Here are the 4 Awkward Moments that frequently come up about networking.  “I can’t remember someone’s name?”  Say (with warmth), “I remember you! Tell me your name again.” Then hang on to his name long enough to introduce him to someone else at the event.  Whether it’s 3 minutes later or 3 hours later, that’s […]

Setting up an internal control structure to mitigate fraud is nothing new to most companies. The introduction in 2002 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and the Statement on Accounting Standards No. 99, Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit, significantly increased the amount and depth of internal control testing required as part of a financial statement audit. While […]

Today I wanted to write a bit about how Illumeo works with its instructors so you, dear user or prospective user, can understand the fundamental ‘flywheel effect’ of Illumeo’s course library. First off, we don’t hide our business model. It’s remarkably straightforward: companies and individual users buy standalone courses, annual subscriptions and certificate programs, as […]

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently released a new auditing standard for auditors expressing an opinion on a public company’s financial statements. The new standard, AS 3101, The Auditor’s Report on an Audit of Financial Statements When the Auditor Expresses an Unqualified Opinion, changes how auditors report critical audit matters (CAM) as part of […]

In December 2018 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued an amendment to its standard on the use of specialists in a financial statement audit.  To better understand the amendment, it is important to recognize the role of a specialist and why one would be engaged during a financial statement audit. Auditors performing audits […]

The cash disbursements cycle steps – approval, preparation, authorization – can leave your company vulnerable to fraud and theft if basic controls are not in place. Two of the most important controls are segregation of duties and check signing/EFT approval procedures.  Controls over these two steps in the cash disbursement cycle minimize the risk of […]

Fraud can be catastrophic for any size organization.  Often companies unknowingly allow fraudulent activities to happen because they have been complacent in their review of their current internal controls.  When a system is working it is easy to set aside evaluating it in favor of reviewing processes that are knowingly flawed.  The most cost-effective way […]

The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (ASB) recently released an exposure draft of a Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS)  and a Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) that would align the AICPA definition of materiality with the definitions used by the United States judicial system, the PCAOB auditing standards, the FASB, and the U.S. Securities […]

Regularly evaluating the conflicts of interest potentially affecting your company may not seem important to your business operations.  However, because employees, leaders and board members are constantly rotating through and making changes in their personal lives, it is key for a company to regularly review the conflicts of interest of individuals tied to the organization […]

Segregation of duties is the cornerstone of a company’s internal control structure.  Maintaining proper segregation of duties in core business process areas minimizes the opportunity for an employee to commit fraud against his or her employer.  Duty segregation protects both the employer and the employee. In any business accounting cycle (such as cash management, inventory, accounts receivable, […]