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Summary: Ross Campbell, director -- public sector at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, explains why GCC governments should look to professional accountants to strengthen their public [...]

Byline: Antoinette Alexander Being a not-for-profit organization isn't easy - and as many accounting professionals have learned, providing them with audit, tax and advisory services can be even tougher. For [...]

The growing popularity of accounting profession and increase in jobs in the field is discussed.

This paper exploits the interpretive content of city-based directories to demonstrate the emergence of 'public accountants' as a professional grouping in England during the period 1800-1880, and it applies Andrew Abbott's The System of the Professions (1988) to explain the broader significance of that finding. We reveal that, by the 1870s, 'public accountants' in England had achieved public recognition as expert suppliers of services over which they possessed an effective jurisdiction, and we conclude that Abbott's theory provides a meaningful framework for explaining the history of public accounting prior to organisational fusion in 1880. We also consider why the label 'public accountant' failed to satisfy the conditions identified by Abbott's analytical framework for the continuing success of their professional project, and conclude that the need for a more effective means of occupational differentiation led to the reconstruction of a public accountancy profession based instead on the title 'chartered accountant'.

Governments and professional organizations are exploring methods to retain institutional knowledge and to ensure and adequate supply of new employees with the skills necessary for good stewardship and accountability. Educating the next generation of employees requires faculty interested in government financial management is necessary as the data's suggest that the total number of accounting doctorates has more than doubled in the past 25 years, but the pace has greatly slowed in last 10 years from 1995 to 2006.

The application of Darwin's theory to accounting firms is readily apparent in the results of this year's Practical Accountant's survey of accounting firms. There have been almost cataclysmic changes over [...]

'You deserve a break today.' That's pretty much what Concannon, Miller & Co. is telling its approximately 700 McDonald's clients when pitching its new online payroll services. The Allentown, Pa. [...]

What's in store for the next generation of accountants? To attract students to the profession and provide them with the knowledge and skills necessary for success, practitioners and educators are [...]

A team of senior IMA[R] (Institute of Management Accountants) leaders traveled to Japan and Korea this spring to continue to extend the association's presence in Asia and to gain a [...]

The following is from Fitch Ratings on March 31: Fitch Ratings has affirmed the 'A' rating on approximately $13 million of outstanding Canaveral Port Authority (CPA) port revenue bonds, series [...]

CPAs who seek and discover new services to perform will be prepared for future changes and will continue to have thriving practices. The AICPA Vision Project focuses on future possibilities for the profession. Technology will lessen the need for CPA tax compliance services, but other services should remain viable and many related areas of practice could open., Editor's note: Mr. Holub chairs the AICPA Tax Division's Tax Practice Management Committee. Mr. Woehlke is a member of that committee. If you would like additional information about this article, [...]

Five experts discussed a project being developed by the CPA profession aimed at helping accountants prepare for the formidable challenges facing them in the future. Called the Vision Project, this initiative requires professional members to create scenarios describing the interaction among the political, economic, social, technological, human resources and regulatory factors that may affect the profession in the future. Jack Brooks, former executive director of the Connecticut Society of CPAs, explained that the project is quite relevant because most CPAs are too engrossed with their current work that they forget to prepare for tumultuous times ahead of them. Tax lecturer Sidney Kess commented that the project can help CPAs who feel that they are not up to the challenges transforming their practice. The other participants in the discussion were Walter Primoff and James Woehlke of the New York State Society of CPAs, and life insurance expert Lee Slavutin.

How well prepared are accountants in business and industry for the new accounting--where the emphasis is on information analysis and strategy setting rather than on the conventional tasks of data [...]

In a climate of increasing uncertainty, organisations the world over are calling for greater competence when it comes to financial discipline and effective strategy. The financial crisis, the eurozone meltdown [...]

Byline: Gary Bolinger People. Human capital. Talent. Call it what you are comfortable with. The profession needs to attract and retain high-quality people. People who not only have a good [...]

Byline: Thomas J. Williams and Iris K. Palma We all dream of the client who grins from ear to ear whenever they see or hear from their accountant. In our [...]

Crystal balls, tarot cards and astrology charts have no place in the precise world of accounting. Yet the environment that demands such precision is changing at a dizzying rate. Keeping [...]

Forecasts on what awaits new accountants in the year 2017 are presented. It is suggested that 25 years from 1992 fraud will still be a concern of the accounting profession although accountants will already be forced by law to report incidents of fraud to the SEC. Accountants of the future are also expected to benefit from advanced audit software which allows individual and partner-level reviews throughout the audit process. Quarterly reports will also become as complex as annual reports and clients can receive daily reports on their internal status.

Chartered accountants are visualizing a bright picture for their practice in the 21st century. Probable political events and their effects on the Canadian national economy are predicted. Canada's industrial strength is examined in the context of its international usability. The forecast of an impending major bankruptcy is posited in relation to its effect on auditors' and accountants' liability for malpractice.

Professional Services Significant growth is expected in the demand for professional services in 1991 and well into the 1990s. Before reading this chapter, please see 'How to Get the Most [...]

Outlooks on taxation and the role of information technology on accounting services by 2025 AD are presented. Technology by 2025 AD is expected to address fears that home-based workers would be isolated. Another forecast is that European Union has adopted a common corporate tax base by then.

The volatility of the economy is causing accountants to include forecasts in their financial statements. One advantage of forecasts is that they allow potential investors to evaluate the future of firms more easily. The disadvantages of forecasts include their potential for being incorrect and the possibility of forcing management to defend every assumption about previous business decisions related to the forecasts. Accountants can decrease the possibility of litigation by adhering to professional standards and ethics when preparing forecasts.

Pension plans and fiduciary responsibility rocketed into the regulatory spotlight with Enron's collapse, and with United Airlines recent high-profile pension plan failure, the increased scrutiny won't be subsiding anytime soon. [...]

Unlike in the past, the role of accountants now encompasses additional duty of reporting on environmental aspects. The features and the usage of this report, or the triple bottom line as it is called, are discussed. The difficulties in the assessments of environmental data are highlighted.

The average age of a Chartered Accountant in practice in Ireland is currently 47. With many practitioners hoping to retire before 60, succession planning will be very much on the [...]

CPE must change to meet the new challenges facing the profession. At the end of the first phase of the CPA Vision Process, delegates from the country's 50 states and [...]