02 2019 CPAmerica Advantage

News from Your Accounting Association

CPAmerica Advantage CPAmerica’s Leading Partners Retreat is on Island Time This September in Hawaii Share. Innovate. Grow. This is CPAmerica’s theme for this year’s Leading Partners Retreat (LPR) designed for leading partners, future leading partners, and owners.

Enjoy member networking and learning opp or t u n it ie s f r om industry-leading speakers such as: Jim Bourke, Wit humSmit h+Brow n; Jennifer Wilson, ConvergenceCoaching, LLC; Michael Plat t, INSIDE Public The Four Seasons Resort O'ahu Accounting; and more will be the site of the 2019 LPR under the tropical setting of Kapolei, Hawaii, located on the western part of the island of O’ahu, this September 24-27.

Also co-located with the LPR in Kapolei, Hawaii, at the Four Seasons Resort this September 24-27, will be the CPAmerica’s 2019 Firm Administrators Roundtable (FAR).

With 15.8 CPE credits being offered, the 2019 FAR agenda will showcase a composite of FAR-only presentations,

February 2019 New Member firm P. 1

LPR joint sessions, and member Member News P. 3 sharing discussions presented President's Corner - Alan Deichler P. 4 by a host of influential thought leaders including: Amy Vetter, CPA, founder of The B3 Method Microsoft's Institute; Kimberly Davis, HR director of Visitor Center, Seattle Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, CPAs; and Robert Daniel of Pulakos CPAs, PC. Members will experience beachfront luxury in island-casual style on the white sand beaches of the Four Seasons Resort O’ahu at Ko Olina. The relaxed resort atmosphere will be filled with valuable information to bring back to your firm and opportunities abound for getting together with your peers at the opening welcome reception on the beach; optional events such as dinner onboard the USS Missouri and tour of Pearl Harbor or an afternoon picnic and UTV tour of the Kualoa Ranch on a private nature reserve; and at the meeting’s special event, a traditional Polynesian See LPR in Hawaii, continued on page 2

CPAmerica’s Technology Roundtable is open for registration. Also known as the Emerald City, Seattle will serve as classroom to IT members this June 5-7.

The meeting will feature exciting offerings – CPAmerica’s IT Director, Harrison Schofill, will conduct a Cybersecurity Preconference day, and the next day features an exclusive guided tour of the Microsoft Visitor Center!

To register, go to: https://tinyurl.com/y9krtkl3

Technology Overview with Randy Johnston:

Protect Your Clients by Being Proactive on Cyberfraud Computer security has been an area of concern for over a decade. Cyberfraud is frequently a consequence of security breaches. Your clients expect you as their professional CPA firm to protect any information you have in your possession.

Further, it is likely that their expectation is that you provide guidance on protecting them from fraud of all kinds. This type of engagement can be a great extension to your audit services, and the client will receive much value from a cyberfraud engagement.

But first, a few fundamentals. While fraud is costing American businesses billions of dollars each year, ease of access to information using the computer has made the problem more widespread. The breadth and depth of fraud in the U.S. is documented in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) biennial report. Their findings clearly demonstrate a need for more efficient and effective techniques for preventing and detecting fraud, which continues to drain profits and productivity from the U.S. economy.

What Are the Top Cyberfraud Opportunities?

The ACFE defines occupational fraud as "the use of one's occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization's resources or assets."

These frauds have four common characteristics: • The activities are clandestine.

• The activities violate the perpetrator's fiduciary responsibilities and positions of trust within the employing organization.

• The activities are committed for personal enrichment, either directly or indirectly.

• The activities exact a cost on the employing organization.

Based on the estimates reported in the "ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse," occupational fraud costs organizations 5 percent of their annual revenues, or about $3.7 trillion worldwide. The average loss amounts to $150,000 per instance, with 23 percent of all fraud losses exceeding $1 million. Small businesses are disproportionally affected, both in incidence of fraud and in losses relative to earnings. Fraud schemes lasted a median of 18 months before discovery, with 32 percent lasting 24 months or more. More than 75 percent of frauds are committed within one of seven key departments – accounting, operations, sales, executive management, customer service, purchasing, and finance – with perpetrators in the accounting department responsible for more than 16 percent of all frauds committed.

Occupational fraud falls into three broad categories: 1) misappropriation of assets, 2) corruption, and 3) financial statement fraud. In the ACFE report, misappropriation of assets was the leading source of fraud, representing 83 percent of cases, but it was also the least costly, causing a median loss of

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$125,000. Financial statement fraud was the most costly with a median loss of more than $975,000, but it made up less than 10 percent of the frauds identified in the report. Corruption schemes fell in the middle, comprising just under 35 percent of cases and causing a median loss of $200,000.

