Center for Plain English Accounting

The Center for Plain English Accounting is the AICPA’s national A&A resource center, available exclusively to members of the Private Companies Practice Section. The CPEA’s team of experts assists member firms in understanding and implementing accounting, auditing, review, compilation, and quality control standards by sharing technical advice and guidance in a straight-forward manner. CPEA professional staff provide A&A support by describing “how to do” what you “need to do” in implementing the authoritative literature.

Join

Spotlight

CPEA IN-DEPTH -- New Going Concern Disclosures Substantial Doubt Alleviated (or Reinforced)

This report examines recent disclosures in situations when substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern is alleviated, and assists members in crafting and evaluating such disclosures.

SSAE No. 18 Effective Now Ensure Your Attestation Engagements Comply

SSAE No. 18 is effective for practitioners’ reports dated on or after May 1, 2017. Make sure your engagements are compliant by learning about the changes SSAE No. 18 makes to the attestation standards.

CPEA June 22, 2017 Webinar

In this webcast we discuss EBP audit and financial statement deficiencies. There is also an overview of important developments from the EPB Conference.

Most Recent Reports

2018 Employee Benefit Plan Engagements: Important Auditing Considerations
April 18, 2018

Technical Issues Committee Update: Accounting Developments
April 18, 2018

Debits and Credits Associated with New Lease Accounting Standard: CPEA Lease Standard Implementation Series – Part V
April 18, 2018

Accounting and Reporting Issues Related to Estates and Trusts
March 21, 2018

Audit Staff Essentials: Legal Letters
March 21, 2018

Special Report: U.S. Tax Reform & Accounting for Income Taxes -- Final Accounting Delayed
March 14, 2018

New Auditing Standard on Going Concern Effective Now: Implementing SAS No. 132
February 21, 2018

The New Revenue Recognition Standard Industry Impacts: Engineering & Construction ─ Part 2
February 21, 2018

How U.S. Tax Reform Affects the Accounting for Income Taxes
January 18, 2018

ASU 2017-12: Accounting for Hedging Activities
January 17, 2018

The New Revenue Recognition Standard: Industry Impacts
January 17, 2018

FASB Changes Effective for Calendar Year 2017
December 20, 2017

Audit Staff Essentials: Performing Inventory Observations
December 20, 2017

New Independence Interpretation Related to Hosting Services
December 20, 2017

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do GASB pronouncements require a disclosure related to the date through which subsequent events were considered?

2. As it relates to ASU 2014-02, is the choice between testing for impairment on the entity or reporting unit level required to be disclosed in the notes to F/S even if there is no current impairment?

3.As it relates to ASU 2014-02, can you go back and amortize goodwill that arose from an asset purchase years ago, or is it for new goodwill created?

4. When performing a group audit, should we be documenting the existence (or not) of all components identified in an audit?

5. Would a broker dealer be considered a Public Business Entity?

See more Frequently Asked Questions from our Technical Inquiries.

CPEA on AICPA TV

The New Revenue Recognition Standard (ASU 2014-09): Recognizing Revenue When [or as] Performance Obligations Are Satisfied

In this brief educational video, Tom Groskopf, the CPEA’s Technical Director, discusses the requirements for recognizing revenue as an entity satisfies its performance obligations in a contract.

Most Recent News and Alerts

Auditing Interpretation No. 4 to AU-C 700: Reporting in Accordance with U.S. GAAS & PCAOB Standards
March 5, 2018

Technical Corrections and Improvements to Financial Instruments ASU 2018-03
March 1, 2018

Addressing Stranded Tax Effects Resulting from U.S. Tax Reform ASU 2018-02
February 20, 2018

FASB Issues ASU 2018-01
January 29, 2018

Congress Passes Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Financial Reporting Implications
December 21, 2017

AICPA Technical Q&As 7100.01-7100.16
October 26, 2017

FASB Issues ASU 2017-12
September 1, 2017

SAS No. 133
July 26, 2017

FASB Issues ASU-2017-11
July 19, 2017

CPEA Member Testimonials

To read more member testimonials, click here.

“The guidance provided by the CPEA has been an incredible asset to our firm. The information covers a broad range of topics and is as timely as possible. They are releasing new information on a monthly and quarterly basis, which ensures they are addressing the changes as they happen. This is much different than other technical guidance, which is generally only updated on an annual basis. The CPEA provides an opportunity for our firm to stay current in a constantly changing profession in an efficient and effective way at a reasonable cost.”
-Jerome Weikel, CPA (WJPR)