Sharon J Hall

Dynamic Culture of Accounting Profession

Sean Lowery

Cost Accounting 303

October 25, 2009

In the business world, the Accounting profession has been referred to by many as the “language of business.” The field is defined as the study of how businesses track their income and assets over time. Duties involve preparing financial statements, computing costs, and developing certain tax strategies. Accountants, today, work as consultants in business. They advise management in many different financial decisions and are involved in many business transactions.  An accountant must possess a wide variety of skills. Analytical skills, computer skills, and communication skills are all necessary to have in the profession.  The changing atmosphere of the accounting profession has resulted in a more demanding curriculum, but allows for many diverse job options in accounting.

Accounting has undergone many changes over the past several decades that have changed the field drastically. Globalization is a key factor that changed the profession and how it is defined. Since many companies are now going overseas, the need for a set international standard of accounting is needed. For example, more investors are looking overseas for possible investment opportunities, so reliable information from an international company is needed.  Accounting professionals must keep up with globalization by providing more accurate and up-to-date information.  They must understand foreign companies’ business practices and business laws. Another factor that contributes to the changing environment of the field of Accounting is the increase regulations and government control. Financial accounting usually is overseen by the Federal Accounting Standards Board, FASB. Accountants must also conform to the principles which are outlined in the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, GAAP. In the past decade, a handful of incidents have called for changes in regulations. Major scandals include the incident of Enron and TYCO electronics. In response to these scandals, the federal government has created the Sarbanes Oxley Act. This law set new standards that would enhance companies’ reliability and accuracy in their financial reporting. Many aspects of the legislation provided significant changes, particularly in how auditing is conducted. These changes call for companies to spend millions of dollars to keep in compliance of the new legislation. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 also allowed for changes that greatly affects internal users such as managers and executives.  New industries have also called for major changes in the Accounting profession.  In the future, changes will occur that will increase the outlook for accounting majors. Many current accountants are retiring or a few years away.

The accounting field is increasingly becoming more demanding. To keep up with the dynamic culture of accounting, the curriculum and standards for accounting has become stricter. The highest certification for an accountant is passing the Certified Public Accountant exam, CPA. This rigorous exam is composed of four parts, which include auditing, financial accounting and reporting, regulation, and business environment. Before, people gained the certification by simply passing the four part exam. However, in the past decade, new requirements have been set before a person can sit for the exam. For many states, it is now required to have 150 semester hours and two years experience in public accounting. Specifically in Pennsylvania, the 150 hours and two years of public accounting experience will be implemented in the 2011. The reason for this change is to make the accounting field a more technical field. It also allows people to be better prepared to work in the changing environment of businesses today. They will be better prepared to tackle new challenges in the field such as working with advancing technology and dealing with more complex business decisions. The 150 hour requirement eliminates any inconsistencies between state-to-state regulations. Accountants will be able to work in other states without conforming to the specific standards the state has in place. The new consistency of standards between states is needed in today’s high tech, global environment. The new requirements benefits business is so many ways. After finishing a bachelous degree in Accounting, many go on to get a Masters in accounting or get an MBA, Masters of Business Administration. The added education illustrates the commitment to the profession which can only be a benefit.  Even though there will be an increase demand for accountants, many people are choosing not to enter the major because of the increase in requirements for CPA’s and government regulations. The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AICPA, stated that between 1996 and 2000, the number of students pursuing an accounting degree decreased by 25%. However, the percentage of people who pass the CPA for the first time had increased. The decrease of people pursuing an accounting degree is contributing to a likelihood of substantial salary increases for CPA’s This can be explained by the implementation of the 150 hour rule.

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Accounting offers many opportunities and job options. Many new opportunities have been created due to the changing culture of Accounting. Before, accounting graduates would enter into the field with a good mindset of what they were going to do. For many who obtained their bachelors in Accounting, they were most likely going to work in a big four firm, attempt to certified, and advance within the career. The Big Four firms include PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. Specifically, the new industries created in the past decade helped to offer more opportunities in Accounting. New industries lead to more specialization in Accounting. Instead of accountants doing a wide variety of tasks at a big firm, Accountants are working in small or mid-sized CPA firms. These smaller firms focus on a specific type of company or size of company. Examples of these firms include BDO Seidman, Grant Thornton, and RSM McGladrey. Biotechnology, environmental business, telecommunications all require accountants to operate efficiently. A new trend for accounting majors is the increase in non accounting field. Many accounting majors end up working in careers related to finance, management, marketing, or even computer science. Accountants, in the past, were not necessarily considered to be consultants. They explained costs and assets, but were not in control over profit gaining. Making accountants influence in revenue generation allows for more options in the career. Many accountants take jobs as in budget analysis. Budget analysis involves developing and managing organizations financial plans.  Managerial Accounting very much involves consulting with top management on strategies to maximize profits. A popular trend in the Accounting field is tax strategy. Accountants who have knowledge on federal tax regulations may pursue career options in developing tax strategies and increasing profits. Women are especially experience more opportunities in Accounting. There has been a large increase of women accounting graduates and many go on to work in variety of different careers. Some women accountants end up working in financial institutions, education, health care institutions, etc. Many Accounting majors are pursuing careers in the FBI. Many accountants who work for the FBI work as forensic accounting. Forensic accounting involves investigating white collar crime. The need for forensic accounting is increasing as a result of white collar scandals in the past decade.

