July/August 2008 - COCPA Archive PDFS/JA08.pdf · July/August 2008 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair ... International Financial Reporting Standards ... covered at the recent AICPA Council

A bi-monthly publication of the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants

Vol. 54, No. 2

July/August 2008

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ChairBarbara S. Seacrest

Vice ChairRonald L. Seigneur

TreasurerMichael S. Bearup

Immediate Past ChairMichael D. West

SecretaryMary E. Medley

DirectorsStephanie Allen, Daniel A. Chenoweth,

Angela F. Roberts-Turnbeaugh, Mark T. Solomon, Scott K. Sprinkle, and Tawnya Y. Zimmerman

------------------------------

EDITORIAL BOARDJohn W. Allgood, James M. Boak, Frances J. Coet, Philip W. Debus, Kay R. Dragon, Deanna C. Duell,

Mira J. Finé, Jennifer C. Pitkin, Ronald O. Reed, Gregory A. Truitt, R. Stephen Van Meter, and Michael D. West

------------------------------President/CEOMary E. Medley

Deputy DirectorElizabeth M. Julin

Contributing WriterNatalie G. Rooney

PublisherJill M. Turner

-------------------------------NewsAccount (ISSN #10899952) is published bimonthly by the Colorado Society of Certified Public Accountants, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., Suite 1000, Denver, Colorado 80237-2847. NewsAccount is published in January, March, May, July, September, and November and reports information, news, and trends in the accounting profession. Articles, display advertisements, and classified adver-tisements are due 30 days prior to publication. The Colorado Society of CPAs assumes no liability for readers’ business decisions in reference to advertise-ments or other information included in this publication.

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CONTENTS

Features2 We’re All in This Together CSCPA Chair Barbara Seacrest reflects on the diversity of issues, initiatives,

and member needs the profession is addressing.

5 Legislative and Regulatory News Colorado adopts new tax preparer penalties, and the Colorado State Board of

Accountancy begins its preparations for Sunset Review in 2009-2010.

6 Who Are the Partners of Tomorrow? The Partner Gap In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, we were worried that there weren’t enough

students choosing to major in accounting. Now, the question is, “Who will be CPA firm partners in the future?”

16 Planning Your Exit— or Entry—Strategy

For some, it’s time to think about cutting back on hours, selling or merging a CPA practice, or perhaps even retiring.

18 Colorado Joins the Trend Toward Single Sales Factor Apportionment

House Bill 08-1380, requiring businesses to use a single sales factor, is the most substantive change in Colorado income tax law in over 20 years.

Departments22 SEC Corner

23 Bits & Pieces/Movers & Shakers

26 Classified Advertising

On The Cover International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) already have been adopted across the globe. Soon, they’ll be in play here in the United States, as well. Learn about the new reporting standards in the special pull-out section in the center of this issue.

1NewsAccountwww.cocpa.orgJuly/August 2008

From the CSCPA Chair of the Board

We’re All in This Together

Of course, many of us in the profession do taxes and/or work at a Big Four firm, but I’m still amazed at what a diverse group of professionals we are. And we’re getting more diverse all the time. The breadth of topics covered at the recent AICPA Council meeting was a perfect example of the range of work we do.

International Financial Reporting StandardsInternational Financial Reporting Stan-dards (IFRS) have been discussed at several recent Council meetings. The expected con-vergence of U.S. standards and international standards into one set of accounting standards is expected to occur within the next three to five years. To educate mem-bers, the AICPA has put together several resources to help CPAs to understand IFRS, including the background booklet bound into this issue of NewsAccount, videos, and a Web site: www.ifrs.com. The AICPA predicts that by 2011 the Uniform CPA examination will contain tested and approved questions on IFRS.

FASB Clarity ProjectWith all of the emphasis on international standards right now, FASB has begun the Clarity Project, an effort to make auditing standards easier to read, understand, and implement. The goal is for these standards to be more in line with IFRS. Final approval is expected by June 2010.

Private Companies Practice SectionIf your firm doesn’t already belong to the

AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Sec-tion (PCPS), you may want to take a look at what it offers. Recently, it released its 2007 Top MAP Issues—an analysis of top challenges for CPA firms. The results are segmented by size of firm: Sole practitio-ners; firms with two to five professionals; firms with six to ten professionals; firms with 11 to 20 professionals; and firms with 21 or more professionals.

While CPAs share many of the same practice issues, there are differences that exist because of firm size. It’s interesting to me that sole practitioners surveyed did not rank succession planning among their top five concerns. Firms with six to ten profes-sionals are concerned about it as are larger firms. Sole practitioners cited tax complex-ity and changes as their first concern. Each of the other groups ranked finding qualified staff at all levels as their number one con-cern. Read the related story on page 12, and visit the PCPS Web site at pcps.aicpa.org for resources and more information.

Help for Small BusinessesAs a small firm partner, I was encouraged to learn that the AICPA also recognizes the unique needs of small CPA firms and the small businesses they serve. To that end, the AICPA recently announced a new partner-ship with the U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration (SBA). The SBA offers tools and resources for smaller firms including resources for start-up businesses and to help manage existing businesses. More informa-tion is available at pcps.aicpa.org/commu-nity/U.+S.+Small+Business+Administra-tion+Resource+Center.htm.

The AICPA’s Reliability Task Force is preparing an exposure draft, due out in the fourth quarter, regarding financial state-ment reliability for small businesses that use a CPA to help with controllership issues and to prepare financial statements. Some feel that there is a need to be able to disclose the exact circumstance surrounding the CPA’s lack of independence in preparing financial statements. If a CPA firm has a financial in-terest in a small business that is one thing. If it has provided the client with more “book-keeping” than is allowable without disclo-sure, shouldn’t the firm be able to note this as the reason for lack of independence? Watch for more to come on this topic.

The CPA PipelineAICPA Chair Barry Melancon, CPA, offered his insight into the ongoing issue of the CPA supply pipeline and how the AICPA is working to monitor trends. Start Here, Go Places, the AICPA’s student Web site at www.startheregoplaces.com, is newly updated, and programs are being developed continually to reach out to kids—even at the elementary school level. At the col-legiate level, the AICPA has set a goal of 30 new Ph.D. candidates each year for the next four years by providing $30,000 annual stipends. To do this, the Foundation is working to raise $17.3 million. The CSCPA Board of Directors has pledged $10,000 a year for the next five years to the campaign to help increase the numbers of accounting faculty nationwide.

CSI for CPAsThe AICPA also announced that it will launch a new specialty credential in forensic

Barbara S. Seacrest, CPA

When people learn I’m a CPA, the most common assumptions are: 1) I do taxes, and 2) I work for a large accounting firm (usually one of the Big Four). These are the things people know about the profession because it’s what they see and hear from the news media and movies.

2 NewsAccount www.cocpa.org July/August 2008

accounting this fall—the Certified in Financial Forensics or CFF designation. The credential will combine specialized forensic accounting expertise with the core knowledge and skills that make CPAs among the most trusted business advis-ers. The CFF evolved out of the CPA’s role as the premier provider of forensic accounting services. According to AICPA research, CPAs represented 94 percent of forensic experts hired over the past two years.

Alike in Our DifferencesFor me, it was reassuring to see how we are working to ad-dress our professional needs across the board: large firm, small firm, sole practitioner, industry, government, and education. The broad nature of Barry Melancon’s talk dem-onstrated to me the continued rapid pace of change for our profession. From recruiting to IFRS to small business issues, our profession and the standards that affect us are in a con-stant state of flux—but we’re all in this together. Just as I had the opportunity to network and learn from my counterparts at the AICPA Council meeting, I welcome the opportunity to do the same with all of you as our profession continues to evolve.

Let me hear your thoughts at [email protected]. s

Donate to the 2008

Silent

Auction

The Educational Foundation of CSCPA is sponsoring

its Annual Silent Auction to raise scholarship funds for accounting students attending Colorado colleges and universities. Help make the auction a success by donating one or more items to the event held in conjunction with the CPAs Making a Difference Celebration, Nov. 7, at the Denver Marriott City Center, Denver. Contact Andrea Weelans at the CSCPA office, (303) 741-8612, (800) 523-9082, ext. 112, or e-mail [email protected], and she’ll send you a donation form. She’ll even make arrangements to pick up your items.

The Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,

and your donation is tax deductible.


By Nov. 7, 2008, current Vice Chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Ernest

A. Almonte will be AICPA Chair. And, he’ll be stepping to the microphone to key-note the 2008 CPAs Making A Difference celebration at the Marriott City Center, Denver.

Almonte has served the profession in a vari-ety of ways including Chair of the Institute’s Finance Committee and Audit Committee. He currently is a member of the Strategic Planning Committee. He also chaired the Members in Government Committee.Almonte is the Auditor General of the State of Rhode Island, a position he has held since 1994. He manages a staff of 46 and has over 29 years experience in the accounting profession.

Almonte holds both a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Taxation Degree from Bryant University. He is a graduate of the Senior Executives in State and Local Gov-ernment at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In addition to being a Certified Public Accountant, he also is a Certified Fraud

Examiner, Certified Government Financial Manager, and a Certified Information Tech-nology Professional.

In addition to Almonte’s keynote, we’ll rec-ognize all those attending who’ve become Colorado CPAs since November 2007, in addition to bestowing the 2008 Everyday Heroes and Heroines Awards and the 2008 Distinguished Service Award. The Silent Auction to benefit the Educational Foun-dation scholarship program will be back, too. Watch for complete details, and plan to attend.

Nominate A Hero or HeroineIf you know a CPA who should be consid-ered for the 2008 Everyday Heroes and Heroines Awards, please submit a nomina-tion. The criteria follow, and the nomina-tion deadline is Aug. 31, 2008.

To nominate a CPA, please send a narrative, not to exceed three pages, explaining why you believe the candidate should receive this award and including as much detail as possible on the person’s accomplishments. Nominees must hold a CPA certificate and be a member in good standing of the Colorado Society of CPAs. They also should be “everyday” heroes and heroines who may not have been recognized widely for their contributions.

Nominees should demonstrate significant service in one or more of the following areas:

• Involvement: Describe the nominee’s level(s) of involvement; length of involvement; and time devoted to non-profit organization(s) and community activities.

