While it can seem arbitrary, there are actual reasons you can see your price go up and down.

Plan ahead and take special precautions to help keep everyone healthy and safe.

At 55 mph, if you glance at a text for five seconds, you have traveled the length of a football field.

 With more people at home than ever before, increased liability risks for home owners may ensue.

At a time when people need to keep themselves, their families, and their finances safe-what can we do to protect our digital health against coronavirus?

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers.

Consider for a moment the impact a long-term or permanent disability would have on you and your family.

To help yourself stay healthy and reduce your risk for a disability, here are three steps you can take.

With rising medical costs and a lack of emergency savings, many Americans are at risk for financial difficulty if they miss work to illness, injury or pregnancy.

Here are Three Big Reasons to help make sure your income is fully protected with LTD coverage through the AICPA:

A long-term disability can be life-altering, for yourself and for your family. It can impact your livelihood and your ability to continue to earn an income.

If you are no longer able to work, how will you support yourself?

With the potential for unfettered access to client money and other valuable assets/information, even the most well run organization can be susceptible to employee theft.It’s impossible to predict the ups and downs of the stock market. Learn tips   to develop a sound strategy to help you achieve financial wellness, even in a market downturn.

Finding sugar on food labels can be tricky, but not impossible.

AICPA Member Benefits: There are financial and health benefits of cooking meals at home. Take care of the ones you love including yourself and your time.

Take the proper steps to help make sure you have everything in place to tackle tax season.

Protecting ourselves and loved ones from COVID-19 through social distancing has been top of mind for many of us this year. But equally important is maintaining a healthy lifestyle while we’re at home.

Consider for a moment the impact a long-term or permanent disability would have on you and your family.

Be sure to share your health concerns with your health care providers.

Not enough vitamin D in adults can lead to osteomalica (brittle bones), causing bone pain and muscle weakness.

Did you know 10% of fireworks fires occur around New Year’s Day? Here are seven holiday fire safety tips to keep you safe.

If you have a collection of antiques, artwork, or other valuables in your home, you may need to take special precautions to keep these treasured possessions safe.

The holidays bring increased travel, parties, family get-togethers, and decorating.

We typically think of adults as the primary victims of identity theft. After all, they're the ones who have developed a credit history and have assets attached to their name that people want to take advantage of.

Unemployment fraud has surged during the Covid-19 pandemic targeting the employed and unemployed alike. Its affects are devastating. Here’s some information you should know.

This Risk Alert explains how unemployment insurance fraud has exploded with the onset of COVID-19. Learn about the risks and remediation steps to respond to these situations.   

A time of crisis can bring out the best of humanity. Unfortunately, it can also bring out the worst—scammers and con-artists.

As a CPA, you are more aware than most people of the importance of protecting yourself financially.

Here are some tips to keep yourself, your clients and your organization secure while working from home. 

Purchasing life insurance can be a daunting proposition - besides the obvious reminder of your own mortality, the cost involved, and features and options to choose from, can be overwhelming.

The Level Premium Term Plan offers new lower rates that stay the same for a set term, even as you age or your health changes.

The death of a spouse is a loss no one wants to face, but unfortunately, it is a tragedy that you may have to deal with.

Newly married couples have many pressing items on their to-do lists, but one task that often falls by the wayside is purchasing life insurance.

Discover a term life plan with rates that stay the same for the period you choose, even as you age or your health changes.

A life insurance plan or policy is a contract with an insurance company.

You could lower your CPA Life, Spouse Life, and GVUL Insurance rates even further by applying for a simple change in status.

From day care costs to college tuition and all the mortgage payments in between, you may have some major financial responsibilities on your plate.

Did you know that more than 40% of Americans say they'd feel the financial impact from the loss of the primary wage earner within 6 months.

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers.

While thinking about death is uncomfortable, there are many good reasons to start thinking about putting a plan in place for the unexpected.

When creating any type of financial account, whether it’s a savings account, retirement savings account, or life insurance, one of the more important details to consider is the naming of a beneficiary or beneficiaries.

From college to marriage, building a family and buying a home, there’s a lot that goes on between birth and death. One thing that can help keep us moving forward is having the right Life Insurance to help protect against all of life’s twists and turns. Find out why Life Insurance is so important, and what types of policies can help you depending on where you are in life. Coverage is issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential).

Long-term care insurance isn’t for everybody, but having a plan should be. Find out what CPAs should do when planning for themselves and clients’ long-term care risks.

According to AARP, there are 10,000 people turning 65 every day – a figure that is expected to be consistent until 2030.

Going through this experience can be an important time to think about your own potential need for care and whether you’re prepared for a long-term care event.

Many are at a point in their lives when they are still working to build their careers, and the time and cost of providing care can affect their ability to earn and save for their own goals and retirement.

