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John Raspante, risk management director at McGowan Pro, was featured in the Accounting Today podcast "Emerging risks for accountants." John and McGowan Pro Senior Vice President Stephen Vono spoke with Dan Hood on the new areas that are sparking claims against firms — and the tools they can use to protect themselves.

Mfon Akpan, CGMA, DBA, an assistant professor of accounting at Methodist University, and Scott Dell, CPA, DBA, an assistant professor of accounting at Francis Marion University, explain why CPAs and other professionals can be left behind professionally if they don't spend time learning about tools such as ChatGPT. They talk about productivity gains, the competitive divide that could develop, and how, in the short term, more training is needed to fully harness generative AI.

Cybercriminals love to exploit a crisis – and unfortunately during a time of turmoil like we’ve seen in recent years, data incidents are more prevalent now than ever before. Infiltration can happen anywhere and with an even greater frequency considering the dependence on technology by industries worldwide.

If implementing generative AI can make the finance function more agile, it has the potential to be a source of competitive advantage, says Gartner.

Executives and employees believe artificial intelligence is good for business, but employees say some companies are not clear about how they intend to use AI.

Generative AI technologies like ChatGPT and Bard aren't the end of the world, as sci-fi antagonists may make them out to be. But they're not demure wallflowers, either. The truth exists somewhere in between, leaving CFOs with many questions but few answers on how to integrate these game-changing tools to maximize efficiency, accuracy and insight into everyday finance and accounting.

A recent rise in software fees has sparked debate among practice owners about how the cost of multiple, interconnecting cloud applications should be packaged and presented to clients, whether price hikes should be passed on and when this should happen.

There is going to be a big gap between accountants who use artificial intelligence and those who don't, says Randy Johnston, executive vice president at K2 Enterprises, who shares ideas for leveraging this transformative technology.

A recent global survey from McKinsey found that leaders are looking to increase AI-related investments, but less than half have planned for the organisational risks involved.

On August 1, the AICPA and all 54 State CPA Societies, including CTCPA, sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting DHS recognize accounting under the “T” for Technology in Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) education.

Running an accounting firm needs constant attention as tech prices and client specifications change constantly. Practice owner Alex Falcon Huerta lays out her current tech stack and how her costs and priorities have evolved.

With so much disruption being thrust upon them, you'd think the last thing accounting firms would want to do is to disrupt themselves — yet that may be exactly what they need to do, says Bob Lewis of The Visionary Group.

Finance professional and data expert Michelle Govindsamy fills in the gaps on AI’s role and how the profession will change in the future.

While technology undoubtedly speeds up some of the more time-consuming aspects of accounting work, it is not a magic solution to the skills shortage. Jonathan Bareham, director of Raedan, says human expertise remains essential in building a successful firm.

The rising interest in finance automation presents a compelling growth opportunity for controllers to establish themselves as de facto finance chief information officers.

In the field of cybersecurity, most things we do to increase security have an equally significant “opposite” effect on productivity. Simply put, they make your life harder.

By Jim Norton, CPA, Principal – GRF CPAs & Advisors and CTCPA Advisory Council Chair

By CTCPA Advisory Council Chair Jim Norton, CPA, GRF CPAs & Advisors

By Jim Norton, CPA, GRF CPAs & Advisors Budgeting. Planning. Budgeting and planning. Financial planning and analysis. FP&A. Projections. Models. Forecasts. Pro formas. These are just a handful of terms that are often used interchangeably when talking about the process of analyzing an organization’s financial position. The buzz phrase that seems to resonate most with people lately is financial planning and analysis, or FP&A.

Deciding on the best audit approach isn’t a cookie-cutter process. While a long-standing relationship with a client or in-depth industry knowledge can give auditors a leg up, defining an effective audit approach requires careful consideration and planning for every engagement.