• Leadership: Describe the nominee’s position(s) held and substantial accomplishments achieved in a community organization, including taking the lead in identifying and solving a problem, founding or rescuing

an organization, or developing an innovative program.

• Impact: Describe how the nominee’s actions benefited the community, im-proved the overall quality of life, helped others overcome adversity, or served as a role model for CPAs exemplifying the profession’s core values of integrity, competency, and objectivity.

Submit your nomination to Terry McGrail at the CSCPA office, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., Ste. 1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847, or via e-mail at [email protected].

Nominate a CPA forDistinguished Service The Distinguished Service Award rec-ognizes an individual for his or her many contributions to the profession. Unlike the heroes and heroines who make an impact on their communities and workplaces, this award honors an individual who through his or her work within the CPA profession has made a significant and lasting impres-sion either in Colorado and/or nationally. Previous recipients include former U.S. Senator Hank Brown, Dr. Jerome Kessel-man, Gordon Scheer, Marvin Stone, A. Marvin Strait, William T. Diss, R. Calvin Bennett, Michael D. Weatherwax, and Philip E. Doty, the 2007 recipient.

To nominate someone for this prestigious award, submit a written nomination includ-ing the individual’s curriculum vitae. Letters of reference from other individuals or organizations also may be included. Send nominations for the Distinguished Service Award to Liz Julin at the CSCPA office, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., Ste. 1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847, or via e-mail at [email protected]

Nominations Deadline August 31, 2008

CPAs Making A Difference

AICPA Chair To Keynote Gala2008 Heroes & Heroines Sought

Ernest A. Almonte, CPA


Legislation SignedOn July 1, 2008, House Bill 08-1138 became effective. Concerning “the authority of the (Colorado) Department of Revenue to as-sess penalties against professional tax re-turn preparers who understate tax liabili-ties,” the new legislation was sponsored by Rep. Alice Borodkin (D-Denver) and Sen. Jim Isgar (D-Hesperus). It added the fol-lowing new section to the Colorado Revised Statutes:

Sec. 39-22-621 Interest and penalties. (2) (g.5)(I) If a tax return or a claim for refund is prepared, for compensation, by a person other than the taxpayer and if an understatement of liability with respect to such return or claim is due to the preparer’s willful or reckless disregard of applicable laws or rules, as evidenced by the repeated assertion of a position that the preparer knew or should have known did not have a re-alistic possibility of being sustained on its merits, there shall be collected from the preparer a penalty of five hundred dollars. If the tax return preparer is employed by another person in the business of tax return preparation and if the employer either ordered the un-derstatement of liability or had knowl-edge of the understatement of liability and did not attempt to prevent the tax return preparer from making the un-derstatement of liability, an equivalent penalty may also be collected for each tax return or claim for refund prepared as described in this paragraph (g.5).

The new law specifically exempts Colorado CPAs, however it provides that the Depart-ment’s executive director may disclose the name of a Colorado CPA who would oth-erwise fall under the new penalty to the Colorado State Board of Accountancy. Also exempted is any person who is “regularly or continuously employed by another, and acting at the direction of the employer, pre-pares that employer’s return or claim for re-fund,” and any person who “furnishes only typing, reproducing, or other ministerial

or administrative assistance to a tax return preparer.” To review the legislation, log on to www.cocpa.org/temp_articles/house-bill-08-1138.pdf.

The Colorado Society of CPAs legislative team worked closely with Rep. Borodkin and the Department in crafting the legisla-tion. The exemption resulted from the fact that CPAs are regulated by the Colorado State Board of Accountancy, as well as sub-ject to Circular 230 and the purview of the Internal Revenue Service in the preparation of tax returns for compensation.

State Board ActivitiesOn June 25, 2008, the Colorado State Board of Accountancy held its first preparatory meeting to discuss the issues and initiatives likely to arise during Sunset Review of the Board, a process it undergoes periodically (currently every five years). The review it-self, which will be conducted by the state’s Office of Policy and Research, will result in recommendations to the Colorado General Assembly for consideration during the 2010 legislative session. At the public meeting, the Board members, staff, and representa-tives from various organizations including the Colorado Society of CPAs, discussed possible changes to the Colorado Accoun-tancy Act. They included adoption of the 150-hour education requirement, inclusion of mandatory peer review for attest engage-ments, and various housekeeping amend-ments.

The Board plans to hold several public meetings on Sunset-related matters in the coming months. For details, log on to the Colorado State Board of Accountancy Web site at www.dora.state.co.us/accountants/board/notices.htm. Also, note that the Board’s regular monthly meetings generally are held on the last Wednesday, and they also are open to the public, except for the con-fidential portion during which the Board considers matters under investigation.

On August 6, 2008, House Bill 08-1226, concerning practice mobility for out-of-

state CPAs, sponsored by Rep. Mike May (R-Parker) and Sen. Jennifer Veiga (D-Denver), became effective. The State Board currently is working on rules to implement the new law which permits CPAs from other jurisdictions to provide services in Colo-rado without requiring a Colorado CPA certificate or notification, without paying a fee, and with simultaneous consent on the CPA’s part to the jurisdictional authority of the Colorado State Board of Accountancy. For a copy of the legislation, log on to www.cocpa.org/temp_articles/housebill-08-1226.pdf.

For more information on these and other legislative and regulatory issues, contact CSCPA CEO Mary E. Medley at [email protected], (303) 741-8601, or (800) 523-9082, ext. 101. s

Colorado Adopts New Tax Preparer PenaltiesState Board Prepares for Sunset Review

Legislative and Regulatory News

In MemoriamWe regret the loss of the

following CSCPA members. We extend our sympathy to

their families and friends.

Jerry G. KingPueblo, CO

Member since 1968

Dr. Terry L. LantryFort Collins, CO

Member since 1973

Eugene ShoppellHouston, TX

Member since 1955

Robert G. ToneLakewood, CO

Member since 1962


The Partner Gap

Retention Update

By Natalie G. Rooney

While the supply and demand for new accounting graduates is close to equilibrium these days, a vacuum still exists at the six- to eight-year experience level. In a few years, the newest crop of candidates will have enough experience under their collective belts to fill the gap, but if individuals in that critical six- to eight-year bracket continue to leave the profession, who will be the partners of tomorrow?

A Reversal of FortuneTalk about a 180 degree turn. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, we were reading doom and gloom stories about how there weren’t enough students choosing to major in accounting. Instead, they were flocking to finance and IT with hopes of cashing in on lucrative positions within the dot-com industry. Colleges, universities, the AICPA, and state CPA societies went into overdrive to market the profession to students. But now, thanks to things like the dot-com bust and various industry scandals, the accounting profession has once again hit its stride. The media has even used the word “sexy” to describe the profession today.

As a result, students are choosing to major in accounting in record numbers. In fact, the AICPA’s publication, 2008 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits, reveals that in 2006-2007, total graduates in Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs were up 19 percent over the three-year period since the 2003-2004 survey. This is the highest number of graduates since the survey began in 1971-1972.

Entry-level job Web site CollegeGrad.com has ranked accounting as the college major most sought after by employers for filling entry-level jobs. Employers predict that accounting students and graduates will comprise 23 percent of their entry-level hires, 30 percent of internship hires, and 24 percent of master’s level hires.

“From what I can gather, we’ve reached equilibrium in supply and demand for new hires,” says Ron Reed, Ph.D., CPA, professor of accounting and Wall Street Journal Fellow at the University of Northern Colorado’s Monfort College of Business. “The shortage of accoun-tants no longer exists in the one- to six- or seven-year experience period. We don’t have an excess by any means, but we don’t have the shortage that we had in ’03 and ’04.”

Who Are the Partners of Tomorrow?


Instead, the shortage has been pushed along the experience curve and now exists in the six- to eight-year range, reflecting the time when so many students were choosing to pursue different majors. Those who did major in accounting and now are in the six- to eight-year experi-ence bracket are either leaving public accounting or aren’t choosing to pursue the partner track.

“The profession is facing a difficult challenge to retain senior and manager level people,” says Jack Allgood, CPA, tax partner with Anton Collins Mitchell LLP (ACM) in Denver. “It appears that people in the six- to eight-year experience range have fewer aspira-tions to become partner than in decades past. We all are seeing that,” Allgood notes.

The Partner GapAllgood and Reed agree that several factors have combined to create the perfect storm that is causing the partners of today to wonder who will lead their organizations in the future.

Women have represented more than half of accounting gradu-ates for the past decade, and while this has helped bring about changes such as flexible work schedules and more at-tention to work/life balance, the higher percentage of fe-males also has contributed to the partner gap. Allgood says that in general, women in the profession do not aspire to become a partner at the same rate as their male counterparts. With that said, even males fol-lowing the public accounting career path these days are thinking twice before committing to the partnership track. They’re seeking the work/life balance that was so elusive in the profession over the course of the last three decades and which caused would-be partners to leave for perceived greener pas-tures in industry and other areas.

“We are finding it hard to attract seniors and managers into the part-ner track,” Allgood says. “The profession has been viewed as working long, intense hours, and it’s hard for senior staff and managers to want to aspire to that. People are more concerned about lifestyle now. The big challenge is retaining the brightest people we have and

setting a career path for them. That’s what we’re focusing on, but there’s a real vacuum there.”

Allgood says his firm provides work/life balance and flexible sched-ules, “but a lot of firms don’t make that an easy track.” Some of the ways ACM is working to bring balance for their employees include giving the entire staff every other Friday off during the summer months, regularly scheduling celebrations and trips outside the of-fice, and balancing work production schedules so people can see when their workload will lighten.

Reed says the partner gap is especially pronounced in tax practices. “Tax has struggled in the seven- to nine-year experience range,” he says. “People with that level of experience either stay at that point or leave the profession altogether. Even if a firm is looking to other CPA

firms for talent, it takes a lot of money for someone at that experience level to move. At that point, you’re getting pretty close to knowing if you’re going to be a partner, so why would you move?”

Will History Repeat Itself?Maybe the ebb and flow of ac-counting graduates over the years is just history repeating itself. One year liberal arts is the “it” degree. The next year business is the “it” degree. These are factors that will con-tinue to affect the accounting profession’s supply chain.

But what about those individu-als who obtain their accounting degree, work in the profession,

and then leave? “That’s always been the case,” Reed says. “I think the profession fosters that because you can do just about anything with an accounting degree. If you don’t like working in public accounting, there are opportunities wherever you might want to go.”

