CPA firms have created more than 1,000 engagements in new end-to-end, integrated solution from the AICPA, CPA.com and Caseware

NEW YORK – (Oct. 31, 2023) – Usage of the Dynamic Audit Solution (DAS) continues to grow at a strong pace, with firms having created over 1,000 engagements on the fully integrated, cloud-based solution from the AICPA, CPA.com and Caseware since it launched commercially this past summer. Powered by transformative methodology developed by the AICPA, in partnership with leading firms and audit practitioners, DAS is enhancing the efficiency, quality and client-value of financial statement audits through a risk-focused, data-driven approach. Built on the Caseware Cloud platform, DAS features guided workflows, real-time collaboration and a fully-integrated methodology from start to finish to support an enhanced auditor and client experience.

“We developed DAS to fundamentally transform the financial statement audit methodology, which has remained largely unchanged for decades,” said Susan Coffey, CPA, CGMA, AICPA & CIMA CEO of Public Accounting. “Instead of following a linear, checklist-based process, DAS enables an iterative approach to comprehensively identifying, assessing and responding to risk. The embedded AICPA methodology guides auditors to focus on the areas of the audit that matter the most, enabling the delivery of deeper insights and more meaningful conversations with clients.”

“We're already starting to see some of the transformational differences between DAS and previous audit tools that our staff have used both here and at other firms,” said Matt Walsh, a partner at Withum. “One of the biggest benefits we've seen early on is a defined logical mapping that guides audit teams down the path of an effective and efficient audit from start to finish. We're really excited about how that's going to impact our audit practice.”

Jessie Kanter, Partner at Citrin Cooperman, also commented: “Through the guided experience of DAS and the upgraded methodology, it's really making our auditors better auditors and they're able to bring insights to their engagements and to their clients.”

Key benefits and features of DAS include:

• Enhanced efficiency – DAS integrates processes and methodologies, eliminating the need for numerous, disparate audit tools. This enables a holistic audit approach, facilitating a focused audit plan and improved collaboration through a single cloud-based platform.
• Greater client & auditor value – Real-time data and integrated analytics support auditors in identifying, evaluating and responding to relevant risks throughout every stage of the audit. This allows for a deeper assessment at the risk level, enabling DAS to dynamically provide suggestions to auditors on how to respond to identified risks as the audit engagement progresses, helping to inform auditor judgment in real-time.
• Attracting and developing top talent – DAS offers auditors a modern, technology-driven tool and enables immediate staff upskilling by helping them understand the why and what of their actions within the audit process.

DAS is part of OnPoint, a comprehensive cloud-based suite of applications built on the Caseware Cloud Platform that bring together embedded methodology, engagement management, automated financial statements, data analytics and client collaboration in a single package. Firm adoption of OnPoint, which also includes OnPoint EBP, OnPoint PCR and OnPoint Audit, has been steadily progressing with more than 200 firms now using one or more applications.

"Caseware is proud to be the engine powering OnPoint DAS and we are excited to be at this phase of execution and adoption,” said David Osborne, CEO, Caseware. “Our leading Caseware Cloud technology optimizes the transformational methodology developed by AICPA and the platform’s enhanced data analytics and automation capabilities improve accuracy and save time. OnPoint DAS will give firms a competitive edge particularly in attracting and retaining talent."

CPA.com can help firms assess their readiness and offers comprehensive implementation consulting, training and data and migration services to prepare for a technology-driven shift.

“Adoption of the transformative DAS audit platform will require change management strategies across the firm,” said Erik Asgeirsson, President and CEO, CPA.com. “To help ensure a successful migration to DAS we have invested significant resources and capabilities to first help firms assess where they stand and then to develop individualized firm adoption and change management roadmaps.”

To learn more about DAS, visit cpa.com/DAS.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the U.S., with a growing global focus. CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA & CIMA), the most influential body of accounting and financial professionals worldwide.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA
The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing AICPA & CIMA, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 698,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 188 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.

About Caseware
Caseware is the leading global provider of desktop and cloud-enabled solutions for audit, assurance, financial reporting and data analytics for accounting firms, corporations, and government regulators. Caseware’s innovative tools and platforms help more than half a million customers in 130 countries work smarter, dig deeper and see further as they transform insights into impact. For more information, visit www.caseware.com.

Multi-part initiative enhances CPAs’ understanding of rapidly changing technology landscape.

NEW YORK (Oct. 25, 2023) – CPA.com, the business and technology subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), today released a suite of practical tools as part of its ongoing initiative to enable accounting and finance professionals to build their knowledge of generative AI (GenAI) and assess the opportunities and the risks of implementing the transformative technology into their practices. The GenAI initiative builds on CPA.com’s commitment to help practitioners successfully navigate technology’s impact on driving business model transformation and the evolution of practice areas.

“We believe that generative AI will have a significant impact on the accounting profession—more so than any other recent technology advancements,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “This new toolkit is just one of several ways we’re helping practitioners demystify its capabilities and share some very basic and practical use cases to help illustrate the possibilities.”

