April 2023
IN THIS ISSUE:
► Building a more flexible audit team
► Preferred Provider Spotlight - Aiwyn
► Tax and Audit Essentials staff training
► Member News
► CPAmerica Insights - Art Winstead, CPA
Andrew Wan, CPA , audit partner with Larson & Co., located in Salt Lake City, Utah, has seen his fair share of changes to the industry since entering the profession in 2007 and joining the Larson team in 2010.
Wan states that one of the biggest changes he’s seen is the overall culture of audit teams. “When I first started, everyone had to be in the same office and working on the same things. A lot of face time was required. That has changed drastically with our hybrid model and provides more autonomy to our auditors.”
Larson & Co.’s audit team has more than 40 professionals operating in a hybrid model, working all over the country and even in the Philippines. And with more flexibility by clients, they are no longer required to spend as much, or any, time in the field in other offices.
Treating people more professionally and trusting employees to make the right decisions regarding their work schedules has also improved their workplace culture, explained Wan.
Wan has also seen significant changes in how they measure productivity, before only looking at billable hours, but now the measurements are more deadline-driven. Taking certain milestones into account before looking at the billable hours.
In his 16 years in the profession, Wan shared that the methodology of audit hasn’t changed, but the technology and tools used have gotten more advanced.
“With the technology we have now, we’re able to do more sophisticated analytics to run queries of transactions,” said Wan. “These tools
allow us to look at all transactions for red flags, versus only a sample of transactions.”
Wan explained that Larson & Co. has been using TeamMate Analytics coupled with Knowledge Coach in their audit library. Both of those tools have been extremely helpful and beneficial for the firm. They have also tried Axcess Validate, a blockchain technology, but did not find that tool to be useful for their team. Although that software didn’t work for their firm, Wan suggests not shying away from the latest technology because these tools can save time and help mitigate the audit team’s risk level.
“Our clients welcome any new technology that could benefit them and are generally open to hearing about what we’re using. Clients are expecting more technology and advances for auditing to make sure we’re keeping up with the times,” said Wan.
To ensure they’re caught up and aware of the latest advances in technology, Larson & Co. has formed a Technology Committee within their Audit Department. These four individuals look at new technologies coming out, test their capabilities and then determine if it makes sense to adopt them at the firm.
Larson & Co. is not only utilizing technology for their auditing, but also for their employee reporting. Through Microsoft Teams, employees are able to self-report their progress to help minimize the time it takes to get project status updates from each employee. These teams also help to foster communication while working remotely.
They have also embraced Teams as a tool to give and receive feedback.
“We have dedicated days in the week where managers and seniors get together to discuss feedback that they have for staff members. They would also give feedback for each other, upwards and downwards. They would then report out using a tool in their audit binder to ensure that feedback session has taken place,” explained Wan.
These additional communications give employees more timely
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Continued from Audit , on page 1
feedback and allow the team to make changes or reallocate work as needed.
Larson & Co.’s team has also been taking a more thorough look at their key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure they have successful audits. Through these set expectations, they can track everything through their system to determine which KPIs produce a profitable job versus a not as profitable job.
By tracking KPIs, employees can also easily share if something is missing due to a client delay. The partners can now know when they need to extra bill, and can better gauge as a department what the staff is wanting a successful audit to look like. All the while, measuring realization, as well as efficiencies.
Looking to the future, in addition to continuous technological advances, Wan predicts that what makes up an audit team will continue to evolve. With changes in demands from clients, more firms may be moving away from building audit teams of only CPAs, and will most likely begin including data analysts and other specialties on the team that haven’t previously been included.
For more information about Larson & Co.’s audit practice, please contact Andrew Wan at awan@larsco.com.