So, How Do Computers Give Bad Actors More Potential Tools to Use for Cyberfraud Today?

Let’s keep this simple. Bad actors are looking for ways to make big money quickly. One of the easiest ways is to gain access to business bank accounts that are not secured properly.

Transfer of business funds to offshore accounts can provide for a quick, large win. Over the last five years, CPAs have routinely reported six and seven figure amounts transferred via ACH or Swift transfers from bank accounts. What are the easiest ways to prevent this type of access? First, turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA) at your bank is a great start. Further, changing passwords frequently is another control mechanism.

Additionally, you can limit the dollar value of transfers that can be made without an additional (usually verbal) confirmation.

Bad actors are patient. While a stolen credit card can lose its value relatively quickly, a bank account is relatively static.

Bank account information as well as user IDs and passwords are routinely stolen and the accounts don’t have to be used right away. We just don’t change banks and account numbers that often. If your clients don’t have a method of changing passwords frequently, these accounts are at greater risk. One of the recommendations that you can make is to use a password manager that also has MFA. Examples of these products include: LastPass Enterprise, RoboForm, Dashlane and Zoho Vault. You can also suggest checking bank balances daily since the Fed can sometimes block transfers within 48 hours.

This is Part 1 of 2 of Randy Johnston's (from NMGI) Technology Overview article on cyberfraud, to be continued in the next issue of the Advantage newsletter LPR in Hawaii, continued from front page

luau at the Four Seasons.

Although a limited block of rooms has been set aside for both LPR and FAR attendees (and their guests) at the Four Seasons Resort, it is encouraged to register as early as possible to ensure that you receive the deeply discounted group rate. This rate is available until August 21 or until the room block is sold out. To reserve a room, call 844-387-0308 and reference “CPAmerica” in order to receive the group rate or you can book online at: www.fourseasons.com/ oahu/ and use the code: CI0919CP. We are happy to offer these dynamic events to our members. Complete agenda and registration information can be found under the Events tab at: www.cpamerica.org or you can contact Lisa Browne at: lbrowne@cpamerica.org for more details.

LPR and FAR are the flagship events for the association. Combined with the elegant backdrop of Hawaii, this will make for a very memorable trip where members can come and share, innovate and grow.

Member News Aldrich welcomes four new partners in 2019

The announced it has named four new partners effective this month: Tracey Davis, Ryan Johnson, Nicole Rice, and Matt Van Doren.

Davis is a leading Employee Benefits Consultant specializing in large and mid-market employers with particular expertise in self-funding. She uses her in-depth knowledge of the market and strong carrier partnerships to implement creative solutions for funding, medical management, and cost containment with an eye on the future direction of healthcare. She earned her bachelor's in exercise science from Western Oregon University and is a member of the National Association of Health Underwriters and NAHU’s Oregon chapter.

Johnson is an expert on the taxation of communications and power companies.

He specializes in both business and individual taxation and has extensive experience consulting on the structure of entities and transactions, including mergers and acquisitions. Johnson is active in multiple state industry associations presenting on various tax and business planning topics. He also serves a number of local non-profit organizations with various tax and accounting services.

Johnson graduated from Corban University with a degree in business administration with an accounting emphasis.

Rice helps individuals and corporate clients achieve their short and long term financial goals. She has experience in wealth management, retirement planning, tax accounting, design, and implementation of non-qualified benefit plans, insurance, and qualified benefit plans. Rice volunteers with a number of community organizations focused on creating opportunities and enrichment for youth. Rice graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor's in business administration with an option in accounting, as well as her master's in accounting.

Van Doren serves the construction industry. He provides financial and accounting services, tax planning, and consulting services. Van Doren is a member of various industry associations and stays engaged with their related events. He is a Certified Construction Industry Financial Professional (CCIFP), and holds a bachelor's in accounting from the University of Portland.

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. welcomes Pinsoneault as senior associate

(MBK), headquartered in Holyoke, Mass., welcomed Eric A. Pinsoneault, CPA, to

the firm in the position of senior associate.

He holds a bachelor's from Goddard College and master’s in accounting and a second master’s in business administration from UMass Boston.

Kushner LaGraize, L.L.C. names three new partners

, a certified public accounting firm based in Metairie, La., announced and welcomed three new partners as of January 2019.

James B. Griffin, CPA , has been with the firm since 2004. Griffin routinely provides tax compliance and valueadded consulting services to family-held small and JAMES B. GRIFFIN mid-size businesses. He specializes in business and individual tax planning.