The simple fact, according to both Reed and Allgood, is only a limited number of people want to be on the partner track. Reed says most individuals who enter public accounting after graduation don’t have any idea what they’re getting into. And despite firms’ best attempts, providing meaningful work/life balance to lower level staff can be difficult to achieve.

Continued on page 8 . . .

“The big challenge is retaining the

brightest people and setting a career

path for them.”

Jack Allgood, CPA


“I’d like to say that balance is there,” Reed notes. “But it’s hard for the person at the bot-tom, and students don’t like that they can’t control their lives very well during busy sea-son.” With no changes in sight, they burn out and move on.

Allgood says that while there have been trends and a cycli-cal nature to the profession, it’s dangerous to assume a trend is going to repeat itself and that the problem of filling positions and retaining employees will go away. “At ACM, we don’t feel we can say that this ‘trend’ will reverse,” he says. “I have to assume that we have to adapt. We have to change. We have to do what we can to attract seniors and managers to the partner level.”

Part of the effort to change is bridging the generation gap and con-vincing current partners it’s necessary to make becoming partner more appealing—a change of mindset at the top. “Would I rather expect everyone to work hard and turn future potential partners off, or offer the work/life balance that makes becoming a partner attrac-tive?” Allgood ponders. “I have no interest in going back to the time where the rules said you have to work hard your whole life. We all welcome the change, and it’s the evolution of the workforce bringing that change about.”

Bridging the Partner GapTrends show that only about half of existing senior staff and man-ager-level people plan on spending the next ten years in accounting. “That’s who our next partners are, so if we expect to lose half of them over the next ten years, that’s going to create an even more significant void than we have now,” Allgood observes.

“The only way the six- to eight-year bubble goes away is over time,” Reed notes. “You have all those people you’ve continually hired, and hopefully retained, and it takes a couple more years for that bubble to get pushed out. Of course, all of this depends on a firm’s ability to manage and keep its people,” he adds.

Richard G. Rinehart, CPA, founder of GRANT Partners, LLC, spe-cializes in helping CPA firms with management consulting and stra-tegic and business planning services, including critical recruiting and retention issues. As retention becomes more critical to firms’ futures and succession planning, Rinehart offers succinct advice.

Begin with a Road MapRinehart says the road map is basically a career path for professionals. “You can say to them, ‘If you come to work for our firm, here’s the path to partnership,’” Rinehart says. “You outline what’s expected personally, professionally, and technically, the soft skills they’ll need, and the business develop-ment skills they’ll need through the course of their career so that when the opportunity presents itself, they’ll be ready. This is a

very important aspect of retention because your goal is to get people to stay for a career.”

Make the career interesting, enticing, challenging, and rewarding, Rinehart suggests. Your goal is for a young CPA to say: “This is a place that will help me grow and that cares about me and about my professional development.”

Share and Share AlikeRinehart adds that one of the biggest mistakes current partners make is holding onto the best parts of public accounting and not sharing them with younger staffers. “Public accounting is about relation-ships, helping people, and doing good work,” he says. While financial rewards also play a role, Rinehart believes it’s the intangible rewards that can provide the big payoff. “When someone can say, ‘I really helped solve that problem,’ or ‘I was there when that client needed financial advice,’ or ‘We just saved that amount in taxes,’ those are the important things.”

Share client relationships with your developing professionals as op-posed to just passing all of the work down to them. The interaction benefits both firm growth and employee retention. Partners who don’t expose their staff to client relationships will stall, Rinehart as-serts. Partners need to let go of the relationships and some of the more complex work. “The classic thought process is: Why should I show them how to do it? I could do it faster myself,” Rinehart says. “Partners have to stop doing that.”

Rinehart notes that when partners hold their cards too close to the vest about opportunities and performance and don’t celebrate suc-cesses with employees, a disconnect occurs. You’re not trying to win a poker game, so put your cards on the table and share the celebra-tory wealth. If you just got a new client, celebrate it with your staff.

Continued from page 7 . . . You’re not trying to win a poker game,

so put your cards on the table

and share the celebratory wealth.


Just had your best year ever? Share the information and success with everyone. Individuals who want to make partner, and who you want to make partner, need information to make decisions. Give them the information they need about how the firm is doing. Don’t keep them guessing.

Relate to Your CandidatesRetention begins with hiring, which means your hiring process needs to screen for the qualities and traits you want in a future partner. When Rinehart speaks to college students, he tells them about “executive presence”—which he defines as the way you hold yourself when you meet someone for the first time and the way you engage and listen.

“Look for people with executive presence, who demonstrate leader-ship and the ability to work with others, more so than their grades in their accounting classes,” Rinehart suggests.

Rinehart frequently discovers that current partners are doing the recruiting. “You’ve got these 28- to 32-year olds looking across this chasm,” he says, referring to the age difference. “We don’t relate to them. You’ve got to get younger people involved in recruiting. Face it—you look like their parents. Put a younger person with some mox-ie out there.”

How do firms respond to this advice? “Some get it. Some don’t,” he observes. “People have always left public accounting,” Rinehart says. “If 10 people go in, only one becomes partner. The other nine go on to something else—controller, CFO, business owner, consulting.” It’s all part of the ebb and flow, he says.

Rinehart hears complaints from clients that they don’t have people ready to become partner. They feel because of the age and experience gap, they’re stuck. But Rinehart contends if firms really focus on ac-tive, successful, professional development programs, “they can solve their problems by growing their people.” s


Prepare your 20-Something Employee for Career Success

When I talk with training or human resources professionals who’ve invited me to speak for

their organizations, one of the first things I hear is that this new crop of 20-something employees is different. On the good side, they’re innovative, entrepreneurial, and de-voted to changing business for the better. On the negative side, they tend to come into their first jobs with a sense of entitlement, like it’s the responsibility of management to further their careers. And even though they have just finished school, today’s 20-some-things already know everything and want to get ahead right now.

Because of what they don’t learn in college, 20-somethings typically experience lower productivity and higher turnover than other employees. You should recognize, though, that simple training could make a difference in the degree to which they can contribute to the bottom line and increase your internal rate of return. I’ll highlight a few key lessons you need to share with them.

• Teach them the role of a mature profes-sional. In their first jobs, 20-somethings meet lots of people important to their fu-ture success. To make the most of these in-teractions, they must develop a strong cor-porate persona—of the mature, profes-sional, and compe-tent face they project at work. You can help them achieve this by providing instruction on appropriate dress and appearance, effec-tive on-the job com-munication, social be-havior, and attitude.

• Help them to establish profitable rela-tionships. The 20-something employee needs to take responsibility for becoming professionally and socially integrated into his or her new department. Help by teach-ing strategies for getting to know fellow managers and navigating your company’s social scene. Basic networking skills and company-sponsored mentorship programs are useful as well.

• Encourage them to show controlled ini-tiative. Today’s 20-somethings are blaz-ing trails of ambitious fire. But have them look for ways to prove their worth, while still starting small (where their inevitable mistakes don’t hurt so much). Help them find a niche by asking them probing ques-tions such as: What does the company or department need, and how can you use your unique set of skills and talents to pro-vide it?

• Help them master skills that will take them anywhere. New 20-something em-ployees should be taught to de-emphasize the importance of getting promoted as soon as possible. Rather, they should focus on making the most of their first jobs by

setting short- and long-term career goals and developing critical, transferable skills such as problem-solving, time manage-ment, oral and written communication, and risk-taking, that will be useful no mat-ter where they go or what they do.

• Show them how to be proactive about their own career growth. Rather than just facilitating the review process, HR professionals should coach new 20-some-thing employees on how to approach reviews strategically. Review objectives that you can help them set that include solicit-ing feedback from their manager, identify-ing new goals and growth opportunities, and hammering out a long-term promo-tion plan.

These recommendations require an invest-ment in 20-something employees that your company might be reluctant to make. But just think about how much productivity you can conserve by doing a day of “Welcome to the Business World” training at the beginning of a career, before a single preventable mis-take is ever made. And, since well-prepared and successful employees are happy employ-ees, you’ll keep your 20-somethings longer

than your competitors— and long enough for them to make measur-able contributions to the organization. s Alexandra Levit is the author of Success for Hire: Simple Strate-gies to Find and Keep Outstanding Employees. E-mail her at www.alex-andralevit.com.

What Does Leadership

Mean to You?“Leadership is best described as an on-going function of setting the proper direction and vision, aligning the appropriate people into the right positions (I have heard this aspect described as not only getting the right people on the bus but also getting them in the right seats) and then inspiring and motivating them to achieve the desired results.”

Ronald L. Seigneur, CPA CSCPA Vice Chair

By Alexandra Levit


Win the Talent War Develop the Middle

Retaining and attracting talent con-tinues to sit at the top of the list of challenges facing accounting

firms. Perks such as flex-time and in-office massage therapists during tax season are bandages rather than solutions. Until firms focus on the root prob-lem—little or no de-velopment of the firm’s middle management—they will struggle to keep the best people.

People Leave Bad Managers—Not FirmsThe adage—people do not leave bad firms; they leave bad managers— has never been more relevant. Generations X and Y are flooding the workplace, and they are significantly differ-ent from Baby Boomers and those who came be-fore them.

Instilling loyalty to keep employees around is not enough. A firm must of-fer the total package—a pleasant work environ-ment, work/life balance, and opportunities to succeed and develop. The best way to make certain they get the to-tal package is to match them up with good managers.

Where Does a Firm Find Good Managers?They are probably sitting in an office or cu-bicle somewhere inside your firm. They sim-ply haven’t been given the attention and sup-port to grow from being good to great. Most

firms look for the magic bullet, but there isn’t one—they must invest in mid-level em-ployees in order to maximize their potential. Here are some of the most significant issues holding firms back, along with potential so-lutions.

Consequences of Not Developing the MiddleSo what are the consequences of not devel-oping your mid-level people? It will affect your firm on multiple fronts.

Financial – Obviously, if you lose people—especially the best and most experienced—the firm will have to make a significant in-

vestment to recruit and hire replacements. This investment will invariably outweigh the one required to develop those you already employ.

Culture – It is burdensome to sustain a thriv-ing work culture when employees come and go.

Human Resources – If the HR department is constantly transitioning employees in and out, it is taking away from ef-forts that pay off in the long run—making the work experience better for existing employees.

