Most CPAs grapple with leases from the lessee’s point of view, so

Understanding accounting and auditing is key to becoming an outstanding CPA. There's no way around it. If you want to be a great accountant or auditor, you have to keep up with the ever-changing accounting and auditing landscape. And believe me, it's always changing.
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Being an excellent accountant or auditor requires knowledge in:
Accounting standards primarily come from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Other types of reporting frameworks include cash-basis, modified-cash basis, tax-basis, contractual, and regulatory. An accounting framework is used to create financial statements. The selection of the reporting framework is based on legal and regulatory requirements we well as the needs of users.
Once financial statements are created, they may be subject to attest procedures performed by a third-party CPA or CPA firm. Possibilities include a compilation engagement, a review engagement or an audit.
Many accountants are not auditors, but some are.
Auditing is the inspection of accounting records, usually financial statements, by a third party CPA or CPA firm. The standards for auditing U.S. entities primarily come from the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA) and are called Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs). Additionally, the AICPA provides attestation standards in the form of Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagments (SSAEs). Whether the SASs or SSAEs are used, the accountant--as an independent third party--uses these standards to add credibility to the information by rendering a opinion or report about the subject matter.
Auditors must understand accounting and audit standards.
Below are articles about FASB and GASB standards.
Most CPAs grapple with leases from the lessee’s point of view, so
Do you need help in understanding the new lease accounting standard? This
The Leasing Industry will Change In my last lease post, we saw
Do you struggle with creating cash flow statements? Would you like to
Are you looking for GASB 87 lease accounting information? Are you a
How should you account for cash overdrafts (also called negative cash balances)
Are you wondering about PPP and EIDL accounting? Well, you've come to
Are you aware of the coming changes in accounting for equity securities
How does a debt covenant violation affect the presentation of debt on
What financial statement references are required at the bottom of financial statement
Are you ready to implement FASB’s new nonprofit accounting standard? Back in
It's time for another change to VIE accounting! The variable interest entity (VIE) considerations
Are you preparing financial statements and wondering whether you need to include
Are you up to speed on ASU 2015-11 Simplifying the Measurement of
Can a loan guarantees create liabilities that go on the balance sheet
Debt issuance costs have a new parking place. For some time now,
Do you ever need to solve accounting problems quickly? I often hear
GASB 63 and 65 provide guidance regarding deferred outflows and inflows in
Below are articles about auditing and attesation standards.
Should you work in tax or audit?If you're near graduation, you may
Journal entry testing is required in all audits. Why? The use of
In this article, I explain SAS 143, Auditing Accounting Estimates and Related Disclosures, a
Are you over auditing?In this article, I explain how you can stop
Segregation of duties is key to reducing fraud. But smaller entities may
Unpaid fees can impair your independence in attest engagements. This article explains
Auditors often fail to capture and communicate internal control weaknesses, even though
In this post, you’ll gain an understanding of unmodified and modified audit
Seven deadly audit sins can destroy you. These audit mistakes kill your
Auditing equity is easy, until it’s not. Auditing equity is usually one
Did you know you can learn audit lessons from a brain tumor?
What are the keys to auditing debt?While auditing debt can be simple,
Auditing investments is important, especially when an auditee has large balances. Below
Today we take a look at auditing receivables and revenues.Revenues are the
Auditing cash tends to be straightforward. We usually just obtain the bank
Preliminary analytical procedures are used to identify material misstatements in financial statements.
On December 19, 2019, the AICPA released SSAE 19, Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements.
Peer reviews find that many CPA firms don't identify significant risks in
Accounts payable is usually one of the more important audit areas. Why?
Control risk continues to create confusion in audits. Some auditors assess control
Statement on Auditing Standards No. 145 (SAS 145), Understanding the Entity and Its
Related party transactions can be a means to fraudulent financial reporting. Yet,
On the first day of your audit, you’re confident you’ll deliver your
The Western District of North Carolina U.S. Attorney’s Office issued a press
Do you know how to assess inherent risk? Knowing when this risk
Peer reviewers are saying, “If it’s not documented, it’s not done.” Why?
Today we look at one of most misunderstood parts of auditing: audit
Auditing for fraud is important, but some auditors ignore this duty. Even
Most auditors don’t perform a test of controls? But should they? Below
Are you using substantive analytical procedures in your audits? Many auditors rely
Service organization control (SOC) reports are often necessary to understand outsourced accounting
This article teaches you how to develop your audit plan and strategy.
In this article, I address audit assertions and why they are critical
As an auditor, you often use the work of specialists such as
In this article I explain how you can use unpredictable audit procedures.
Unnecessary audit work papers create clutter and potential legal problems. I see
Management can override internal controls, resulting in fraudulent financial reporting. Below I
Want to perform your audits correctly but with less time? Then understand
Wrapping up audits is a chore. But today's post will help you
Are you looking for payment fraud tests? Ways to detect fraudulent payments
What are the 2018 Yellow Book CPE requirements? You’ve heard about the
Single Audit major program determination can be challenging. And if this determination
In this article, I provide information about Single Audits for local governments
Audit risk increases uncertainty—and price. At least, it should. In this post,
Auditing payroll is a critical skill. Today I explain how.While payroll is
Today, we talk about auditing plant, property, and equipment (or capital assets
Today I describe five dirty, no good, terrible, audit habits. Certain peer
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