CPA.com’s Generative AI resources and tools can be accessed at www.cpa.com/Gen-AI and include:

• Educational insights: Videos and other content to build awareness of the current AI landscape and strategies for optimizing GenAI's potential in the accounting and finance profession.
• Downloadable toolkit: A deep dive into both the opportunities and risks presented by GenAI, including use cases and a strategic 7-step plan for constructing a tailored AI strategy.
• Use case tutorials: Walkthroughs designed for specific practice and business segments that illustrate how to effectively engage GenAI tools to achieve practical outcomes.
• Security checklist: A guide outlining top security considerations and remediation recommendations.
• GenAI glossary: Key terms to help navigate this emerging technology landscape.
• Learning opportunities: Upcoming webinars and events to further build your GenAI knowledge.

“Our goal is to help practitioners consider the ‘How?’ and not just the theoretical possibilities for their specific practice needs,” said Kacee Johnson, VP, Strategy & Innovation, CPA.com. “Our hope is that through this initiative, practitioners begin to explore and better understand this emerging technology and the ways that they can leverage AI to reshape their daily work and create more value while maintaining a risk-averse approach.”

Additional efforts within the GenAI multi-part initiative include AI-focused sessions at Digital CPA 2023, including one led by innovation expert Pascal Finette that will allow attendees to map out their own GenAI implementations.

Additionally, the 2024 AICPA and CPA.com Startup Accelerator will feature an AI-specific cohort of forward-thinking, early stage companies, and an upcoming AI Symposium will bring together subject matter experts, firm leaders and AI solution providers to discuss the real and potential impacts of this technology on the profession.

For more information, visit cpa.com/Gen-AI and watch the recent webinar, “Generative AI, The Great Equalizer,” on demand now. The webinar provides a demonstration of various GenAI use cases specific to accounting firms and ways to leverage the emerging technology within their firms.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

Mere hours after the California legislature passed a bill requiring public and private companies making more than $1 billion annually who do business in California to report climate-related disclosures, 60 representatives from firms and companies in the environmental, social, and governance space gathered for the second annual AICPA and CPA.com ESG Symposium.

https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2023/sep/esg-symposium-synopsis-how-to-put-firms-in-drivers-seat.html

Program provides business model design, resources and thought leadership content to meet growing client demand

NEW YORK (September 12, 2023) – CPA.com, the business and technology subsidiary of the AICPA, and Good.Lab, a leading provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) software and consulting services, today announced a new ESG practice development program that will enable accounting firms to respond to growing client demand for ESG advisory services. The program launched with an initial cohort of five firms from the AICPA Major Firms Group who are receiving high-quality educational content, hands-on training, enablement tools and timely insights developed by CPA.com and Good.Lab.

CPA.com, as it has done with other practice areas like client advisory services (CAS), is spearheading efforts to support firms with strategy and business model design around ESG. Approximately 86% of S&P 500 organizations already issue some kind of ESG-related report¹ and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Proposed Rules to Enhance and Standardize Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors² will hasten the requests for and standardization of ESG information.

The increase in customer and supply chain expectations is creating a new frontier in ESG measurement and reporting, and middle market, private organizations will need to address heightened ESG expectations from customers, employees and investors. While some of the new or proposed rules and regulations have a singular focus on climate change issues, others address sustainability more broadly, but all require that businesses address ESG with the same metrics-based rigor as is applied to financial reporting.

"We're excited to build on our partnership with CPA.com, as we continue to deliver on our vision of an end-to-end ESG solution for midmarket companies,” said Andries Verschelden, co-founder & CEO, Good.Lab. “Accountants are becoming the trusted advisor for ESG and with the advent of global disclosure standards from the International Sustainability Standards Board we expect demand for ESG services from accounting firms to further accelerate. This program will enable CPAs to not only perform ESG data assurance, but also meaningfully expand their practices to advise on ESG strategy, reporting and disclosure, performance data measurement and related tax and technical services.”

Good.Lab was a participant in the 2022 AICPA and CPA.com Startup Accelerator program and has extensive experience in developing and implementing the sustainability programs at Fortune 500 companies, and its work integrating ESG factors into the business strategies and operations of midsize clients across multiple industries. Training and enablement will focus on building a revenue-generating practice and defining service offerings, sales approach, revenue model, how to engage with existing clients on the topic, and client delivery tools.

“The increasing market demand for ESG services is providing significant opportunities for the accounting profession,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “Similar to programs we have rolled out with firms in other practice areas like CAS, we know there is more to driving large scale adoption than simply identifying the right technology solution. Technology is a key component; however, business model strategy, training and awareness are just as critical to firm success. We partnered with Good.Lab, a trusted ESG expert, to develop a holistic program to accelerate firm’s expansion of services into the category.”