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Williams & Company PC is pleased to announce the admittance of Sherry Titterington, CPA , as shareholder in their full-service certified public accounting firm. Titterington joined the firm in 2004, and continued to advance in her career, becoming a manager in 2011. She became a certified public accountant in 2008. She serves as the firm’s quality control director. As the firm’s quality control director, Titterington specializes in assurance and attest engagements, including audit, review, compilation and agreedupon procedures, in the nonprofit and governmental industries. Titterington is a member of the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants and the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Wallace Plese + Dreher (WPD) has merged in Pace & Company, PC. For more than 25 years, Pace & Company, PC, provided tax planning and advice to corporations, partnerships, individuals, and estates and trusts in Arizona and throughout the U.S. Randy G. Brammer, CPA , managing partner, said “Over the last few years, Steven [Pace] evaluated and considered several options for transitioning his practice to a solid Arizona CPA firm. Steven and his team bring extensive business and technical experience to the firm. They strengthen the firm’s long-term growth strategy and we are excited to welcome them to the firm.” Steven P. Pace, CPA, Kenneth William Easter, CPA, Meagan T. Olivera, CPA, and Belinda De Los Santos have joined the WPD team.
Larson & Company is proud to announce that Jensen & Associates will be joining their growing tax and accounting services practices. Jensen & Associates serves clients in the individual and business tax sector and provides small business accounting services. The addition of Jensen & Associates adds two new tax partners to the firm: Jeff Jensen, CPA , and Carl Jensen, CPA . Jeff Jensen has extensive experience in accounting, auditing, and taxation and management services in automobile dealership and related companies; retail and wholesale companies; professional sports franchises; lease and rental companies; financial institutions; employee benefit plans; estate and trust planning; and contractors. Carl Jensen has worked on a myriad of industries within the small business scope, including automotive, real estate and other general small businesses. “We are excited about the addition of the talented professionals from Jensen & Associates,” said Managing Partner Greg Denning. “Their expertise complements the services we offer our small and midsize business clients and will help us continue to grow in the future.” Jensen & Associates adds a staff of five to the Salt Lake Metro location of Larson & Company offices at District Heights.
Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP, a consulting, accounting and business advisory firm headquartered in Canton, MA, has announced that Christopher M. Doyle, MBA , has been named director of the firm’s outsourced client accounting & advisory services (CAAS) practice. Doyle will direct a multidisciplinary team of consultants, accountants, and technology professionals who serve the needs of start-ups and emerging businesses. Doyle’s experience in all aspects of corporate finance and his role in establishing a platform for growth are distinct advantages for clients who leverage the broad scope of CAAS services offered by Gray, Gray & Gray. “Emerging businesses are most in need of expertise and targeted advice from an experienced resource,” said James DeLeo, leading partner at Gray, Gray & Gray. “Chris Doyle and his CAAS team provide a coordinated blend of consulting, accounting, tax and technology guidance to help clients reach the next phase in their growth cycle.”
Olympics North Carolina. The firm took home the trophy for “Most Money Earned by a Group.” DMJPS’ 2023 team of “Polar Plungers” included professionals Caren Rodriguez and David Mize of Greensboro, and Alexis Peterson and Drew Steel of Durham. Family and friends of DMJPS also joined the team for the official plunge! The weather dipped to a chilly 47 degrees and the waters of Wet ‘n’ Wild were even colder, despite the unseasonably warm week in North Carolina. Special Olympics reports that the event raised over $35,000. Caren Rodriguez, Chief Marketing Officer, presented Special Olympics with a symbolic check commemorating DMJPS’ record contribution. She notes, “Special Olympics is a mission close to our hearts. Being part of this event is such an integral part of who we are at DMJPS – it’s our favorite busy season tradition! We are so fortunate that our community and colleagues give generously of their time and resources. We can’t thank them enough for their support and we wish the athletes of Special Olympics an incredible year ahead.“
DMJPS CPAs + Advisors is an annual sponsor of the Triad Chill for Special Olympics and has now participated the event for 23 consecutive years. DMJPS raised more than $18,850 for Special
Thompson Greenspon is thrilled to unveil a refreshed brand identity in 2023. The brand refresh initiative features the existing logo and tagline with an improved website and redesigned collateral materials. “The way we function as a firm and what we value most as individuals has had a monumental shift in recent years. The pandemic has pushed us to evolve and move forward as a firm, utilizing new technologies and reassessing our approach to client service. The firm feels it is imperative that our brand image continues to reflect the evolution of our firm and the modernized approach to the work we do,” said Chip Helme, managing principal. The newly designed website provides visitors with a cleaner and easier way to find the information and resources they need. In addition to the technical information available, the new site enables visitors to learn more about the heart of our firm, our employees, with the enhanced team bio pages. Helme says, “We are confident our new look more accurately depicts the culture of Thompson Greenspon and our ongoing dedication to being a steadfast advisor and partner in our clients’ tax, assurance and advisory needs.”
