friendliness.

GETTING THE OOPS! OUT OF SPREADSHEETS
Franz Hrmann
Because they often are such complicated files, spreadsheets are likely to contain errors—and those errors are nearly impossible to eliminate entirely. At best, they can be minimized. This Technology Workshop looks at some of the tools built into spreadsheets that CPAs can use to find errors.

Tax
THE AMT TRAP
Beth B. Kern
Once aimed primarily at wealthy individuals, the alternative minimum tax is an increasing problem for middle-income taxpayers. Unless Congress makes some major modifications, a growing number of individuals will find themselves paying AMT.