Ethically Speaking

Listen as Toni Lee-Andrews and staff of the AICPA Professional Ethics Division fill you in on what happened at this quarter's open meeting.  You can find the full meeting agenda here .  Topics include: Section 529 plans Private equity investment in firms Artificial intelligence Simultaneous employment Engagements subject to the SSAEs IESBA monitoring and international harmonization If you're inter...

If you were unable to observe PEEC's 4Q meeting, you can listen to an overview from Toni Lee-Andrews and staff of the Professional Ethics Division. The 2-day meeting was packed with project updates and included PEEC's approval of changes to the Code of Professional Conduct related to public interest entities.  IESBA sustainability If you're a practitioner working in sustainability you'll want to p...

Did you miss this week's meeting of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee? Not to worry. You can catch the highlights here with Toni Lee-Andrews, director of the AICPA Professional Ethics Division and other staff.  You'll hear mention of beneficial ownership information reporting and you can check out resources for that here .  In the coming weeks, detailed meeting minutes will be available...

Listen as Toni Lee-Andrews, director of the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, and staff give you the highlights of this quarter's meeting of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee.  Discussions include international convergence efforts, new proposed guidance on public interest entities, and simultaneous employment.  You'll hear about outreach the division is conducting on simultaneous emplo...

We love it when you're able to join us for meetings... but when you can't, we're happy to give you the highlights. Listen as AICPA Professional Ethics Division staff fill you in on all the projects the Professional Ethics Executive Committee is currently working on. Did you know we offer free CPE credits when you observe PEEC meetings? What a great way to get a few credits and stay current with PE...

We love it when you're able to join us for meetings... but when you can't, we're happy to give you the highlights. Listen as AICPA Professional Ethics Division staff fill you in on all the projects the Professional Ethics Executive Committee is working on. (00:55) Upcoming meetings (01:35) Compliance audits             (03:10) Convergence on the fees with IESBA (International Ethics Standards Boar...

The busier we get, the more we tend to rely on bright lines to help us navigate the world around us. Easy rules to make work simpler. But as trusted advisers in a profession the public relies on, easy rules don't always cut it for accountants. Sometimes, as Sarah Brack, CPA, says in this episode, you have to use that big brain in extraordinary ways. As our profession transitions from a rules-based...

Winter is coming...  Are you overwhelmed with clients asking you to amend their 941s? And are you getting calls from businesses offering to help you out for a fee? In this episode, Joan Farris and John Wiley, two CPAs on staff in the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, talk through some questions we're getting on the hotline. What's legit and what isn't, what could put you at risk, not just of vio...

You're busy. Crazy busy — serving your clients, volunteering, taking care of your family and friends, and somewhere in all that, hopefully finding time for yourself. With everything else on your mind daily, you may not know the finer points of your ethical obligations when a client requests records from you. Jennifer Clayton, CPA, and John Wiley, CPA, come to the rescue in this episode where we co...

Eagerly awaited changes to the DOL independence guidance for employee benefit plans are live in the Federal Register today. Listen as Summer Young, CPA, currently a senior manager in the AICPA Professional Ethics Division and formerly a practicing EBP auditor, walks us through the history and changes. Keep an eye on the Online Ethics Library for helpful guidance we'll be publishing and also be sur...

Patches and the "discrete tool" exception... Important concepts when considering whether the help you're giving a client will impair your independence. In this episode, Liese Faircloth and Iryna Klepcha, two CPAs on staff in the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, continue their discussion with Dan O'Daly, a managing director in Deloitte's independence office, about changes to the Code of Professi...

In this episode, Liese Faircloth and Iryna Klepcha, two CPAs on staff in the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, continue their discussion with Dan O'Daly, a managing director in Deloitte's independence office, about changes to the Code of Professional Conduct related to technology. They highlight why PEEC concluded that operating or managing a client's IT help desk is a management responsibility,...

