Author Archives: Richard Daisley, CPA

Pandemic forces accounting firms to adopt new training methods | Surgent CPE

Surgent CPE offers continuing education courses to improve interpersonal skills and help offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the workplace.

As the days get longer, the snow melts and flowers start to bloom, it can only mean one thing – employee benefit plan audit season is almost upon us. The upcoming season of audits of employee benefit plans with Dec. 31, 2021, year ends will be significantly different than in years past, as Statement on […]

Surgent CPE ASC 842 Tips

On Nov. 10, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) considered a request for a further two-year delay in the effective date of ASC Topic 842, Leases, for entities which have not yet adopted the new standard. The board voted 7-0 to not provide an additional deferral of ASC 842’s effective date. With this decision, the […]

Surgent CPE blog

The past year has provided numerous examples of CPAs providing critical assistance to their clients, both from an attest and non-attest perspective.  From assisting with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications to helping with new accounting standard assessment and even staff augmentation services, CPAs have repeatedly gone above and beyond for their clients. However, when […]

Right now, not-for-profits (NFPs) are considering the role of ASU No. 2018-08 (ASU 2018-08), Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made, in the accounting for PPP loans. For example, NFP X received a PPP loan during 2020 and incurred and documented qualifying expenses in conformity with the PPP forgiveness provisions. At […]

On October 16, 2020, the SEC released an announcement that it adopted final amendments to Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X, dealing with auditor independence. The amendments reflect updates based on observations that the SEC has made over several years and are expected to reduce time-consuming audit committee, management, and independent audit review of possible or […]

As we enter the final stretch of 2020, not-for-profits are grappling with two new contribution standards. The first standard is ASU No. 2018-08, Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made. While this standard was issued in 2018, many not-for-profits are still implementing its guidance related to distinguishing contributions from exchange […]

Companies institute elaborate controls to prevent or detect fraud. We as public accountants devote a significant amount of effort on our audits toward preventing or detecting material fraud. For all that we do as a profession, the risk of fraud, and its potentially large impact, never go away. While we haven’t experienced another Enron or […]

In recent years, both the FASB and GASB have developed new leasing standards. While both standard-setters wrote their standards at essentially the same time and place, they came to different conclusions in certain key areas. However, one key area where both the FASB and GASB are in alignment is that to have a lease you […]

One of the more complex areas of financial reporting is accounting for convertible debt. Under current GAAP, there are 5 different accounting models which could apply, based on the facts and circumstances of the debt conversion feature. Each of these models have different accounting outcomes, ranging from the debt with the conversion feature being recorded […]