Process – Certain people have better opportuni-ties for employment be-cause they are talented and possess extraordi-nary potential. If your firm is like most, it does not plan and document its processes. As a result, even the best employees cannot execute to their full potential.

Succession Planning – The sustainability of your firm and its cul-ture are better served by developing leaders from within. Providing

opportunities to develop a well-rounded skill set results in a pool of future leaders throughout the firm. s Jim Boomer, CPA, MBA, is CIO and Senior Consultant with Boomer Consulting, Inc., a provider of consulting services and intellectual capital to the accounting profession. E-mail him at [email protected].

Issues Ownership is compensated

on a book of business and

chargeable hours. Mid-level

employees feel pressure

to work on clients at the

expense of working on the

firm and helping employees

develop skills.

Training plans are techni-

cally focused and are only

a means to meeting CPE

requirements.

Succession planning is ad-

dressed only as necessary,

meaning the firm likely

hires from the outside.

SolutionsDevelop a goal-oriented

compensation system

including a balanced

scorecard that focuses on

financial and non-financial

success factors. Include

management and soft-skill

development.

Foster a training and learn-

ing culture that focuses on

CPE, soft skills, leadership,

and management.

Shift focus to the future

and develop talent at all

levels—especially the oft-

ignored.

By Jim Boomer, CPA, MBA, CIO


Dealing with technical complexity and finding and retaining qualified staff are among the top practice management issues facing CPAs and CPA firms, based on the 2007 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) Top MAP Issues Survey. The survey gathers information from a wide range of practitioners in firms of various sizes to get a snapshot of the most critical challenges. For the first time this year, PCPS is releas-ing five separate Top MAP Issues lists that reflect the views of CPAs who are sole practitioners and those in firms with two to five profession-als, six to ten professionals, 11 to 20 professionals, and more than 21 professionals.

“CPAs can use these lists to bench-mark their own experiences against those of other practitioners in firms much like their own,” says Jim Met-zler, AICPA Vice President, Small Firm Interests. “They can confirm that similar practices are facing the same challenges and identify trends that will affect their own firms as they grow. In addition, we at PCPS use the data to create programs and resources to meet member needs.”

It is interesting to note that mar-keting/practice growth and client retention—two challenges that appeared on the 2005 PCPS Top MAP Issue lists—do not appear on any of the 2007 lists. Instead, in 2007, CPAs’ main concerns are maintaining their technical com-petence and finding and keeping high-quality staff.

For sole practitioners, tax complex-ity and concerns about standards and technology dominate the list,

with work/life balance another important consideration. Find-ing qualified staff at all levels is the most critical concern for all other firms, underscoring the staffing cri-sis facing the profession.

Retention—a separate issue—grows more important as firm size increases. The survey listed this issue separately from hiring for the first time this year to get a bet-ter understanding of what kind of challenge recruiting and retention each pose for firms. The results by firm size were enlightening. Keeping up with new regulations and standards is the #2 issue for all firms with up to 20 profession-als. Succession planning is a major concern for all firms with six or more professionals and developing new partners is an issue for firms with 11 or more professionals. The chief issues facing practices with 21 or more professionals all involve human capital concerns.

Given the greater appreciation of and demand for CPA services in re-cent years, CPAs apparently worry less these days about developing new business than they did in the past. CPAs’ main concerns now re-volve around maintaining technical competence and finding and keep-ing high-quality staff.

You can find a review of all the Top MAP issues—and a listing of resources for each subject area—at pcps.aicpa.org/Resources/Firm+Strategy+and+Planning/PCPS+Map+Top+Issues+Survey.htm. s

Technical Complexity and Staffing Dominate Survey Results

PCPS Top MAP Issues

Top 5 IssuesSole PractitionersTax complexity and changesEffect of new regulations and

standards on small firmsKeeping up with standards

Keeping up with technologyWork/life balance initiatives

Firms with 2-5 Professionals

Finding qualified staff at all levelsEffect of new regulations and

standards on small firmsTax complexity and changesKeeping up with standards

Retaining qualified staff at all levels



standards on small firmsRetaining qualified staff at all levels

Keeping up with standardsDeveloping a succession plan



standards on small firmsRetaining qualified staff at all levels

Keeping up with standardsDeveloping a succession plan

Firms with 21 or More Professionals

Finding qualified staff at all levelsRetaining qualified staff at all levels

Developing new partnersWork/life balance initiatives

Management of human resourcesSeasonality/workload compression


As CPAs we assist our clients with their tax and financial needs. Parsonex provides innovative Mortgage Planning strategies that show families how to use the leverage in their homes to free up cash, reduce debt, and invest for their financial goals and dreams.

Our Commitment To Your ClientsIf they could….

• Get out of debt sooner and see it in writing• Save 25-50% on their mortgage payment• Increase their monthly cash flow• Increase their tax savings• Dramatically improve their financial position

Do you think they would be interested in exploring these options?

As a CPA you owe it to your clients to find out the concepts we are teaching. We are currently expanding into 40 states. To check out the business opportunities available, please visit www.parsonex.com and/or contact Karl R. Peacock, CPA at (303) 734-0262 or [email protected].

“…U.S. households that are accelerating their mortgage payment instead of saving in tax-deferred accounts

are making the wrong choice.” Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, August 2006

SAVE THE DATE

CPAs Making A DifferenceCelebration

November 7, 2008Marriott City Center, Denver

For information, contact Terry McGrail, [email protected], (303) 741-8610,

or (800) 523-9082, ext. 110.


By Ron Klein, JD, CFEWhen Jerome Kerviel caused some $7.2 bil-lion in losses for the French bank Societé Generale in January 2008, the subsequent investigation showed that two basic rules of internal control had been broken and had enabled the trader to avoid the attention of his managers. One of them was described by Kerviel himself when he spoke with inves-tigators: “The simple fact that I didn’t take vacation days in 2007 should have alerted my managers. That’s one of the first rules of internal controls. A trader who doesn’t take vacation is a trader who doesn’t want to leave his book to someone else.”1

The second rule was broken when Kerviel knew the specific days when checks on trad-ing activity were conducted to detect large and overly risky trading positions. He would hack into the bank’s computer systems to get around the checks when they occurred. The rule is: Don’t be predictable in audit proce-dures; don’t adjust to client schedules or an-nounce the timing, location, or nature of the procedures.

Other rules that would apply in this and other situations that often confront CPAs include:

• Make it harder for anyone to determine the mechanisms used by the auditor in detect-ing fraud; and

• Think in terms of a worst-case fraud scenario for the client (i.e., look for fraud).

Fraud often goes undetected until it’s too late, partly because it’s committed by employees who are trusted and whose activ-ity is not verified. There is a natural human tendency to assume that one’s associates and co-workers are basically honest, but this as-sumption can lead to a climate of denial in which fraud is difficult to detect.

A study by Hollinger and Clark of 12,000 employees over a 20-year period found that 90 percent of them engaged in work-place behaviors like sick-time abuses, pil-ferage, workplace slowdowns, and shirking assigned work. More surprisingly, one-third of employees had stolen mon-ey or merchandise from employers.2 The

assumption that “our people wouldn’t do that” is often incorrect.

There are a number of warning signs indicating that a person may be at risk of committing fraud. These include:

• unresolved financial problems,• compulsive gambling, • alcohol or drug abuse, and • close relationships with a supplier who

might conspire in a fraud.

Other signs that should cause concern in-clude employees who:

• never take a vacation, • work late all the time, • constantly seem to live beyond their means,

and • are secretive about their work.

One of the most common reasons employees commit fraud has to do with motivation—the more dissatisfied the employee, the more likely he or she is to engage in criminal behavior. Employ-ees who feel unfairly treated and harbor resentment toward their employers often rationalize embezzlement as “getting back what they owe me.”

CPAs should make every effort to advise and warn clients about fraud risks. CAMICO, the Colorado Soci-ety of CPAs-sponsored provider of professional liability insurance cover-age, recommends two types of letters in this area:

• Engagement letters for all types of engagements to help bridge the “expectation gap” between what the

client expects and what the CPA delivers. Clearly spell out the work you and others will perform and what you expect from the client. Describe the limitations of the work, especially as it pertains to de-tecting fraud.

• Advisory letters to warn clients about the general risks, to suggest steps cli-ents can take to reduce risks, and to offer annual CPA services to help reduce the risks.

An informed client is better able to avoid fraud. If fraud later is uncovered, the CPA has documented evidence of the warning. Clients also need to be notified of “loose ends” such as sloppy bookkeeping and late bank reconciliations.

On the bright side, many clients expect their CPAs to give them advice about potential weaknesses in their financial operations. When CPAs meet this expectation, they in-crease their perceived value and create prac-tice opportunities. s

Footnotes1 Bloomberg.com, January 30, 20082 Journal of Accountancy (AICPA),

“Why Employees Commit Fraud,” by Joseph T. Wells, February 2001

Ron Klein, JD, CFE, is vice president—claims counsel with CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company (www.camico.com). He is responsible for advising the claims department, especially on high exposure claims, and is the chief claims strategist.

Reprinted with permission from CAMICO. All rights are reserved.

Identifying High-Risk Employees


Congratulations to the following Colorado high school students who were awarded the Educational Foundation of the Colorado Society of CPAs Fall Scholarships. They each received $1000 to help them pursue their accounting education.

Ruslan Garrey, Loveland, graduate from Loveland High, has been accepted at the Uni-versity of Denver, majoring in accounting.

Casey Bennett, Denver, graduate from Den-ver Lutheran High, has been accepted at the University of Denver, majoring in account-ing.

Jillian Birely, Aurora, graduate from Ran-geview High, has been accepted at Colorado State University at Fort Collins, majoring in business accounting.

Kristi Fogelsonger, Buena Vista, graduate from Buena Vista High, has been accepted at the University of Colorado at Boulder, ma-joring in accounting.

Whitney Hatfield, Stratton, graduate from Stratton Middle/High, has been accepted at Colorado State University at Fort Collins, majoring in business administration, em-phasis in accounting.

Allison Iuppa, Trinidad, graduate from Trinidad High, has been accepted at the Uni-versity of Denver, majoring in accounting.

Megan Woodruff, Fort Lupton, graduate from Fort Lupton High, has been accepted at Colorado State University at Fort Collins, majoring in business administration, em-phasis in accounting.

