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2005
2002
Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Privately-Held Companies Implementation Issues
Our
research was designed to for two purposes:
(1) if the provisions
of SOX have merit on their own or whether it is just a mandate by
legislators, and (2) to determine if
privately-held
companies currently not required to implement SOX have done so.
In
summary, the respondents, who were experienced financial executives
with knowledge of SOX and other regulatory governance policies see
SOX as an influential piece of legislation. They see some positive
benefits to their organizations with implementation of some of the
provisions of the act, such as better financing options, better
credit opportunities, and opportunities to take the company public.
Many of financial executives indicated their organizations are
implementing provisions in areas where it cost effective as well
making “good” business sense. For example, it is cost effective to
implement a formal code of professional conduct for the executives
and it does make good business sense. However they are not asking
their CEOs or CFOs to certify the accuracy of financial statements
nor to the internal control structure. Many of the financial
managers indicated they are not implementing SOX on a full scale
basis because of the cost, time, and that the lack of benefits
derived from implementation.
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Advanced QuickBooks®:
Financial Statement Designer
Financial
Statement Designer – new for 2005 and available only in the Premier
Accountant’s version.
Learn how to
format (and reformat) the financial statements, create title pages,
compilation letters and accompanying notes with the built-in
document editor. Financial Statement Designer brings in the data
from QuickBooks and when the data changes, the financial statements
(Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Statement of Cash Flows)
reflect those changes. We will go over the customization features
of Financial Statement Designer so you can present the reports in
your chosen format.
If time
allows we will also cover the integrated Fixed Asset Manager. The
new Fixed Asset Manager tracks depreciation for up to six (6)
different asset bases including book, federal, state AMT, ACE and
custom. It provides many different MACRS depreciation methods and
performs all listed property and luxury auto calculations and
limitations. It computes Section 179 expense and mid-quarter
determinations and limitations. You are able to view a projected
depreciation schedule for the life of the asset. The Fixed Asset
Manager also computes gains or losses on asset sales.
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Adventures in CPA Whistle Blowing: An IN-Depth Ethical and
Public Policy Analysis
This seminar addresses
the ethical and related legal aspects of CPA whistleblowing at both
the state and federal level. Specifically, the seminar will cover:
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ethical permissible and mandatory CPA whistleblowing
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review of applicable classical ethical frameworks
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cases studies involving CPA whistleblowing
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Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowing provisions
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Colorado and other states’ legal protections
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Colorado’s CPA Code of Conduct Whistleblowing Provision
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Alternative Techniques for
Audit Documentation
Documentation of Accounting
Information Systems and their internal controls has been placed in
the spotlight because of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
(SOX). Today’s practitioners are almost universally using
flowcharting to satisfy the requirements of SOX to document internal
controls over financial reporting. After a quick review of all
available documentation methods for accounting systems, Dr. White’s
presentation will drill down into flowcharts vs. DFDs to compare and
contrast them in documenting financial processes. He will suggest
that DFDs may be a more meaningful and cost effective method of
documenting today’s real time systems.
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The Anatomy of a Corporate
Restructure
How many times have you
experienced a "corporate reshuffling"? How successful was your most
recent experience? Or was it simply followed by a series of more
corporate reshufflings? What impacts do frequent reshufflings have
on a company, its culture, and its people? Join us as we explore the
dynamic of "change" in the corporate organizational structure. This
tongue-in-cheek discussion will offer insight into the "anatomy" of
corporate change, the roles some of us play in that change, and the
things we can do to help us better cope during those times.
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CPA’s Guide to Portfolio Management & Tax Efficient Investing
The effects of taxes are a critical
factor in achieving a desired after-tax return on your investment.
However, investment decisions should be based on investment merit,
not solely on tax considerations. This presentation will explore
advanced portfolio management strategies in an easy to understand
format designed to help assist you in making wise investment and tax
decisions.
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Delivering
Business Value to Finance through IT Solutions
Would you like to hear how Microsoft uses its own software solutions
for financial reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley, HR and purchasing? Please
join Bill Hubbell’s session “Delivering Business Value to Finance
through IT Solutions”
to find out how Microsoft has achieved over $125 million in annual
hard cost savings through systems consolidation and the use of its
own technology.
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Electronic
Crimes and the Corporate Response
An increase in electronic crime, a
new wave of privacy legislation, and insurers wary of covering
information loss liability have combined to create serious
challenges for organizations coping with data protection issues. The
corporate response begins with combining physical and IT security to
dramatically mitigate information risk and protect brand value in an
age of increasing legal liability.
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FASB Update
The Rocky Mountain Area
Conference Mid Year Accounting and Auditing Update will highlight
significant developments in financial accounting and reporting since
January 1, 2005. The morning session will focus primarily on rules
and rule proposals recently adopted or presently under consideration
by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the FASB's Emerging
Issues Task Force. The afternoon session will focus primarily on
developments at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, with time devoted to
"lessons learned" during the first year of implementation of Section
404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. A Q&A session will be
incorporated into both sessions.