In conclusion, the accounting profession has undergone many changes, which calls for a more demanding curriculum and more job options. Accounting remains to be and will always be considered to be the language of business. The field is now more than just how businesses track their income. Accountants carry a wide variety of skills, many of which who have developed new skills in the past few decades. It is correct to say that accountants are now consultants who are involved in advising management.

Cuddy, B. (1992, Summer). New career paths in accounting. Massachusetts CPA Review, 66(3), 8. Retrieved October 24, 2007, from Business Source Premier database.

Business Credit. (2002, October). Working Smart: New Education Requirement Poses Challenges for Accounting. Business Credit, 8. Retrieved October 24, 2007, from Business Source Premier database.

Warner, J. (2007, September). The New Specialists. Directorship, 44(7). Retrieved October 24, 2007, from Business Source Premier database.

Congress recently passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. It’s designed to inject 2 billion into the U.S economy. What does this mean to you?

If you own a business, your business can take advantage of two tax breaks: Increased Section 179 Amounts and Bonus Depreciation.

You could be one of the 130 million taxpayers who will receive a rebate check this year. For more on this tax relief topic, please see my recent article: “Is The IRS Sending You a Rebate Check? Find Out If You Are Eligible.”

If you own real estate or invest in real estate, your may find some relief with your “jumbo” loans.

INCREASED SECTION 179 AMOUNTS:

Before the new law, a business could expense up to 8,000 of the cost of qualifying property in 2008. Under the new law, a business can expense up to 0,000 of the cost of qualifying property. This is a huge increase!

Even the phase-out limits are increased. Before the new law, if the cost of qualified property placed in service during the year was more than 0,000, the amount a business could expense was reduced (dollar for dollar) by the amount over 0,000. Under the new law, the dollar for dollar reduction still applies but the old 0,000 ceiling jumps to 0,000.

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What property qualifies for the Section 179 Deduction?

The new law makes no changes to the general rules for the types of property that are eligible for Section 179 expensing. Generally, the property must be depreciable tangible personal property (so real property, such as land and buildings, does not qualify) that is actively used in the taxpayer’s business. The property must be used more than 50 percent for business and must be newly purchased property.

BONUS DEPRECIATION:

The other incentive is bonus depreciation. The new law provides qualifying taxpayers 50 percent first-year bonus depreciation of the adjusted basis of qualifying property. Make sure you make the election on your tax return – it’s required in order to claim the bonus depreciation.

What property qualifies for bonus depreciation?

To be eligible to claim bonus depreciation, property must be one of the following types of property:

- Eligible for the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) with a depreciation period of 20 years or less (this includes most equipment, computers and furniture)

- Water utility property

- Computer software (off-the-shelf)

- Qualified leasehold property

The property generally must be purchased and placed in service during 2008. Original use of the property must begin with the taxpayer and must occur after December 31, 2007 and before January 1, 2009.

How is the luxury auto depreciation impacted?

Congress also increased the limitations on “luxury” auto depreciation. Ordinarily, the first-year limit on depreciation for passenger automobiles cannot exceed ,060. However, this limit was increased when bonus depreciation was previously available to ,600. The new law raises the cap once again, setting it at ,060 for passenger autos and ,260 for trucks and vans.

CAUTION! Be sure your business use of qualifying property stays above 50%. If it falls below 50% you may have to recapture some of the benefit previously claimed under Section 179 or the bonus depreciation.

WHAT DO THESE TAX BREAKS MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

These are very generous changes! These changes provide American businesses with an estimate billion in additional deductions in 2008.

You will definitely want to plan your business purchases now. If you are planning on making equipment purchases in the next few years, now is the time to look out how moving those purchases to 2008 can cut your tax bill.

The is formed by several items, which I go through in this article point by point. You may remember, that the final costs and fees will be calculated along your special situation and needs.