Kassidi Warnock, Colorado Springs, gradu-ate from Liberty High, has been accepted at the University of Colorado at Boulder, ma-joring in accounting.

Kelsey Taylor, Parker, graduate from Pon-derosa High, has been accepted at Regis Uni-versity, majoring in accounting.

Patricia Sanger, Parker, graduate from Chaparral High, has been accepted at Mesa State College, majoring in accounting.

Jonathan Kaiser, Lakewood, graduate from Green Mountain High, has been accepted at the University of Denver, majoring in ac-counting.

The Educational Foundation also provides scholarships to accounting students already attending Colorado community colleges and accredited Colorado colleges and universi-ties. For scholarship information, contact Foundation executive director Andrea Wee-lans at the CSCPA office, [email protected], (303) 741-8612, or (800) 523-9082, ext. 112, or log on to the CSCPA Web site at www.cocpa.org.

Fall Scholarship Recipients NamedEducational Foundation News


Planning Your Exit— or Entry—StrategyBy Natalie G. Rooney

It seems we’re always in a state of transition: Graduating from college, sitting for the CPA exam for the first time, earning the CPA des-ignation, landing that first job, making a job change, earning a promotion, making partner. For some, it’s time to think about cutting back on hours or maybe selling, merging, or retiring. The list is endless, and everyone’s transition experience is different. For the next few issues, we’ll look at professional transitions CSCPA members are facing and some suggestions for meeting the challenges head on.

Buy/Sell/Merge: How Are Firm Owners’ Options Changing?Once upon a time, if you started your own CPA firm, you worked diligently over the years to build your practice. You built a strong, high-quality firm through long hours, a reputation for excellent work, and loyal clients. Business was brisk—you had a full client list, and people contacted you constantly to ask if you would be their CPA firm. And when you were ready, you sold your practice for a tidy sum and retired to live happily ever after in the Cayman Islands or the Colorado mountains.

These days the fairy tale has a slightly differ-ent ending.

Rewriting the Fairy TaleThe entire environment in which public ac-counting firms operate today has changed, which has inevitably changed the options available to firm owners as they plan their exit strategies. Those who originally planned to sell their firms and retire may find few interested buyers today. Why? Because in-dividuals who would typically be in the ex-perience range to buy a firm right now just aren’t there. When individuals who would now have about eight to ten years of public accounting experience were choosing a ma-jor in college or looking for their first jobs in the mid- to late-90’s, they weren’t choosing accounting. Instead, they were flocking to careers in finance and IT.

Those who did major in accounting were

taking a step back and asking themselves if they really wanted to stay in public account-ing long term. The owners and partners these young CPAs saw in action worked long hours, seemed like they were under a lot of pressure, and didn’t appear to have much work/life balance. Many got out of public accounting to pursue what seemed like a more balanced lifestyle in other areas of the profession, such as industry, nonprofit, and government.

The result is a shortage of experienced staff and typical buyers, reports CSCPA member Albert S. Williams, who has 30 years of ex-perience consulting with CPA firms as they buy and sell practices. The staff shortage is coupled with an excess of client work and demands, as well. And while the increased work comes with increased fees and profit-ability, “there are very few CPAs wanting to buy firms now,” Williams says.

Who’s Doing What and WhyFirm owners’ reasons for conveying (selling) or merging their practices vary widely. Some are ready to retire or change their lifestyle and plan to sell outright. Others want to sell but cut back their hours remain a part of the practice. Often, sellers are burnt out, tired of taxes, accounting, and the demands of busy season, and they may feel bogged down by practice management issues.

Today’s buyers don’t fall into one specific de-mographic, either. Buyers’ ages range from the early-30’s all the way to the mid-60’s, says Fred Mehring, owner of Select Busi-ness Group, Inc., which brokers sales of CPA firms and other businesses. One of Meh-ring’s sales, to a 64-year-old, was the result of a seller who wanted to cut back on work and a buyer who wanted more work. The seller was actually younger than the buyer in this case.

Regardless of age or gender, buyers have several things in common. “They want to be their own boss and control their own destiny,” Mehring notes. “They’re an entre-preneurial type of person who wants to run the whole show and doesn’t want to work for anyone else. They’re results and goal ori-

ented.”Mergers are often a way to grow a practice and benefit both firms involved. David Laundy, CPA, managing partner for Clifton Gunderson LLP’s (CG) Rocky Moun-tain Client Service Center, has been involved in multiple mergers. Laundy sums up CG’s key merger driver in one word: Talent. With a gaping hole in the eight- to 10-year experience bracket, acquiring a firm with these individ-uals benefits CG immensely. “We’re looking to supplement our existing marketplace, and we do that by adding talent that fits into our core services and niche practice,” Laundy says. “We don’t want to buy clients. We’re really looking to add to our overall people and talent base.”

Laundy observes that a merger often helps the merged firm take its client service to the next level through access to new resources. Entering a new strategic market also may drive a merger. The bottom line: “We need to feel that 1 + 1 = 3,” Laundy says.

MatchmakingSteve Wenner, CPA, managing partner of Silvestain & Company LLC, Greenwood Vil-lage, wants to continue to grow his firm and has acquired several firms through Williams. “Al knows our practice, and he has made matches for us before,” Wenner says. “He knows the quality and type of practice we want to acquire.” Williams basically keeps an eye out for firms that meet Wenner’s criteria and then handles the due diligence that goes along with the process of conveyance.

Rick Dix, CPA, a partner with Dix Barrett and Stiltner, Englewood, also worked with Williams. His philosophy is growing his business through purchasing other firms.

Transitions


“It costs me up front, but if I’m willing to do the work, they become my good, quality cli-ents,” Dix notes. He adds that through acquisition he can work to retain a client who already has established a relationship with the selling CPA and knows the value of that relationship. “I’d rather be doing accounting work than out soliciting new work through service clubs where

you might come away from a presentation with one client.” Dix emphasizes that the recommendation from the selling CPA is critical to client retention.

The Do’s and Don’ts of the DealConveyances and mergers usually start out as casual conversations before moving to the next level. But even deals that start out with an expression of mutual interest and a hand-shake quickly move into the due diligence phase, requiring more serious discussions by both parties.

If You’re the BuyerWilliams underscores the importance of buying a practice that is closely aligned with your own skills, style, and personality.

• The firm’s business should match your own technical skills—your accounting, tax, and business expertise.

• Practice management styles should be similar. Client documentation, billing styles, and client communication all play important roles. How are the clients used to working with the selling CPA? Don’t make sudden, drastic changes to what cli-ents expect.

• Personal characteristics such as gender, age, race, religion, political views, dress, ap-pearance, personal habits, and overall per-sonality also are important. You don’t have to be from the same mold as the seller, but Williams says extreme contrasts between buyer and seller should be considered.

Williams also suggests thinking as if you’re working on behalf of a client. “Distance yourself. Ask yourself, ‘Would I tell a client to make this acquisition, sale, or merger?’ It’s a strictly business, analytical approach. Be realistic.” Williams says that sometimes CPAs are a lot more astute for clients than they are when working on their own behalf. So, he encourages CPAs to “use your pro-fessional skepticism. Involve your spouse, ask for help, ask someone to look over your shoulder.”

Be alert for anything that doesn’t seem above board, as well, Williams adds. “If you get any refusal to look at documentation that’s not subject to privileged communication, such as financial background on the seller’s practice, that’s a signal you’ve got some problems,” he cautions. Williams also advises having “a frank discussion with the seller about the details of the practice—almost a grading of the clients. Eighty percent of problems arise from 20 percent of the clients.”

Set goals. What type of practice are you go-ing to buy? Is it OK to have a few audits or not? Think about the fee structure and the geographic location. Have general ideas, rather than stringent expectations. Get pre-approved by a lender and know what size of practice you can buy. Buying an existing practice provides immediate cash flow and less risk than a start-up operation.

If You’re the SellerIf you’re thinking about selling your prac-tice, Mehring suggests planning ahead so you present a solid practice and a strong fee structure. “You’d be surprised at how many CPAs haven’t raised their fees in a long time and haven’t kept abreast of the market,” he says.

• Keep a good file system for employers and employees. “This is basic, and the selling

CPA probably recommends it to his or her own clients. He or she needs to do it, too.”

• Stay abreast of technology to make your practice more attractive.

• Sign a short-term premise lease. Your purchaser may want to merge into an ex-isting practice and will have to deal with the lease issues.

• “Have a succession plan,” Mehring says. Unfortunately, few people are doing this.

• Have employees sign non-solicitation /non-competition agreements with the clients.

• Keep accounts receivable current. Meh-ring tells of helping with a sale where a firm had delegated this function to an employ-ee, yet created no accountability. Once the employee was let go, it was discovered the accounts receivable were a mess. “Make sure you have follow through,” he suggests.

• Consider using a professional, local bro-ker who understands the uniqueness of accounting and practice sales. “It can be hard for owners to represent themselves,” Mehring says. A broker can help qualify buyers initially and help determine if skill levels are a good match.

If You’d Like to Merge Your FirmLaundy says that when CG considers merg-ing with another firm, its top concern is com-mitment to staff. “We want to know you’re committed to taking care of your people and growing your staff professionally. We look for a good fit.”

For small firms that might have a partner or group of partners who are planning to cash out, “Don’t wait until the last minute,” Laundy suggests. “If you’ve got good people underneath you and you’re looking to retire in five or six years, start now. We want those key people around and want them involved. They’re critical to having a successful merger, and we want the benefit of their talent, wis-dom, and experience.” s


House Bill 08-1380 is the most substantive change in Colorado income tax law in over 20 years. This new legislation, sponsored by Rep. Cheri Jahn (D-Wheat Ridge) and Sen. Brandon Shaffer (D-Boul-der), was signed by Governor Bill Ritter, May 20. Effective for tax years on or after January 1, 2009, it requires taxpayers doing business in more than one state to apportion their income for Colorado using a single sales factor.

Colorado businesses have traditionally had an an-nual option for apportioning income. A taxpayer could elect to apportion income based on the tra-ditional three-factor apportionment (property, payroll, and sales), or a two-factor apportionment that included only property and sales. (See §§24-60-1301 through 1307 C.R.S. and §§39-22-303(2) through (4) C.R.S.) For example, a corporation doing business in more than one state, and electing three-factor ap-portionment, would apportion its income by summing three frac-tions: in-state payroll divided by total payroll, in-state sales divided by total sales, and the average of in-state property divided by the av-erage of total property and then dividing that sum by three.

