Risk Management
What Should You Do When Faced with Embezzlement?
Now that many businesses are planning for the other side of a recession, its effects continue to reverberate. As employees, still reeling in a soft economy, continue to face their own personal financial worries, embezzlement could become more frequent. As HamptonRoads.com reports, small businesses are putting much more emphasis on prevention now than in year’s past. CPAs who have worked with embezzlement cases said victimized companies rarely recover much from their embezzlers. “The likelihood of recovering assets is pretty slim, because people committing these schemes spend what they get on things like trips, meals, drugs and gambling,” said Peter Alfele , a CPA and audit partner. Read More.
SSAE 16 to Replace SAS 70 as New Reporting Standard
As you may know, the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board has issued the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization . This new standard, which was designed to enhance transparency and consistency, will replace the previous Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, Service Organizations (SAS 70) for all service auditors’ reports for periods ending on or after June 15, 2011, with earlier implementation permitted and encouraged. To help you prepare for compliance with the new standard, the Risk Management Group at Cherry, Bekaert & Holland has prepared a regulatory bulletin (click here to download the pdf) that summarizes some of the notable similarities and differences between SAS 70 and SSAE 16. The bulletin also includes a breakdown of the key changes that Management will need to consider.
SSAE 16 to Replace SAS 70
As you may know, the AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board has issued the Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization . This new standard, which was designed to enhance transparency and consistency, will replace the previous Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, Service Organizations (SAS 70) for all service auditors’ reports for periods ending on or after June 15, 2011, with earlier implementation permitted and encouraged. To help you prepare for compliance with the new standard, the Risk Management Group at Cherry, Bekaert & Holland has prepared a regulatory bulletin (click here to download the pdf) that summarizes some of the notable similarities and differences between SAS 70 and SSAE 16. The bulletin also includes a breakdown of the key changes that Management will need to consider.
Sales and Use Tax — Don’t Get Caught in a Game of ‘Gotcha’
Attention to detail is critical when dealing with sales and use taxes , as personal liability can result even when conducting business as a corporation or limited liability company. The sales tax is an additional cost tacked on to purchases of tangible personal property and certain services. The use tax, however, is a compensatory tax paid directly by the purchaser when the seller doesn’t collect the sales tax. Unfortunately, sales and use tax complexities are compounded in the construction industry. Sales of real estate typically are not subject to tax, but contractors are subject to tax on their purchases of tangible personal property that. Read More.
“Big GAAP” Versus “Little GAAP” – Do We Now Have a Possible Solution?
For decades, small business owners, accountants, and others have argued the need for different accounting standards to be used by smaller, privately held companies as a replacement for the complex and burdensome standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Opponents, on the other hand, have argued for only one set of accounting standards, pleading that multiple accounting standards could only lead to confusion and a lack of credibility for issuers of financial statements prepared under “lesser” standards. Compelling arguments can be made by both camps, but the practical portion of the argument has, in recent years, tilted in. Read More.
Cyberattack on Google’s Password System Highlights Cloud Computing Risks
The New York Times reports new details today about a cyberattack that affected Google earlier this year, underscoring the critical security challenges facing companies in the era of cloud computing . The attack struck Google’s Gaia, a password system that controls access for millions of users to Google’s Web and business services: The intruders do not appear to have stolen passwords of Gmail users, and the company quickly started making significant changes to the security of its networks after the intrusions. But the theft leaves open the possibility, however faint, that the intruders may find weaknesses that Google might not even be aware of, independent computer experts. Read More.