It's rare to scan through a professional news feed these days without an article or opinion piece on technology in the accounting profession. The changes are exciting and the implications for practice are profound. And there are some things you need to be aware of when it comes to independence. In this episode, Dan O'Daly, a managing director in Deloitte's independence office, talks with Liese Fai...

Listen as Toni Lee-Andrews and staff of the Professional Ethics Division give an overview of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee's 3rd quarter meeting. Topics include updates on  information systems services and noncompliance with laws and regulations. Check out the Online Ethics Library. If you don't have the link handy, just type aicpa.org/ethicslibrary into the address field of your bro...

The Great Resignation... the Great Reshuffle... the Big Quit. Different names for the same phenomenon that we see happening all around us. Our profession is no exception, but there may be important ethical considerations if you are moving into a role at an attest client of your firm. In this episode, we discuss simultaneous and subsequent employment considerations that Melissa Powell, CPA, and Emi...

Did you know there's a confidential ethics hotline? You can call 888.777.7077 then dial option 2, option 3 when you have questions about ethics and the Code of Professional Conduct.  It's true. In this episode, Emily Daly, CPA talks all about the hotline, explaining what we can and can't answer, how it all works, when you can expect to hear back about an issue, and other topics. Email us at ethica...

Listen as Mimi-Blanco Best and Ellen Goria, CPAs and associate directors at the AICPA, discuss some potential pitfalls of SOC 2® reporting and offer advice and tools for avoiding issues and ensuring you meet your ethical responsibilites when performing these engagements. Q&As Here are the Q&As Mimi and Ellen discuss . You'll need to be signed into your AICPA account to access these. If you don't a...

PEEC is proposing changes to the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. Listen as Melissa Powell, CPA, and Nancy Miller, CPA discuss why the changes are necessary and what PEEC hopes to learn from members and other interested parties during the comment period for two new exposure drafts. You can find the exposure drafts and online comment forms at www.aicpa.org/ethicscomments You can also read the Jo...

Toni Lee-Andrews and staff of the Professional Ethics Division give an overview of the Professional Ethics Executive Committee's 2nd quarter meeting. Topics include compliance audits, unpaid fees, client confidentiality and data security, information systems services, and more. For more details about the meeting, s ee meeting minutes and agendas . Minutes for this meeting should be available in Ju...

In this episode, John Wiley, CPA, and Jeff Lewis, CPA, continue their discussion of what it means to act with honor, specifically as that relates to fees. If you missed the previous parts of this discussion, look for episodes 48 and 49, which are parts 11 and 12 of the back to basics series.

Listen as John Wiley, CPA, and Jeff Lewis, CPA, continue their discussion of what it means to act with honor. In this episode, they discuss an important topic: maintaining client confidentiality. If you missed the first part of this discussion, look for episode 48, or part 11 of the back to basics series.

What does it mean to "act with honor"? That can be subjective, certainly, but the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct has guidance on what it means for our profession. Listen as John Wiley, CPA, and Jeff Lewis, CPA discuss some questions that come into the ethics hotline as well as some general complaints we hear in the ethics division.

Defining a family relationship may seem simple. But is it really? In this week's episode, Sarah Brack, CPA, and April Sherman, CPA, look at family relationships and how they can affect an auditor's independence. You may be surprised at some things they discuss! Helpful related resources AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Plain English guide to independence Independence rules comparison: AICPA and...

When do members in business and industry need to be concerned about independence? What are some relationships that can impair independence? In this episode, Sarah Brack, CPA, and April Sherman, CPA, discuss various financial relationships and their possible effects on independence. Helpful related resources AICPA Code of Professional Conduct Plain English guide to independence Independence rules c...

What happens when you do everything right but still experience an inadvertent breach of independence? What is a breach? In their continuing discussion of independence, Jennifer Kappler, CPA, and Nancy Miller, CPA, answer these questions as well as discussing related systems of quality control. They also discuss how independence breaches can affect members in business, who are often the clients of...