As a general rule of thumb, companies that had the bulk of their employees in Colorado benefited from using two-factor apportionment, because it did not use the payroll factor, while out-of-state companies often fared better under three-factor apportionment. That said, there were enough other differences between the two methods of apportionment that prudent tax preparers checked both alternatives to determine which provided the lowest tax liability.

Aside from the factors, the differences between two-factor and three-factor apportionment in-cluded the treatment of throwback sales, busi-ness/nonbusiness income determinations, and variances in the method of calculating the prop-erty factor.

The term “throwback sales” refers to two types of sales: sales of property into a state in which the company is not doing business and thus does not have a filing requirement; and sales to the federal government. For example, a company shipping its proverbial widgets into Kansas, but otherwise having no other contacts with the state, would include, i.e., throwback, the sale in its Colorado sales numerator. Throwback sales were required under three-factor apportionment. There were no throwback sales under two-factor apportionment.

Under three-factor apportionment, a taxpayer would first divide its income into two catego-ries: business income apportioned among all the states in which the taxpayer was doing business and non-business income allocated to a specific jurisdiction. Rental income is a common example of non-business income allocated to the state in which it was earned. There was no distinction be-tween business and non-business income under two-factor apportionment; all income was appor-tionable.

Property was generally valued at cost for three-factor apportionment, and property rentals were included in the property factor by multiplying the rentals by eight. Under two-factor apportionment, the taxpayer could elect to value property at either cost or adjusted basis. In addition, property rentals

were divided between real property, which was multiplied by eight, and tangible personal property rentals, which were multiplied by three. Construction in progress was not included when using three-factor apportionment, and it was never clear whether it should be in-cluded under two-factor apportionment. (See the factor comparison chart summarizing the factor differences on page 19.)

The differences between two-factor and three-fac-tor apportionment provided significant flexibility for many businesses. As a consequence, it was no surprise there was opposition to the new legisla-tion among some in the business community. Given these concerns, the legislative sponsors, the Governor’s office, and the Department of Revenue worked with various taxpayers and their represen-tatives to modify the original legislation.

The key elements of the legislation, other than the use of a single sales factor for sourcing income, in-clude an annual election regarding business/non-business income, a modification to throwback sales, specific sourcing rules for mutual fund com-panies, and a provision regarding net operating loss carryforwards.

One of the modifications to the original legislation was the addition of a provision allowing an annual election to either treat all income as business income or to divide income between business and non-business—apportioning the former and allocat-ing the latter. This modification to the legislation restored some of the flexibility formerly available under the two-factor, three-factor regime.

Colorado Joins the Trend Toward Single Sales Factor ApportionmentBy Pamela M. Feely, CPA and Bruce M. Nelson, CPA

Pamela M. Feely, CPA

Bruce M. Nelson, CPA


A second modification was to restrict throw-backs to non-nexus sales only. The throw-back provision for government sales was eliminated. Thus, the only sales that will be thrown back into the Colorado numerator are those sales into states in which the tax-payer is not doing business.

Under the two-factor, three-factor regime, net operating losses occurring under one method could only be carried forward to a tax year using the same method. In other words, two-factor losses could only be car-ried forward against two-factor years and three-factor losses against three-factor years. Many wondered what would happen to those losses under a single sales factor apportion-ment. The good news is that both losses can be carried forward to years using the new single sales factor apportionment.

Finally, several taxpayers proposed sourcing service sales by market. Currently, only sales of tangible personal property are tradition-ally sourced to the market, or destination, state. Returning to the Kansas widget sales from our earlier example, if the Colorado taxpayer making sales into Kansas was do-ing business there and had a filing obligation with the state, those widget sales would be included in the Kansas numerator. In other words, sales of tangible personal property were sourced by destination for factor ap-portionment.

Service sales, under three-factor appor-tionment, were sourced by the income production activity as measured by cost of performance. For example, if a Colorado architectural firm was hired by a Kansas company to design a building for its Wichita headquarters, and most of that design work was done in Colorado, that sale would be included in the Colorado, not the Kansas, numerator. The cost of performance, or labor, to produce the income occurred in Colorado. As a consequence, service sales in the sales factor often duplicated the payroll factor. (Since the purpose of the sales factor is to measure the contribution of the market state, the fact that cost of performance often ended up duplicating the payroll factor un-dermined the function of the sales factor.)

The sourcing of service sales under two-fac-tor apportionment is not clear. According to the Colorado statute, sales assignable to Col-orado included “revenue from services ren-

dered in Colorado.” [§ 39-22-303(4)(d)(II) C.R.S.] Does this mean the services are ren-dered where they are performed or where they are received? For example, should the architectural firm’s services be sourced to the customer’s location where the design was provided—Wichita, Kansas—or to Colorado where the work was performed? Or to take another example, suppose your company produces market reports for inves-tors. The preparation of the report is done here in Colorado, but the reports themselves are mailed or e-mailed all over the country. Should the report sales be sourced to the customer’s locations or all to Colorado?

Unfortunately, the definition of service sales for two-factor apportionment is used for sourcing service sales under the new single sales factor legislation. Other than the mu-tual fund companies, who were specifically carved out in the legislation, the bill sup-porters declined to either source service sales by market or clarify the meaning of “services rendered in Colorado.” Given the additional weight ascribed to sales that is inherent in the use of single sales apportionment, the proper sourcing of such transactions has be-come financially more significant.

Supporters of HB 1380 argued the bill will simplify tax filings and serve as an eco-nomic incentive for businesses to locate and expand in Colorado. For example, a Colorado company, whose sales are largely out of state, could double its size both in property and employees in the state and its Colorado corporate income tax liability

would not increase one penny. In fact, state fiscal analysts estimated that taxes would increase on roughly 70 percent of the com-panies filing with Colorado and decrease on 30 percent. The increase, arguably, will come largely at the expense of out-of-state companies to the benefit of in-state compa-nies. Overall, however, the bill is estimated to be a net decrease on tax revenues thereby avoiding TABOR, which requires a vote on tax increases.

Critics of the bill maintained the simplifi-cation is largely fictitious. Since most other states still apportion income using three-factor apportionment, multistate taxpay-ers still will have to prepare and maintain the same information regarding Colorado’s factors as before. In addition, critics argued there is no evidence of increased econom-ic development in other states that have adopted a single sales factor. It is safe to say these arguments will continue.

In any case, the new legislation has dramatically changed the landscape for mul-tistate corporate taxpayers. Although the new single sales factor will not go into effect until 2009, wise taxpayers and preparers will begin their preparation and planning now. s Pamela M. Feely, CPA is president of Feely and Associates PC, Lakewood. E-mail her at [email protected]. Bruce M. Nelson, CPA is associated with Silverstein & Pomer-antz LLP, Denver. E-mail him at [email protected].

Factor Comparison 2-Factor 3-Factor Single-Sales Business Income Business/Non-business Income Election

Property valued at Property valued at original cost N/Aoriginal cost or adjusted basis

Real property rentals x 8; All property rentals x 8 N/ATangible personal property x 3 Construction in progress? CIP excluded N/A No throwbacks Throwbacks Throwbacks for non-nexus sales

Gain only from sale Gross receipts from sale of intangibles Gain only from sale of intangible assets of intangible assets

*For an example illustrating the calculations of the new single sales factor, see www.feelycopc.com.



AICPA Program - CNA Insurance Athrough Aon Insurance Services2711 North Haskell Ave., 8th Floor, Dallas, TX 75204Cathy Whitley(214) 989-2363e-mail: [email protected]

CPA Advantage Program A++through Herbert H. Landy Insurance Agency, Inc.75 2nd Ave., Suite 410, Needham, MA 02494John Torvi(800) 336-5422 Fax: (800) 344-5422www.landy.com or e-mail: [email protected]

CPA Mutual Insurance Company of America NARisk Retention Group11801 Research Dr., Alachua, FL 32615-6818Bill Thompson, CPA RPLU (800) 272-0290 or (386) 418-4003 or Fax: (386) 418-4004e-mail: [email protected] or www.cpamutual.com

Lloyd’s of London A-through Betty Harder & Associates84 Chalet Circle, Dawsonville, GA 30534Marketing Department: Betty Harder(800) 998-1414 or (706) 216-6698www.bettyharder.com or e-mail: [email protected]

Lloyd’s of London Athrough AVRECO550 W. VanBuren, Chicago, IL 60607Linda Deiss(800) 776-7475 Fax: (312) 803-2170e-mail: [email protected] or www.avreco.com

Philadelphia Insurance Companies A+10822 W. Toller Drive, Suite 120, Littleton, CO 80127-5084Debbie Elliott(303) 200-5356 Fax: (866) 422-7548www.phly.com or e-mail: [email protected]

Everest National A+through Insight Insurance Services Inc.2000 S. Batavia Ave., Suite 300, Geneva, IL 60134Marketing Department: Kim Stone (800) 447-4626 Fax: (630) 208-7550www.insightinsurance.come-mail: [email protected]

Philadelphia Insurance Companies A+The Hartford A+Navigators Insurance Company AGeneral Star National A++through The Liability Place11402 Benton Ct., Westminster, CO 80020Brent Eppley(800) Quote18 (303) 465-2292 Fax: (303) 465-2272e-mail: [email protected]

Professional Liability InsuranceThe Coverage Alternatives

Colorado Society of CPAs-sponsored Professional Liability Program

CAMICO MUTUAL INSURANCE A-1235 Radio RoadRedwood City, CA 94065-1217(800) 652-1772Shelly Robison, Colorado Representative(800) 652-1772 ext. 2725e-mail: [email protected] for quote and company profile

The following carriers write professional liability insurance for Colorado CPAs. CAMICO is the Colorado Society of CPAs (CSCPA)-sponsored program, available only to CSCPA members. Information on other carriers is provided as well, so you can shop for insurance. You must perform your own due diligence with respect to the coverages offered.

You may call the listed insurers directly, call the local agent where a contact name is provided, or contact the insurance professional who handles your other business insurance coverages to inquire about these carriers. The insurer’s A.M. Best Rating shown is as of April 2008.