With the passing of a loved one, you may have also experienced first-hand the emotional and financial impact caused by a long-term care event. 

Women today often don’t have as much retirement savings as men, which means they’re more likely to outlive their savings.

The majority of claims under umbrella policies are auto-related. Since virtually all of us drive, the need for Personal Liability Umbrella Coverage is obvious.

We often hear from CPAs that they are good defensive drivers and serious accidents will not happen and question the need of having a personal umbrella policy.

See if you can guess what these AICPA Personal Liability Umbrella Insurance claims have in common:

See if you can guess what these AICPA Personal Liability Umbrella Insurance claims have in common:

While thinking about death is uncomfortable, there are many good reasons to start thinking about putting a plan in place for the unexpected.

Women today often don’t have as much retirement savings as men, which means they’re more likely to outlive their savings.

Let's clear up anything you still might be wondering about getting a renters insurance policy.

If you're the parent of dependent college students living away from home, you may not be aware that your homeowners policy will cover their personal property and personal liability.

Take the proper steps to help make sure you have everything in place to tackle tax season.

Going through this experience can be an important time to think about your own potential need for care and whether you’re prepared for a long-term care event.

It’s true, adding a teen driver to your auto policy will likely increase your premium.

While it can seem arbitrary, there are actual reasons you can see your price go up and down.

You could lower your CPA Life, Spouse Life, and GVUL Insurance rates even further by applying for a simple change in status.

It’s true, adding a teen driver to your auto policy will likely increase your premium.

Here are some tips to keep yourself, your clients and your organization secure while working from home. 

While there are many factors a CPA firm may evaluate when deciding to take on a new client, there are three that can make a significant difference to the firm's professional liability risk.

Integrity and ethical values are paramount for CPA firms and their clients. This article discusses how tone at the top can impact a firms’ risk.

Terminating a client, whether contentious or cooperative, should follow a well-thought out process. This article provides tips to guide practitioners in terminating client relationships. 

When it becomes necessary to terminate a client relationship, it is important to confirm this action in a letter to the client to avoid future ambiguity regarding the status of the relationship.

Consulting, while not a traditional service provided by CPAs, has become increasingly prominent. This article provides risk management tips to consider when providing consulting services.

Client accounting services is a growing area of practice for many CPA firm. Learn how firms can manage expectation gap risk with their CAS clients.

If your client actually needs a CFO, consult with both your lawyer and your insurance broker about potential legal and insurance coverage issues before deciding how to proceed.

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers. Read on to find out what it means to be "medically underwritten,” if you need a medical exam to get coverage and more.

CPAs are often a client’s most trusted business advisor, and clients may look to the CPA to add value to the business in areas beyond accounting.

Familiarity threats to independence can make an audit claim more difficult to defend. This article shares examples and tips to help mitigate this risk.

Defending a claim is more difficult if the firm’s independence or integrity and objectivity is questioned. The Conceptual Framework outlined in the Code of Professional Conduct can help.

Failure to appropriately apply the risk assessment standards can lead to undetected misstatements and be problematic for claim defense. Learn why in this article.

Often overlooked, the real benefit of audit planning is gained from the process itself. Learn how planning can help mitigate risk.

Have you ever been asked by an audit client for consent to include an audit report in a public or private securities offering?

The role quality, or lack thereof, plays in a professional liability claim cannot be over-emphasized.

In unprecedented times like these that bring personal and professional challenges, AICPA Member Insurance Programs is here to serve you, just as we've​ done for more than 70 years.

The stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, including remote work environments, assisting clients with relief programs and juggling family commitments can have mental health implications for you and your staff.

As COVID-19 closed the physical location of many businesses and stay-at-home orders were issued, some individuals chose to shelter-in-place at vacation homes or other locations out of the state where they previously worked. Those individuals may still be continuing to work out of their “COVID homes.”

This alert highlights the risks related to assisting clients with PPP loans, including loan application and forgiveness services, and outlines risk mitigation strategies CPA firms can implement.

In today’s volatile working environment, the risks that firms encounter from both external and internal sources grow exponentially each day.

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers. Read on to find out what it means to be "medically underwritten,” if you need a medical exam to get coverage and more.

A time of crisis can bring out the best of humanity. Unfortunately, it can also bring out the worst—scammers and con-artists.

As stay-at-home notices are expiring, CPAs nationwide are considering how and when to return to their traditional work spaces.  As this process continues, employers and employees have many risk factors to consider.  

CPA firms have many important responsibilities to juggle when doing business; from staffing and cash management, to marketing and legal considerations. An area worth adding to the list and learning more about is professional liability insurance for CPA firms. It’s likely you already have some insurance policies, but does your practice have professional liability coverage? 

Read the rest of the article below to learn what professional liability insurance is, how it works, and why it helps protect CPA firms. 