As licensed CPAs, individually or within firms, I believe, as a profession we kind of like having specific sets of rules. Rules, laws, regulations, lists of requirements, with a modest amount of professional judgment is a comfortable place to be as licensed and learned in the profession. The compliance requirements necessary for our services to clients are codified and not challenging to research and achieve a reasonable conclusion. Without question, the codification of any of these rules related to the delivery of client services can present challenges, and at times, complexity in which we must reach out to others for assistance.
When comparing the delivery of service rules to the rules associated with licensure and continued licensure as CPAs, the licensure rules are far less complex and much easier to access and follow. To add a touch of complexity to our licensure rules, throughout the 55 jurisdictions (including the 50 states) of NASBA (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy), the licensure rules vary.
Granted the requirements from each state or jurisdiction, every individual state has various occupational licensing requirements. Occupational licensing requirements affect about one-quarter of all workers. These requirements are intended to protect consumers, i.e., the public, by screening in licensees who are qualified and screening out unqualified licensees. These screenings are usually in the form of education requirements, testing requirements, and experience requirements to earn a license to work in a field.
The intent of these requirements is to improve the quality of services delivered by ensuring workers have the relevant skills and training. By creating prerequisite requirements, they serve as a barrier to working in an occupation requiring a license. They also serve as a protection for those working in a licensed occupation. This protection for the licensees can increase public costs without also increasing quality.
That is a quandary for policymakers, which often are state legislatures, that must consider a conflict which makes occupational licensing a tradeoff between increasing quality and
increasing consumer costs. Currently, for licensed CPAs, the most discussed licensing requirement is related to the 150-hour education requirement. Today all 50 states require 150 hours of education as a part of the required licensing process for CPAs.
The history of the 150-hour education requirement goes back to the great state of Florida. In 1983, Florida established the first 150-hour education requirement for licensure. There’s not a thing wrong with that decision, or any jurisdiction self-determining licensure requirements for anyone to become a licensed CPA. In the decades that followed, all 50 states now mandate by law a 150-hour education requirement.
The content requirement for the 150 hours varies from state to state. In general, colleges and universities offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in accounting. To obtain the required hours of education, it is not necessary for students to get a master’s degree. They can meet the requirement at the undergraduate level or obtain their bachelor’s degree and take additional graduate level courses. Students can also choose any of the following:
1. Combine an undergraduate accounting degree with a master’s degree at the same school or at a different one.
2. Combine an undergraduate degree in some other discipline with a master’s degree in accounting or an MBA with a concentration in accounting.
3. Enroll in an integrated five-year professional accounting school or program leading to a master’s degree in accounting.
In most cases, the additional academic work needed to acquire the technical competence and develop the skills required by today’s CPA is best obtained at the graduate level. Graduate-level programs are an excellent way to develop skills more fully, such as communication, presentation, and interpersonal relations, and while integrating them with the technical knowledge.
All of this is leading up to a discussion about the concern of the “pipeline.” There are now some firms, individuals and others across the country wanting to discuss the 150-hour education requirement as possibly being a barrier to entry into the profession. Granted, in my mind, that is a market reaction. Parts of that discussion maintain that the current need and lack of an adequate pipeline can
be harmful to the public. It’s kind of like saying, “there are not enough of us working as licensed CPAs and that reduces services offered and to whom services are offered to within the market.”
The AIPCA, NASBA, State Boards, Associations, Societies, firms and even regulators are currently consistent on their belief that the 150-hour education requirement does serve both the profession and the public well. And I believe throughout our educational institutions, the current hour requirement is widely supported. As a profession, we did ask our colleges, including community colleges, and universities to develop accounting programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels to achieve a quality of education to support the 150-hour requirement.
However, there are states that are either contemplating or have introduced legislation to reduce the 150 hours back to a 120-hour requirement.
Perhaps this discussion will have a short run. Or perhaps there is a need to evaluate the 150-hour education requirement. Should the 150-hour requirement be evaluated as to our current and real shortage within the pipeline?