TheFASBCodification Project

SEC Corner

Searching multiple authoritative sources complicates the re-search process. For example, using today’s structure, an in-dividual may need to research FASB, EITF, AICPA, and SEC literature to resolve a relatively simple issue. As a result, an individual may inadvertently overlook relevant standards. This exposes various parties to risk—the individual, the or-ganization, the auditors, and the investors.

Codifying all existing U.S. GAAP literature into one au-thoritative source, segregated for private and public com-panies, eliminates the need to research multiple sources. In addition, creating one source allows the FASB to more eas-ily isolate differences in its ongoing effort to converge with international accounting standards.

Creating a codification is a great step, but it is only part of the solution. The codification would be of little value if the standard-setters continue to use the current process for issuing standards because it is “standards focused,” not “codification focused.” To bring lasting change, the standard-setting process must focus the standards on the codification text. By implementing such an approach, con-stituents immediately will know the revised codification language as soon as the standard-setter issues the standard. This approach eliminates delays and ensures an integrated codification.

As the same time that the FASB created the codification, it developed a searchable retrieval system that integrates and leverages the codification and the new standard-setting process. By designing the retrieval system for the codifi-cation and the new standard-setting process, the FASB is able to provide greater functionality and timeliness to constituents.

By Robert L. Poley, CPA

Financial reporting professionals have collectively managed thousands of accounting standards issued over the past 50 years by several accounting standard setters. At the same time, the accounting standards continue

to evolve to the point that individuals believe they cannot keep up. One con-stituent recently summarized: “The proliferation of new standards and differ-ent standard-setting bodies make it almost impossible for a practitioner to feel comfortable {that} he or she has considered all aspects of a particular research issue.” The solution? Codification.

How did the codification and retrieval project start?In 2001, members of Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC) suggested that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) address simplification and codification projects. During 2002 and 2003, the FASB began various projects to address simplification, codification, interna-tional convergence, and other areas of process improvement.

Beginning in early 2004, the FASB renewed its efforts on the codification and retrieval project. It worked with a consultant, the AICPA, and the SEC to de-velop a model that integrates all U.S. GAAP literature into a single authorita-tive codification. Feedback from a recent constituent survey overwhelmingly supported the codification’s development.

In September 2004, the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) Trustees ap-proved funding for the project, which does not include governmental stan-dards issued by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

What is the solution?The concept is simple:

• Restructure all U.S. GAAP literature by topic into a single, authoritative codification.

• Modify the standard-setting process to focus on updating the codifica-tion.


The codification does not change GAAP; instead it reorganizes the thou-sands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and displays all topics using a consistent structure. The SEC guidance fol-lows a similar topical structure in separate SEC sections.

The FASB expects that the new structure and new system will:

• reduce the amount of time and effort required to solve an accounting research issue.

• improve usability of the literature thereby mitigating the risk of noncom-pliance with standards.

• provide real-time updates as new standards are released.

• assist the FASB with the research and convergence efforts required during the standard-setting process.

• become the authoritative source of literature for the completed XBRL taxonomy.

In January 2008, the FASB officially launched the one-year verification phase of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification. During the veri-fication period, the FASB encourages constituents to use the online Codi-fication Research System free of charge to research accounting issues and provide feedback on whether the codification content accurately reflects existing U.S. GAAP for nongovernmental entities. The FASB advises us-ers that the codification content is not yet approved as authoritative and, therefore, they must verify research results using their existing resources for the currently effective literature.

The home page of the Codification Research System includes various items that users should be aware of, including:

• a suggested approach for verifying the Codification content

• a Notice of Constituents that describes codification-related matters, in-cluding content matters for constituent feedback. For example, the no-tice addresses the standards and elevated guidance used to populate the codification and the use of December 31, 2008, as the authoring effective date.

• content excluded from the Codification Research System on the verifica-tion launch date.

The Codification Research System also includes general information about how to use the online research system and special features such as Cross Reference Reports (to locate where standards reside); Join Sections (to join similar Sections from multiple Topics and Subtopics into a single document); and Go To (to jump directly to a specific Topic, Subtopic, Section, or paragraph).

Register to review the Codification Research System at asc.fasb.org. s

Robert L. Poley, CPA is a member of the CSCPA Public Company Forum. E-mail him at [email protected].

Bits & PiecesLocal Accounting Marketers Form Chapter of Association for Accounting Marketing

Marketers from several local accounting firms recently banded together to form a local chapter of the Association for Ac-counting Marketing (AAM). The group is called AAM Colo-rado, and it includes a growing list of members from profes-sional service firms across the state. AAM Colorado founding board members include Jennifer Shermer, Grant Thornton LLP marketing manager; Janis Bonds, Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner and Hottman PC (EKS&H) marketing manager; Kirsten Del-aney, Clifton Gunderson LLP division marketing director; An-nie Herricks, Denver Business Journal account executive; and Katie Hughes, EKS&H marketing coordinator.

AAM provides resources and support to CPA and consulting firm marketing and sales professionals, partners, firm adminis-trators, and businesses which offer products and services to the accounting profession. The association focuses on education and professional skills development for its members.

AAM Colorado currently holds bi-monthly luncheon meet-ings, as well as other special events throughout the year. For information about membership, contact Jennifer Shermer at [email protected] or (303) 813-3949. Visit www.ac-countingmarketing.org for details about the organization and to view a list of upcoming events.

Kaplan CPA Review Changes Name

Kaplan CPA Review, a provider of preparatory courses for the Uniform CPA Examination, has rebranded and will carry the name of its parent division, Kaplan Schweser. The change will unite the CPA product line with Kaplan Schweser’s family of exam review products for a number of financial designations.

Movers & Shakers Causey Demgen & Moore, Inc. elected William Glasso as a principal.

BKD LLP announced the election of Carol Lewis as partner; Kate Carr’s designation as a Certified Financial Planner; and Travis Hudson as a new partner in the Colorado practice unit.


New IRS Reporting Requirements

Employer-Owned Life Insurance Contracts: Tax Consequences of Non-Compliance

As part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, Congress mandated under new § 6039I of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“IRC”), the annual reporting of information regarding employer-owned life insurance contracts. This an-nual reporting is required on new IRS Form 8925, Report of Employer-Owned Life Insurance Contracts. This form must be filed by every employer that owns a life in-surance contract on the life of one or more of its employees that was issued after August 17, 2006. Additionally, any life insurance contract for which there is a material increase in death benefit or other mate-rial change is treated as a new contract. Hence, pre-August 17, 2006 contracts can become subject to this rule if they are materially modified.

Form 8925 must be attached to the employer’s annual in-come tax return. This form requires disclosure of the fol-lowing information:

• the number of employees at the end of the year

• the number of employees who are insured at the end of the year under employer-owned life in-surance contracts

• the total amount of life insurance in force at the end of the year under these con-tracts

• the name, address, and taxpayer identifica-tion number of the employer and the type of business in which the employer is en-gaged

• whether the employer has a valid consent for each insured employee, and if not, the number of insured employees for whom a consent was not obtained

Failure to Comply with the New Notice and Consent Requirements Results in Tax-able Life Insurance ProceedsAs a general rule, life insurance proceeds, whether the insurance contract is individu-ally or corporate owned, are income tax free per IRC §101(a)(1). One longstanding exception is IRC §101(a)(2), which taxes insurance proceeds where the life insurance contract has been transferred for valuable

consideration, and none of the transfer-for-value exceptions apply.

Now, with the passage of the Pension Pro-tection Act of 2006 and the addition of new

IRC §101(j), life insurance proceeds de-rived from employer-owned life insurance contracts are likewise taxed, subject to four important exceptions. Provided statutorily prescribed notice and consent requirements are satisfied, life insurance proceeds from employer-owned life insurance contracts can be received tax-free if (a) the insured was an employee of the employer at any time dur-ing the 12-month period preceding his or her death; (b) the insured was at the time the

By Scott P. Greiner, J.D., LL.M.


contract was issued (i) a director, (ii) a highly compensated employee (a defined term) or (iii) a highly compensated individual (likewise a defined term) of the employer; (c) (i) a member of the insured’s family, (ii) a designated beneficiary of the insured under the subject life insurance contract, (iii) a trust established for either the family member or the designated beneficiary, or (iv) the insured’s estate; or (d) the insurance proceeds are utilized to purchase an equity interest in the employer from any of the persons described in (c) above.

Three prerequisites must be fulfilled before the notice and consent requirements can be satisfied. First, the employee must be notified in writing that the employer intends to insure the employee’s life and the maximum amount of death benefit for which the employee will be insured. Second, the employee must provide the employer with written consent to being insured and that such coverage may con-

tinue after the employee terminates employment. Third, the employee is informed in writing that the employer will be the designated beneficiary upon the insured’s death.

The History Behind the New RuleSo, why did Congress include this life insurance pro-vision in pension legislation? These new rules find their origin in tax shelter cases involving a strategy known as “broad based leveraged COLI.” In this strat-egy, employers would purchase permanent life insur-ance policies on employees without their knowledge. Premiums were often leveraged providing income tax deductions for interest expense, while the insurance policy’s cash surrender values would grow tax free. Eventually employees would die, and the employers would benefit from tax-free policy death benefits, while dependents received nothing. The self-serving and draconian nature of these tax shelters eventually caught national attention when the Wall Street Journal renamed them “dead peasant insurance” and “janitor insurance.” (WSJ obtained those names from internal planning memos used by employ-ers to describe their creative tax planning strategies.) After several IRS court battles, IRC §101(j) was enacted. Now armed with the new reporting requirements embod-ied in IRC § 6039I, the IRS has the means to begin to quantify how many of these types of trans-actions and polices may exist.

Unintended ConsequencesCongress’s attempt to curb this tax shelter abuse has far reaching and unintended consequences. Employers are now obligated to annually disclose the details of all employer-owned life insurance contracts, including term insurance contracts, re-gardless of the motivation behind their acquisi-tion. As a result, this new reporting requirement applies to many common business insurance needs that could initially be overlooked, such as:

• key-man life insurance• buy-sell arrangements structured as stock redemptions funded with

life insurance• employer-owned life insurance contracts required by a bank loan

covenant• certain split-dollar life insurance arrangements• non-qualified deferred compensation plans where employer liabili-

ties are financed with life insurance, whether owned by the employ-er or a Rabbi trust

More importantly, employers have to satisfy the notice and consent requirements to have any hope of receiving tax-free life insurance proceeds on the death of an insured employee.