Personal liability risks for CPAs are enhanced during tax season. Read more to find out how to help reduce the potential for lawsuits.

The CPA/Risk Advisor Spotlight series features an in-depth conversation with a CPA, or a Risk Advisor, on their personal perspective on a variety of topics impacting the profession. Since February is Black History Month, we’re beyond honored to spotlight the youngest person, the fifth woman, and first person of color to serve to serve as Chairman of the Board of Directors in the AICPA’s 134 year history, Ms. Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA.

This month our spotlight is on the first woman to sit on the board of Rubin Brown in 60 years, and the first woman chair of the AICPA’s Professional & Personal Liability Insurance Programs Committee, Felicia Malter, CPA, CGMA.

A decade ago, crime involved a robber walking into a bank with a weapon. Today, criminals do not necessarily use weapons—they use computers. Cybercriminals hack into your system, monitor your emails, then impersonate you to fraudulently convince an unsuspecting employee to wire transfer large sums of money to them.

With the potential for unfettered access to client money and other valuable assets/information, even the most well run organization can be susceptible to employee theft.

CPAs need to be familiar with both their professional obligations and the risk management activities necessary to mitigate the risk of a breach of confidential firm and client information, as well as fraud, theft, and other criminal acts of third parties.
 

Bugs in software create vulnerabilities and an access point for data to be exposed.  Businesses of all types and sizes are exposed to this type of risk.

As aggregators of financial data, CPA firms are entrusted with their clients’ personal and financial information. As such, they’re primary targets for cybercrimes.

Safeguarding your clients’ nonpublic information from cyber-criminals is a top priority for CPA firms.

While people may think it's safer to store data on a "cloud-based" system rather than on-site, in today's world, neither environment is safe from hacker attacks.

The Act imposes stringent obligations upon businesses that handle the private information of New York residents in order to help strengthen the protection of private consumer information.

The concept of going paperless has been around for a long time, but CPA firms of all sizes are increasingly adopting a more virtual operating environment and taking advantages of the benefits allowed by Internet-, or “cloud-,” based computing service providers.

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers. Read on to find out what it means to be "medically underwritten,” if you need a medical exam to get coverage and more.

 Use these controls to secure your firm’s critical information

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (“HITECH”) Act was enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”).

Workplace discrimination and harassment can result in costly lawsuits. This article discusses laws for accounting firms to be aware of, and risk management measures to consider.

In today’s volatile working environment, the risks that firms encounter from both external and internal sources grow exponentially each day.

To save time, CPAs choose to use evergreen or unilateral engagement letters. This article compares the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of letters.

Using a set of standard, firmwide terms and conditions can help increase engagement letter efficiency and consistency. Learn how to implement one at your CPA firm.

Malpractice claims against CPAs are more difficult to defend if an engagement letter is not used. This article provides tips to help practitioners effectively and efficiently implement them.

Client engagement letters that define each party's responsibilities are a primary tool for managing risk and important in avoiding and defining malpractice claims.

Client requests for the firm’s defense and indemnification are unnecessary and unfair, and may be unenforceable. Learn how to respond when a client make this request.

Sample engagement letters for over 30 services and a terms and conditions document are available to CNA professional liability policyholders.

When a CPA firm undergoes an ownership change, the question of who should retain the existing engagement working paper files and work product files is often raised.

Walking away from the CPA firm that you’ve put your heart, soul and life is difficult enough. Nobody wants their swan song to be a professional liability claim.

Retired partners can present professional liability risk to a CPA firm. Learn how to manage these risks in this article.

Sometimes CPA firm employees steal from clients. Consider using the tips in this article to prevent this from happening at your firm.

CPA firms may utilize third parties to help deliver services or administrative support. A firm’s responsibilities related to client confidentiality and service quality extends to the subcontractor’s actions.

There are fundamental risk management practices CPA firms should implement to help establish a foundation for quality and growth.

Electronic communication can be fraught with peril for the unwary CPA and hinder the defense of a professional liability claim. Learn how to manage this risk.

Good record retention practices are crucial for a CPA firm. This article discusses considerations when creating and implementing a record retention policy.

To assist firms in making smart decisions when it comes to providing group life benefits to their employees, in this paper Aon is sharing AICPA Group Insurance Plan proprietary data.

Learn what to expect should you be the subject of a professional liability claim.

Regardless of the digitization and virtualization of how business is conducted and how people connect, a fundamental truism for all CPA firms is that relationships matter.

When a CPA firm sues for unpaid fees, the result is often a counterclaim for negligence. This article discusses the thought process CPAs should follow first. 

Learn more about how good billing habits can assist in the defense of a professional liability claim - and make collections easier.

The United States is home to over 500 federally recognized Native American Indian tribes, nations, bands, pueblos, villages and other groups.

