CPAs and the Fiscal Situation

The VSCPA is pleased to present its interview with three CPAs who have taken the initiative to educate the public on the federal budget deficit. VSCPA member Ed Mazur, CPA, and fellow CPAs Ernie Almonte, CPA, and Dave Walker, CPA, have all held government positions and have firsthand experience with governmental fiscal issues.

Watch a video interview with Mazur and Almonte below, then help spread the word yourself. The VSCPA's Fiscal Responsibility Resource Center contains myriad reports, whitepapers and other resources related to the issue. That includes two PowerPoints to help you spread the word to civic organizations and other groups.

CPAs have the training and expertise needed to make sense of the federal government's fiscal situation. Use these resources to help you educate others.

How Will the Fiscal Cliff Resolution Impact Your Clients?

As the New Year arrived, Congress struck a last-minute budget deal that avoided the so-called "fiscal cliff" scenario. The bill creates a new high-end tax bracket and extends the Bush-era tax cuts for all other brackets while extending the alternative minimum tax (AMT).

What does this mean for your clients? The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has already announced that tax season will be delayed a week. The payroll tax holiday enacted in the 2009 stimulus bill was not renewed, bumping workers' share of Social Security taxes to 6.2 percent. And of course, many issues will be revisited at the next deadline in February or March.

How are you advising your clients?

New Op-Ed: 'Listen to the Accountants'

VSCPA President & CEO Stephanie Peters, CAE, co-wrote an op-ed in this morning's Richmond Times-Dispatch discussing government finances. Stephanie and Nancy Bagranoff, dean of the University of Richmond's Robins School of Business, talked about the special expertise that CPAs offer in matters of fiscal responsibility.
CPAs are uniquely qualified to analyze financial statements, whether it's for a small business or a huge government entity. VSCPA members and other CPAs are the experts when it comes to reading a balance sheet, and they should use their expertise to help the country solve its financial problems. Peters and Bagranoff wrote:

The profession's message is meant to be nonpartisan and does not suggest a particular policy solution. Taxing at 15 percent and spending at 25 percent is not sustainable. How we solve that disconnect should be an ongoing topic of discussion among us all.

Click here to read the rest of the editorial. What can CPAs do to help U.S. citizens understand the government's financial situation? Sound off in the comments.

Potential Changes to Grants Policy

Today, we were proud to hold one of our newest conferences — the VSCPA State and Local Government Day in Richmond. Designed for CPAs who work in state and local government, the conference brought together a very important segment of our CPA community.

One of today's important speakers was Terrill W. Ramsey, CPA, CIA, of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who spoke on the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) recent proposal of reforms to grants policy for cost principles, administrative requirements and single audits. The OMB issued this proposal late last month and seeks feedback on various ideas for change to compliance audits of federal funds, commonly referred to as single audits or Circular A-133 audits. There is only a 30-day comment period provided, so comments are due March 29.

Among the ideas discussed were a potential increase in the threshold for audit (from $500,000 to $1 million) and a new category of single audit that will be narrower in scope than what is in place today (between $1 million and $3 million). Entities expending more than $3 million would continue to have a full single audit.

The AICPA’s Governmental Audit Quality Center (GAQC) developed an alert on this issue, which can be accessed by the public on the GAQC website.