What Should Employers Do Now?Employers should document and track all employer-owned life insur-ance contracts issued after August 17, 2006. The information should include the number of insured employees and amounts of coverage.

Employers should document and retain employee notices of and con-sents to life insurance coverage. This is typically a one-page form ob-tained in the underwriting process. Because there are no regulations yet, there has been significant discussion as to how long an employee consent is valid for purchasing new policies. Pending further guid-ance, it is advisable to obtain employee consents annually.

Employers also should use this new compliance requirement as an opportunity to review existing life insurance contracts and the associ-ated planning, keeping in mind: (a) the cost of life insurance, which continues to decline; (b) the appropriateness of existing levels of cov-erage; (c) the continued relevance of the initial planning; and (d) any changes to those plans over time. s

Scott P. Greiner, J.D., LL.M, is associated with Moye White LLP, Denver, CO. E-mail him at [email protected].

George T. Carlson AdNew Ad

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Classified AdsPractices for Sale,

Purchase, or Merger

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Retirement-minded CPA in North Met-ro Denver. Gross $255K; 65% Tax; 35% Acctg.; no audits. Looking for very experi-enced CPA for transition and exit. Willing to relocate. Reply to [email protected].

Want to buy practice or part of practice with revenues of approximately $100K in Denver area. Reply to Box 364, Colorado Society of CPAs, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., #1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847.

CPA looking to buy practice with $200k to $400k gross billings located in Boulder or west side of Denver. Send confidential reply to [email protected].

Practice for Sale: Ready for the mountains and a beautiful commute? Successful prac-tice in Gunnison/Crested Butte. Send cov-er letter & resume to Box 366, Colorado Society of CPAs, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., #1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847.

Accounting Practice Owners: Don’t Give Away Your Firm! For decades CPAs and accountants have believed the only way to sell a practice was for the seller to guar-antee the results over several years’ time. The long-standing myth is that practices must be sold for 20% down and 20% of collections over the next four years. At Accounting Practice Sales, we have bur-ied that century-old thinking. Because of our market know-how, quality lenders, and our large pool of qualified buyers, we are able to sell most of our practices without seller guarantees for all-cash at closing! Call today for a confidential, no- obligation discussion of your situa-tion and to learn the available options.

Buyers: We have more accounting and tax practices nationwide than anyone plus new listings all the time. Contact Bill Anecelle, CPA, toll free at (866) 809-8705 or [email protected] or www.AccountingPractic-eSales.com.

Colorado Springs Area firm, gross-ing 415k. Details on this practice may be viewed at www.newclientsinc.com or by calling Todd Steinberg at 1-888-NEW-CLIENTS (1-888-639-2543). If this prac-tice does not meet your geographic or economic needs, please contact us regard-ing our guaranteed practice development programs.

We sell practices! Confidential, pro-fessional, and stress free. Call for a FREE sales package and confidential consultation with our regional director, Rick Harrison, CPA, at (888) 295-3716 or www.prohorizons.com.

Office Space1, 2, 3, or 4 executive offices available in suite, share arrangement with CPAs. Great southeast Denver location near DTC. T1, high speed internet ac-cess, library, secretary, copier, fax, tele-phone, conference room. Free parking. (303) 220-9022.

Lakewood/Wheat Ridge, Great building and location. Choose from 360 sq.ft., 1,220 sq.ft., 1,850 sq.ft., 2,700 sq.ft. to lease or to own. Motivated Landlord/Seller. Contact Ross (303)388-7114.

Help WantedWestern Colorado CPAs—Work where you love to play! Dalby, Wendland & Co., PC is the largest CPA firm in western Colorado with offices in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Montrose, and the Vail Valley. We are seeking CPAs. Excellent opportunity for advancement, competi-tive salary, and benefits package. Please send your resume to DWC, attention: HR, 464 Main St., Grand Junction, CO 81501, fax to (970) 243-9651, or e-mail to [email protected].

Experienced Seniors/Managers/Part-ners—Are you an entrepreneurial indi-vidual looking for a firm where you can make a difference? Metro Denver $4 mil-lion, two-partner CPA firm looking for entrepreneurial-minded individuals to fill growing needs of the firm and to be a part of a progressive CPA firm with a particular national and international expertise. Firm has internally grown 80% in the last two years and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace creating special opportunities for advancement. Auditing represents 68% of the firm’s practice. Qualified individu-als will be CPAs at the experienced senior, manager, or partner level with current or very recent public accounting experience. Do you want to be a partner? Partnership opportunities very much in play! Oppor-tunity to be part of practice succession and ownership. Excellent salaries and benefits include annual bonuses, generous PTO days, insurance, 401(k) matching. Replies and resumes in confidence to Box 365, Colorado Society of CPAs, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., #1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847.

Partner Position—Prestigious 12-person firm in Denver seeks experienced CPA able to take on partner-level duties in 12-18 months. Our firm’s average part-ner compensation is higher than survey average of mid-size firms, with partners working annual total of approximately 2,400 hours and very little travel. The right candidate will have 10-15 years of experience in public accounting with a strength in tax and family-held busi-nesses and working knowledge of estates and trusts. For further information, please e-mail [email protected]. All inquiries strictly confidential.

Arvada CPA firm seeks CPA with 6 to 10 years public accounting experience. In-come tax return and financial statement preparation. Full time during tax season and part time during the off season. Flex-ible hours, great working environment, and great benefits. Send resume and salary requirements to [email protected].


Join Boulder Area Accounting and Tax Practice. Established 2-CPA firm seek-ing CPA with accounting and individual/business tax background. No review or audit. Flexible; work from home. Take over approx. $30K tax revenue. Contact Karen Dawson, (303) 554-0129, or e-mail [email protected].

Controller—Palo Alto Inc. is a national franchise for YUM Brands and is currently seeking a controller for our corporate of-fice in downtown Denver. Responsibilities include managing the accounting depart-ment, implementing and maintaining a strong internal cash control environment, supporting the budgeting and forecasting process, and driving process improvement. The ideal candidate must have at least 5 years experience as a controller and at least 3 years experience in auditing (public accounting preferred). Strong knowledge of GAAP, internal controls, and financial reporting is required. Must have proven leadership skills and the ability to lead cross-functional teams. BA in accounting required, CPA strongly preferred. Great Plains or MAS 90 experience a plus. Multi-ple unit experience in restaurant industry desired. Please fax or send current resume and salary history to (303) 531-4401 or [email protected]. EOE

Experienced Accountants—Do you enjoy challenging work with opportunity for ca-reer growth? Are you interested in work-ing with some of today’s progressive busi-nesses? Kennedy and Coe, LLC, ranked nationally as a Top 100 public accounting firm, has openings for Experienced Ac-countants for our general practice group, manufacturing group, and our agriculture group, in our Lamar and Greeley, CO of-fices. Qualified individuals must be eligi-ble to sit for CPA exam or have their CPA license and 3-7 years experience in pub-lic accounting. Experience working with manufacturing or agriculture clients in tax and/or audit is a plus. Senior Associate – CPA required – General Practice Group (Greeley, CO) – duties in-clude:• accounting and auditing• tax return preparation and planning• tax consulting

Senior Associate – CPA required – Manu-facturing Group (Greeley, CO) – duties include:• management consulting projects• auditing• tax return preparation and planning for

a variety of manufacturers, including steel fabrication and biofuels

Senior Associate – Agriculture Group (Lamar, CO) – duties include:• accounting and auditing • tax return preparation and planning• tax and business consulting

Also requires skills and ability to build and manage client relationships, as well as supervision of staff. Must be a self-start-er, possess excellent communication, in-terpersonal, and time management skills. Some travel required. Competitive com-pensation and excellent benefits package, including health, dental, vision, life, and long term disability insurance, 401k, profit sharing and supplemental pension plans, holiday and paid leave. Send resume and cover letter with salary requirements to: [email protected]. EOE.

Tax Manager or Partner—Grand Junc-tion Colorado CPA Firm seeking Profes-sional for Individual & Business Tax Prac-tice. We are located in the heart of Western Colorado, a great place to work and play. Positions available for both semi-retired professionals and individuals seeking po-tential ownership opportunities. Flexible hours and relaxed work environment. E-mail resume and compensation require-ments to [email protected].

Denver CPA firm has openings in both audit and tax departments. Positions avail-able range from entry level to senior level. Prior public accounting experience desir-able. Competitive salary and great ben-efits. Please fax resume to (303) 759-2189 or e-mail to [email protected].

Situations WantedCPA looking to work part time or on a project basis. Over 30 years in industry and public accounting including Big Four. Former Controller of Fortune 1000 com-pany, experience with accounting, tax, due diligence, IRS, and project management. Excellent communication skills. Please respond to Box 367, Colorado Society of CPAs, 7979 E. Tufts Ave., #1000, Denver, CO 80237-2847.

Unlicensed physician and former CPA with ten years of experience including 2 years “Big 8” audit experience seeks staff au-dit or accounting work for 6 months to one year. Health care industry preferred. Email [email protected] or call Virginia at (303) 868-7745 for resume/refs.

MiscellaneousCYMA IV Accounting for Windows. Advanced accounting features at an affordable price. Award-winning soft-ware features “non profit” and “for profit” editions. For a free demonstration, call Clay Williams, CPA, (303) 337-0607 or www.cyma.com.

Office Interior Solutions—As your Office Interior Specialist, I can provide space planning, design, furniture, instal-lation, and complete project management whether you are updating or expand-ing. Indoff is the only nationwide com-mercial furniture dealership which pro-vides greater buying power from more furniture manufacturers. In addition to furniture, I can assist with office sig-nage, document security level shredders, and filing systems. I believe in delivering personalized service through the entire project—from listening to your needs at the design phase to cleaning the furniture when installed. Carol Eckhoff, Indoff, Inc., PO Box 280243, Lakewood, CO 80228, Phone (303) 995-5272; fax (303) 986-2734.

Free help for startups. Denver IDEA Cafe. www.johnwren.com (303) 861-1447.


Documents

July/August 2008 - COCPA Archive PDFS/JA08.pdf · July/August 2008 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair ... International Financial Reporting Standards ... covered at the recent AICPA Council