The responsibility of the appraiser is to assign a current market value for your home. The fee, which the appraiser takes varies from $ 300 to $ 400. Another important job is, that the appraiser checks, that your home has no bad structural damages, like leaky roof or termite damages.

Your home must fulfil the home safety codes, so that the reverse mortgage agreement can be made. If the damages must be repaired, the appraiser has the legitimate right to make a new visit and to check, that the repairs fulfil the code.

This another check will cost between $ 50 to $ 75. This reverse mortgage cost, actually both of them, can be made after the reverse mortgage loan agreement is done and you can cover these costs with your new loan.

This reverse mortgage cost is meant to cover such costs, which the lender has to pay, like his overhead costs and marketing costs. One example: in HECM program, which is the most popular in US, the origination fee is 2 % on the initial 200.000 maximum claim amount and 1 % on the balance after that with a cap of € 6.000.

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In HECM program the borrower must pay an obligatory mortgage insurance premium. This reverse mortgage cost protects you in two ways. If the servicer, the company which manages your loan, goes into bankruptcy, the government step in and guarantees that you will get the funds, which belong to you.

Or if the selling price of your home cannot cover the full amount of the reverse mortgage costs, the difference between the costs and the selling price will be paid from this insurance. You will never owe more than the value of your home and your other assets will never be used for reverse loan back payment.

The cost of the mortgage insurance equals to 2 percent of the maximum claim amount, or home value, whichever is less, plus an annual premium thereafter equal to 0.5 percent of the reverse mortgage loan balance.

A. Cost of the credit report. Determines every federal tax lien or other judgment, which is handed down against the borrower. Cost: Usually under
B. Cost of courier. This fee covers the expenditures of every courier mailing of documents between the title company and the lender or loan investor. Cost: Usually under .

C. Cost to prepare documents. This fee is paid for preparing the closing documents. Includes the mortgage note and other recordable items. Cost: Usually -0
D. Cost of escrow, settlement or closing. Generally covers the title search and several other required closing expenditures. Cost: Usually 0-0
E. Cost of the flood certification. Shows whether the property is located on a federally determined flood plane. Cost: Usually under

F. Cost of the recording. This covers the jobs to record the mortgage lien with the County Recorders Office. Cost: Usually -0
G. Cost of title insurance. The idea of this insurance is to protect the lender or the buyer against the losses from disputes over the property ownership. Depends on the loan size. The bigger loan you take, the bigger is the cost of the title insurance.
H. Cost of pest inspection. The idea of the pest inspection is to show, if the home is infested with the termites or alike. Cost: Usually under 0 .

I. Cost of the survey. This shows the boundaries of the property. Is normally ordered to make sure that the neighbouring property has not inadvertently encroached on the reverse mortgage borrowers property. Cost: Usually under 0.

Federal regulations allow, that the servicer can charge a monthly service payment, which varies from $ 25 to $ 35. This cost covers the costs, which will arise from servicing your account. They will be paid, when the loan will be closed and can rise to several thousands of dollars.

As you see, the reverse mortgage cost is actually a list of different costs and fees. One useful and helpful thing is to visit the federal counselor, who is an expert in these costs and can tell, how the costs and fees behave in your particular case.

Have you ever worried that your auto insurance company will cancel your policy after filing a claim? You may have already been through this, or it may have happened to someone you know. For many years you stay insured with the same carrier and right after you have your first accident, you receive a letter that tells you that your insurance company is no longer interested in continuing with your policy.

You are angry and frustrated; after all, it was only an accident. But do not assume that this is the way all companies work. With the right California Auto Insurance carrier, you will have a preferred insurance company that will hold your hand and walk through with you during the entire process of your claim.

Choose the right coverage to get the most valuable protection you need. It is always a great idea to review your auto insurance policy to make sure you are getting the essential protection you need, with benefits that will protect you in the event of a loss. In this economy price is usually the first reason people shop for their insurance policies at renewal, but don’t let price be an issue. If you contact an independent agent with great knowledge about insurance products, they can match you with the right carrier at the right price. I know that price plays a major role but if you can get extra protection at the same price you currently pay than you get a win win situation.

The right California Auto Insurance agent can match you with the right company that will meet your individual needs. Each policy should be uniquely created for you and your family’s protection. With the many companies and options out there, you should take advantage of the extra benefits that come included in your policy coverages. Here are some great reasons to choose the company that’s right for you.

