Bond Beebe Joins WithumSmith+Brown, PC

Bond Beebe joins its practice with WithumSmith+Brown, PC
(Princeton, NJ & Bethesda, MD) Effective August 31, 2017, Bond Beebe, an accounting and advisory firm based in Bethesda, MD, joined its practice with WithumSmith+Brown, PC (Withum), a regional CPA and consulting firm with 14 offices, 850 staff members and annual revenue of $170M, ranking in the top 30 firms in the country. Bond Beebe will remain at their locations in Bethesda, MD, and Alexandria, VA.

“We are excited about joining forces with […]

What Is Blockchain and Why Should I Care?

Post by Hannah Weaver

Back in 2008, a cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin brought many new opportunities to the table for online transactions. While Bitcoin sparked change in the financial world with a new form of digital currency, it’s the blockchain technology behind it that can potentially cause huge waves of disruption in several industries.

What gives blockchain so much attention in the financial world is that it removes the intermediary when it comes to transactions, making them more transparent and efficient. […]

Safeguard your ePHI

Post by Tony Cafferelli

On April 24th 2017, CardioNet, a wireless health services provider, agreed on a 2.5 million dollar settlement with the Department of Health and Human Services, regarding their impermissible disclosure of unsecured electronic protected health information (ePHI). HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) was passed in 1996 to safeguard ePHI. CardioNet’s impermissible disclosure came about when an employee left a laptop containing ePHI in their car overnight, where it was stolen. Subsequently, CardioNet complied with the […]

What Is Protected PII?

Post by Ravi Melwani 

The Federal Government (FCC, DOL) and State Compliance Offices can issue large fines to Organization’s that transmit Protected PII without proper procedures in place to secure these transmissions. Accounting firms have a fiduciary responsibility to clients and their employees and participants to ensure Protected PII is properly secured.

The Department of Labor defines Protected PII as Personally Identifiable Information which, if disclosed, could result in harm to the individual whose name or identity is linked with this information.

The […]

Due Soon: DC Personal Property Tax Forms

Post By Veronica Calvo

It is almost that time of year again! All individuals, partnerships, executors, administrators, etc. that own or hold personal property in the District must file a District of Columbia personal property tax return (FP-31) by Monday, July 31st.
What constitutes DC personal property?
According to the general instructions for FP-31, DC personal property includes “used or available for use in DC in a trade or business, whether or not operated for profit; and kept in storage, held for rent […]

Watch Out! Summertime Tax Scams

Post By Veronica Calvo

Although tax filing season is over for most taxpayers, tax-related scams are still surfacing. Even though taxpayers should remain on high alert for these scams year-round, tax-related scams tend to be more frequent in the summer.

As the IRS commissioner John Koskinen states, “Many of these [evolving summer schemes] are variations of a theme, involving fictitious tax bills and demands to pay by purchasing and transferring information involving a gift card or iTunes card. Taxpayers can avoid […]

All About Internal Controls – Contributions

Post by Paul Smith

An effective internal control system over contributions is the foundation on which healthy organizations are built. Since contributions are the major source of revenue for a not-for-profit organizations, there is always a heightened risk associated with this area. The internal control system that management develops in order to mitigate this risk will depend on a variety of factors. However, there is a core group of concepts that must be addressed in any effective set of internal […]

DEVELOPING FLASH REPORTS

It seems like every time you’re neck deep in the flood of day-to-day business details, you’re asked by fellow managers, ownership or the Board of Directors, “How are we doing?” While this seems like a simple enough question, there lie many devils in the details. The key is being able to communicate above the day-to-day minutiae and create a strong executive summary of the important numbers. Creating a simple one- or two-page flash report allows an informed user to […]

Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards | Employee Benefit Audit

Post by Larry Beebe

The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AUCPA) has issued a proposed change to the auditing standards a CPA must follow in conducting an employee benefit audit.

The proposed changes include

Requiring certain additional procedures in an employee benefit audit “…irrespective of the risk of material misstatement.” Any findings of the CPA as a result of the additional procedures would have to be detailed in the auditor’s report. The auditor’s report, […]