Session 1 (9:00 -
10:40)
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Final rules on
stock compensation
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The upcoming
final FASB rule on fair value
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The FASB
Exposure Drafts on business combinations
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Important recent
EITF consensuses
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Questions and
Answers
Session 2 (10:50 -
12:30)
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SEC-rulemaking
initiatives, including recent 404 initiatives
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SEC “hot
buttons”
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Other SEC
matters
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Sarbanes-Oxley
Section 404 “lessons learned”
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Questions and
Answers
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Information Security in an Insecure
World
Information security
has become an essential governance objective for every
organization. Although IT plays a major
role in protecting and defending
“knowledge assets”, security is the responsibility of every member
of the organization. Participants
will review recent information
security surveys
to understand the current business
perspective, discuss the legal,
regulatory and standards environment related to security, consider
best practices in key policy and IT
areas, evaluate information
security methods,
and learn strategies for developing
effective information security
solutions.
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Long-Term Care
Insurance Tax Strategies
Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI)
has come of age. This interactive discussion will feature tax
incentives for business owners, key executives, and the public,
self-insuring versus LTCI, new life insurance/LTCI linked policies,
and how to discern a good policy design from a bad one.
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The New Manufacturing Credit
Deduction: Fact or Fiction?
In October 2004 as part of the
American Jobs Creation Act, a deduction relating to domestic
production activities was enacted. The domestic production
activities deduction provides a tax savings on profits from
production activities in the United States. Victoria will provide
the latest information on the rules, definitions and the calculation
of the deduction.
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An
Overview of Theoretical and Empirical Business Ethics Research with
Managerial Implications
Various
theoretical, empirical, and practical developments in the field of
business ethics will be presented in this session. The ethical
decision-making process will be discussed in detail, and various
organizational factors such as ethical context, codes of conduct,
and ethics training that potentially affect moral reasoning will be
outlined. The managerial implications of current ethics research
will also be discussed.
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Preventing Identity Theft
From his position in the Attorney
General’s office, Mr. Zavislan sees all sorts of identity theft
occurrences. He will discuss Identity Theft as a problem for
everyone, how thieves obtain information about you, and the current
scams circulating about. He will offer some prevention tips and
review several new Colorado laws and their impact.
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Reverse 1031 Exchanges: Who, What , How, Why and When?
William "Bill" L. Exeter,
President and Chief Executive Officer, TransUnion Exchange
Corporation (formerly Diversified Exchange Corporation) will
present an in-depth discussion on basic to intermediate level
Reverse 1031 exchange transactions. The program will include the
requirements, structures, processes, strategies, and compliance
issues necessary to successfully complete a reverse 1031
tax-deferred, like-kind exchange."
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Risk Issues and
Financial Reporting
In the wake
of the Enron and WorldCom collapses, more stringent rules and
penalties have been placed on financial reporting. What are the
major requirements? How should companies best address these
regulations? How can organizations best identify their biggest
areas of risk? How should manage this process in order to show a
return on the investment and effort? Can companies turn this issue
into an opportunity to improve internal information?
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Small Business
Succession Planning
Every business has a life cycle.
The family business is no exception, but the family members can have
an impact through out the cycle, especially at the time when the
business transfers from one generation to the next. This course
will explore the problems and opportunities that practitioners
facing in representing small family businesses. We will examine the
roles of the planning team before, during and after the transition
process. Tax, legal and ethical issues will be explored and
discussed.
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SOX Impact on Private
Companies
Although the Sarbanes Oxley AcT
(SOX) provisions were specifically designed for public companies,
the legislation also affects a wide range of private business
activities. This presentation is designed to help you determine
whether your business should adopt SOX provisions, and will
delineate the implications of doing so. We will outline the
provisions currently in effect that apply to private companies, as
well as discuss why it may make good business sense, especially
regarding financial controls, to consider certain of the SOX
provisions. Chief among these reasons is the likelihood that
regulators and financial institutions will ultimately require
compliance with certain provisions, as well as the opportunity to
improve the quality of your financial reporting. This discussion
also includes an explanation of the role of the Public Company
Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the organization authorized by
SOX, to create accounting and auditing standards for public
companies. Included is an explanation of how the PCAOB and AICPA are
working together to integrate accounting standards in light of new
SOX rules and the likelihood that the “Dual Financial Reporting
Model” for public and private industry may not continue. This will
impact all businesses and the cost of doing business. Finally, we
offer private business owners a roadmap to begin the process of
adopting these new standards
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Tips, Tricks and Pitfalls of
Approaching Financial Analysis and Budgeting Decisions
As accountants, we are
challenged provide the numbers on which our management team relies.
As members of the finance team, we are expected to know how to
develop financial models that provide solutions to the company's
most pressing questions. Where do you start and how do you do it?
Join Glenn Sharpe, a
controller and financial analyst with +20 years of experience, as he
shares the tips and tricks of how you can improve your company's
profitability and improve your career.
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