Preferred insurance companies want to be your insurance company for life. They will remain at your side in good times and bad times. As a loyal customer you can get:

Warranty repair for life, in this way, your claims experience will not be stressful at all.
If you are stuck on the road or stranded somewhere in the United States or Canada, just stay calm and with one phone call away, you receive immediate help from the roadside service group which is available on all the vehicles on your policy, no matter who the driver is.
Award-winning claims service-receive 24-hour claims service 365 days a year.
Replacement warranty on new cars, if your vehicle is declared a total loss in the first 15 months or 15,000 miles, you will get a brand new vehicle of the same brand and model, without any devaluation.
Enjoy a fixed rate for an entire year, not only for six months as the policies offered by other companies.
Waiver on your first accident, if history of good driver is involved, you will not receive an increase on your rate because it’s your first accident.
Disappearing Deductible, nobody likes deductibles so that is why if you have no accidents your deductible will diminish over time until it reaches 0.

The right California Auto Insurance agent understands that your personal assets are more than just an auto or home insurance policies. Get the protection and service that you are entitled to eliminate any inconvenience or discomfort you have to deal with so you could have time for the more the important things in life.

Many people wonder if there any real online business opportunities are out there. They wonder especially when they fail in their online business attempts several times. In this article, we will try to find out the best possible answer for this query: are there any real online business opportunities out there or not?

Before we find out the possible answers, let’s find out how internet can serve as a tool for making money online. Basically internet stores endless options to make money online. It is the instinct and creativity which can take one to the peak of success.

While many people here in this virtual world try to find out ways to become successful online, many people simply become successful by offering them the information they need to become successful.

Though not all the marketers are honest enough to share real business information, but definitely there are tons of business opportunities are out there that can make you a successful online entrepreneur.

The world has become a global village and most of the people realize that outsourcing a task is much simpler than building an office and appointing employees and feed them throughout the year. In fact, people realize that traveling to work place takes at least one-third of your life away from your own home or even more.

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Also, when you are at home, working from your own system, you can eat healthy food at home and also minimize the cost of employers by using your own equipments. So working from home is really a flexible and helpful option these days and thus it’s quite obvious that internet is growing up as a dependable and reliable tool for operating online business.

If you are good at designing and developing website, you can start offering your service to the people who need their websites to be designed and developed. In fact, you can launch your own site and offer readymade products like templates, scripts, graphics, banners, logos, etc. As you are quite sure that it is a real online business opportunity.

In fact, if you are good at developing script or designing websites, you can easily make site and sell it out in the marketplace. This is called website flipping business, another real online business opportunity.

If you are good at writing content or translating in different languages, you can offer your service as a content writer or translator. Adding this specific quality along with development and design of a website can make you a successful website dealer also.

Let’s assume you are not good in any of these stuffs. No problem! You can still build a reliable and real online business model for you. You can promote other’s products and make money out of it. This is called affiliate marketing and there are many marketers who are making tons of money out of this business model.

A Warning

There are still many other ways that can make you money successfully from one or more real online business models. All you need to be consistent and believe in work. Don’t ever rely on those marketing propagandas which claim to make money without lifting finger from the very beginning, even when you know nothing about this virtual world and its business models.

Good luck!

The high risk life insurance market place has been an underserved market for many years. Most insurance carriers prefer to insure low risk clients for obvious reasons. There are several life insurance carriers that are very aggresive in the final expense market place. The primary objective in obtaining life insurance is to indemnify your loved one upon death. The severity of your condition matters only to most traditional insurance carriers that do not serve the high risk life insurance market place. If you have a terminal illness, or were recently diagnosed with a medical condition, you may also have news from your current life insurance carrier that you do not qualify to renew your current policy. If you need burial coverage, which almost everyone at a minimum needs, you need to speak with an agent that has your best interest in mind. Often times agents will tell you “your uninurable” or try and sell a higher priced policy then you actually need. If someone told you that your uninsurable you need to get away from that agent and work with someone that is willing to work with you to find you the coverage you need. There really is no such thing as uninsurable. There is always a carrier that is willing to write your case. Finding the right agent and right policy is like finding the proverbial “needle in a hey stack”.

The reality is most agents dont want to be bothered writing a ,000-,000 policy because its not profitable for the agent. There are plenty of companies that are willing to write your case, you just need to find one, and get on the phone with that agent/agency as soon as possible. Life insurance is not a commidity, it is a neccesity for all families regardless of income. The other issue we see clients having is a past criminal history. While its true most carriers will not issue a policy to someone on probabtion. A true guaranteed issue life insurance product will issue a policy regarless of criminal history. The underwriting guidlines for each life insurance carrier is different. Call an experienced, high risk life insurance agent to help navigate the complexities of your case.