As an employer, you want to trust the people who work for you. Unfortunately, it's impossible to know everything that is going on in the personal lives of your employees.

One way that accountants may try to adapt to current economic challenges is to share space with other accountants (or non-accountants).

We reached out to our Risk Advisors at the AICPA Insurance Trust to find out what questions they are asked most about the application process, and we got the answers. Read on to find out what it means to be "medically underwritten,” if you need a medical exam to get coverage and more.

Did you know that more than 40% of Americans say they'd feel the financial impact from the loss of the primary wage earner within 6 months.

Are you new to buying group life insurance? In this short video, Heather will   help guide you on what CPA firms need to know. 

Wealthy or famous clients often rely heavily on CPAs to handle their financial affairs. This article discusses the risks and tips to be aware of.

Misalignment between a CPA’s activities and the engagement letter can be problematic. This article discusses the risk of scope creep and provides related risk management tips.

The U.S. population continues to age. This article discusses the professional liability risks of working with elderly clients and provides risk management tips for consideration.

Unfortunately, there is no crystal ball to tell CPA firms what will happen when a new client or engagement is accepted.

When CPAs provide services related to a client’s money and the client incurs a loss, CPAs are at risk. The more money involved, the greater the risk.

Dedication to client service often leads to a gut response of, "No problem!" However, the manner in which a CPA responds to even a seemingly benign request may introduce unnecessary professional liability risk.

Two course options depending on area of practice.

The AICPA Professional Liability Insurance Program is dedicated to providing superior claims assistance.

An interactive, online self-study course is available for CPAs. You can benefit from obtaining the risk control training you need at the time that works best for you - 24/7.

Select a course format that best suits your schedule and personal learning preference. Regardless of the format selected, you'll learn valuable risk management strategies to implement immediately.

Docket systems provide CPA firms with a comprehensive method of monitoring workflow. This article discusses what should be included in the docket and its management.

Some partnership clients may ask their CPA to serve as the partnership representative.

CPAs are often asked for investment recommendations or their thoughts on a client’s potential investment. These client favors can lead to claims alleging the provision of erroneous investment adviceCPAs

Conflicts of interest can be stressful for the CPA and create additional professional liability exposure. Learn how to manage this risk in this article.

Conflicts of interest can be stressful for the CPA and create additional professional liability exposure. Learn how to manage this risk in this article.

Professional liability claims from serving as a trustee can be severe. Find out why the service is risky and what can be done about it.

Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with divorce, professionally or personally, will usually concede that it is a steaming cauldron of emotions bubbling up from broken dreams, anger, fear about the future, and the financial disaster that it usually visits on its participants.

Defense counsel and experts provide their insight into what helps them (and hurts them) in the defense of tax and other claims.

Tax practitioners should be cognizant of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) increased activity related to conservation easement transactions.

As COVID-19 closed the physical location of many businesses and stay-at-home orders were issued, some individuals chose to shelter-in-place at vacation homes or other locations out of the state where they previously worked. Those individuals may still be continuing to work out of their “COVID homes.”

CPAs that are not familiar with third party verification requests should count themselves lucky. While they are far from the most complex issue facing the profession, they can be an unexpected annoyance and involve an unnecessary drain on valuable time.

If you have a collection of antiques, artwork, or other valuables in your home, you may need to take special precautions to keep these treasured possessions safe.

As a CPA, you are more aware than most people of the importance of protecting yourself financially.

Medicare fraud is purposely billing Medicare for services that were never provided or received.

May 2021
 
Life insurance has been an important part of your financial planning during your working years. See how it can fit into your retirement plan.

From college to marriage, building a family and buying a home, there’s a lot that goes on between birth and death. One thing that can help keep us moving forward is having the right Life Insurance to help protect against all of life’s twists and turns. Find out why Life Insurance is so important, and what types of policies can help you depending on where you are in life. Coverage is issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential).

You could lower your CPA Life, Spouse Life, and GVUL Insurance rates even further by applying for a simple change in status.

When creating any type of financial account, whether it’s a savings account, retirement savings account, or life insurance, one of the more important details to consider is the naming of a beneficiary or beneficiaries.

Discussing caregiving with your loved ones can ensure that your family will know what steps to take should you end up needing it.

Long-term care insurance isn’t for everybody, but having a plan should be. Find out what CPAs should do when planning for themselves and clients’ long-term care risks.

According to AARP, there are 10,000 people turning 65 every day – a figure that is expected to be consistent until 2030.

Many are at a point in their lives when they are still working to build their careers, and the time and cost of providing care can affect their ability to earn and save for their own goals and retirement.

With the passing of a loved one, you may have also experienced first-hand the emotional and financial impact caused by a long-term care event. 

Women today often don’t have as much retirement savings as men, which means they’re more likely to outlive their savings.