Alan Labbé, CPA, started his career in public accounting with the firm in 1998 after receiving his bachelor's in accounting from the University of New Orleans. Labbé routinely provides tax planning ALAN LABBE and compliance services for individuals, partnerships, C-Corps, S-Corps and trusts.

Dean Martin, Jr., CPA, started his career in public accounting in 2006 after receiving his bachelor's in accounting from Louisiana State University. Martin routinely provides DEAN MARTIN, JR. tax compliance and value-added consulting services to family-held small and mid-size businesses. He also provides consulting services related to state and local tax incentives.

Member firm HPG conducted SOC 2 examination of FoodLogiQ

FoodLogiQ, the leading SaaS provider of traceability, food safety and supply chain transparency solutions, today announced that it has successfully completed a Type 2 SOC 2 Service Organization Control (SOC 2) examination of its FoodLogiQ Connect platform. The audit was conducted by (HPG), an independently owned and operated member firm of CPAmerica, Inc. After a rigorous examination, auditors confirmed that FoodLogiQ met the SOC 2 standards for Security and Availability Trust Services Principles with zero exceptions listed.

Member firm Frankel Zacharia promotes Osborne to partner LLC (Frankel Zacharia), announced that Rob Osborne was recently named partner. Osborne joined Frankel Zacharia in 2006 as an intern and has been with the firm since. He serves in ROB OSBORNE the areas of financial reporting and tax compliance to individuals and closely-held businesses specializing in the firm’s construction, manufacturing, and ERISA-related benefit plan practice areas. Osborne has passed the AICPA’s Advanced Defined Contribution Plan Audit Certificate exam, allowing him to better advise clients on technical matters and perform highquality audits for this very specialized practice area. Osborne received his B.S.B.A. from Creighton University, with majors in both accounting and management information systems. He is a member of the AICPA and NSCPA.

THF announces CFE designation and new marketing chair headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla., congratulated Allan Franklin III on earning the Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) designation. He has also been invited to join the board of directors of Infragard of Tallahassee.

The CFE is a credential awarded by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). The ACFE is a provider of antifraud training and education.

Infragard of Tallahassee is a partnership between the FBI and members of the private sector. Franklin will be serving the board as treasurer.

The firm also congratulated Megan Keplinger on joining the Tallahassee Network of Young Professionals Board as the marketing chair.

The Tallahassee Network of Young Professionals was established with the goal to foster personal and professional growth by connecting members through fun and engaging activities, while simultaneously offering career enhancing opportunities. Its mission is to make Tallahassee a city where young professionals choose to live, work, play, and stay.

Keplinger is a Marketing and Business Development Coordinator at THF. She attended Florida State University and received her bachelor’s and master’s in marketing. Keplinger has been providing marketing and business development services for THF since 2016.

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President's Corner: Championships Will Come and Go

N

Alan Deichler President

ot long ago, I wrote a column with regards to competition and my competitive spirit. I was watching a Sunday morning news magazine show on television this week and saw a segment on a young high schooler competing for a state wrestling championship.

It gave me cause to step back and think about my own competitiveness.

It seems t hat t h is competitor was a very good wrestler and was in the finals paired against another equally-matched challenger. The challenger was slightly ahead in points with a matter of seconds remaining in the match; it was just about sure that he was going to be the champion. Suddenly, with very little time remaining, the challenger severely twisted his elbow. It was questionable whether he could continue, but the match was for the state championship, so he tried. He had no strength in the injured arm, and all the competitor had to do in the wrestling match was to break out of the bottom position and escape in order to capture a couple of points and reverse the outcome of the match, thus

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making him the state champion.

Remember, the challenger would have easily won if, prior to getting hurt, he would have maintained his position for only a few more seconds.

When the match restarted, the young man in the bottom position simply rolled over, remaining in the bottom position for a few seconds until the match was over. The hurt challenger won and became state champion of his weight class.

match interview, “State championships will come and go, but integrity is a much bigger thing.”

I have found working with CPAs in this association to be particularly rewarding for a number of reasons, but the number one reason is that this group is full of people with a lot of integrity. That young wrestler would make a great CPA.

I wondered, with my competitive spirit, would I have done the same thing? This young man who rolled over was a true competitor. How else could he have risen to be in a position to compete in the final match for a chance to win the state championship?

He chose to do what he believed to be was the right thing to do.

Regardless of what others think or would have done in the same circumstance, we have to admire his courage to do what he believed was right. I have a feeling when life provides him future choices between tough alternatives, he will do what he believes to be the right thing.

As the referee of the contest said in a post-

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