The ESG Practice Development Program builds on CPA.com’s ongoing support to help firms understand the ESG landscape and embrace the opportunities it presents for the profession. Additional initiatives and resources include:

• An ESG-focused cohort was part of the 2022 AICPA and CPA.com Startup Accelerator to support the development of ESG technology tools for the profession.
• Second annual AICPA and CPA.com ESG Symposium on Sept. 13 will bring together top ESG leaders to exchange ideas and discuss the accounting profession’s critical role within the ESG category.
• Special report: ESG drivers & evolving strategies
• AICPA & CIMA ESG Resource Center

A second cohort of firms for the program is planned for late fall. For more information, visit cpa.com/esg.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the U.S., with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners. A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

¹https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4227934
²https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-46

CPA.com and Biz2Credit update Portal to better position accounting firms to provide financing advisory services and help small businesses access capital via premier government-backed loan program.

NEW YORK, NY (September 11, 2023) – CPA.com and Biz2Credit have updated the CPA Business Funding Portal, a cloud-based platform that helps accounting firms secure financing on behalf of their clients, to reflect the Small Business Administration (SBA)’s new lending regulations announced on Aug. 10, 2023. With this update, accounting firms will be even better positioned to deliver financing advisory services and help their clients access much needed capital more quickly and easily during a time when small businesses are experiencing a credit crunch.

“The SBA has modernized its rules to encourage more businesses to access the financing available through the SBA loans. We have enhanced the CPA Business Funding Portal to reflect the changes to SBA’s regulations and continue our commitment to streamline the financing process for accountants and their clients,” said Rohit Arora, CEO and co-founder of Biz2Credit.

Accounting firms are already taking a leading role in supporting the rollout of the SBA’s intended expansion of the signature SBA 7(a) loan program. The CPA Business Funding Portal plays the role of facilitator, enabling clients, firms and lenders to collaborate seamlessly online to get loan applications approved.

“Our accountant knew that ever since we bought our business, we wanted to grow it to a couple more locations,” said Billy Deavor, owner of Black Velvet Coffee in Fresno, California. “He has guided us towards a financial path that is making this possible. Thanks to the CPA.com-Biz2Credit platform, it was pretty simple and straightforward.”

“With economic uncertainty and rising interest rates, small and midsize businesses are looking to their accounting firms to help them manage cash flow and secure the financing they need to achieve sustainable business growth,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “With these new updates to the CPA Business Funding Portal, firms will be even better positioned to offer financing advisory, a growing area of opportunity in client advisory services (CAS) practices.”

New SBA Lending Updates to CPA Business Funding Portal

Here are some of the new features of the CPA Business Funding Portal that contribute to a streamlined SBA loan application process:

FASTER ELIGIBILITY CHECKS on SBA LOAN SUBMISSIONS

Accountants can now effectively assess their clients' eligibility for SBA-backed loans using the CPA Business Funding Portal, aligning seamlessly with recent rule changes from the SBA. To reduce the burden on lenders and simplify operations, SBA will conduct eligibility determination on SBA loans through new technology. SBA’s aim is to ensure that lenders can focus on their customers and expand capacity to increase lending -- especially small-dollar lending. In the same way, the CPA Business Funding Portal provides this capacity to accounting firms and CPAs. When submitting business details through the Portal, including the key eligibility checks that SBA now requires, it will verify SBA loan eligibility automatically and provide feedback to the accounting firm in case their client is ineligible. This saves time by offering an easy-to-fill online form for key borrower eligibility questions that populate the SBA Form 1919. It ensures compliance with eligibility criteria, setting the stage for quick and successful loan applications.

SIMPLIFIED COLLATERAL and AFFILIATION REQUIREMENTS

The updates to the Portal also empower accountants to effortlessly handle the sometimes complex affiliation and loan collateralization rules that the SBA program requires.

With the SBA’s new guidelines, loans of $50,000 or less will not require collateral, but personal guarantees still apply. The Portal makes it easy for accounting firms to use these new collateral requirements and append all necessary collateral documentation when submitting SBA loan applications to Biz2Credit’s partner lenders.

As the SBA has simplified affiliation requirements, more business owners are gaining approval. The subjective “control” requirement on affiliation for all business loan programs is now removed and program rules now focus instead on affiliation through ownership.

The CPA Business Funding Portal enables an all-digital process, led by the small business owner’s trusted advisor, which meets the latest SBA affiliation standards. The Portal’s online SBA loan workflows are all designed to make it easy for an accountant to support their client.

Accountants are already efficiently completing loan applications on behalf of their clients thanks to the platform provided by Biz2Credit and CPA.com. Through the streamlined workflow of the CPA Business Funding Portal, accountants can navigate the application process on behalf of their clients, offering support and expedited lending decisions for all involved.

To learn more about the CPA Business Funding Portal, visit www.cpa.com/business-funding. You can also watch the latest on-demand webinar, Empowering your SMB clients with new advisory opportunities.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus. Its core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners. A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Biz2Credit
Founded in 2007, Biz2Credit has arranged more than $7 billion in small business financing. The company is expanding its industry leading Biz2X technology in custom digital platform solutions for banks and other financial institutions, investors, and service providers. Visit www.biz2credit.com or Twitter @Biz2Credit, Facebook, and LinkedIn.