Peer Review for CPAs Serving Insurers: Compliance or Opportunity?

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What is the mark of a good peer review? Is it delivering a “Pass” without exceptions? Is it guaranteeing a conflict-free process for the firm? When we review fellow insurance CPA firms, neither of these play into our metrics for success. Rather, our goal is to help our colleagues resolve struggles they’re experiencing so they can perform higher-quality audits. And we take great pride in finding these solutions. We know our colleagues have a desire to perform top-notch audits, so instead of a quick fix, we always strive to find and help implement the permanent fixes that will serve them well into the future. We recently asked JLK Rosenberger partner James Dougherty, CPA, CGMA what he enjoys about performing peer reviews. He said, “I like to get to know the firm and their desire to do things correctly and know that we made a difference.”

Avoiding Payroll Tax Penalties

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One of the most crucial parts of payroll in a small company is remitting taxes on time. Often, when considering the importance of payroll, withholding comes to mind. Especially this year, as the IRS has released new tables under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, if taxes are not remitted to the federal government on schedule, harsh personal penalties can be incurred.

The Best Ways to Communicate Effectively with the Audit Committee

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Now and then, CFOs and other executives present company information, like strategies, risks and operations, to the audit committee. Three key components will assist you in making the most effective presentation: thoroughly grasping the committee’s role; building relationships with committee members beforehand, and concentrating on the most pertinent information. Discover how.

How your auditor establishes materiality in an audit or review

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Accountants can’t look into every transaction when running an audit or review so they appoint a “materiality” threshold instead. They apply this benchmark to gain reasonable assurance in an audit — or limited assurance in a review — of uncovering misstatements that might be big enough, individually or collectively, to be material to the financial statements.

12 Days of SSAP – SSAP No. 69 – Cash Flow

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Statement of Cash Flows was revised to adopt ASU 2016-18 to reduce the difference between statutory and US GAAP on cash flow classifications. In the revision, restricted cash and cash equivalents are no longer reported as cash flows from operating, investing or financing buckets. Instead, they are included in the beginning and ending balances of the cash flow statements.