What Is the Fraud Diamond? Explaining the Motivations for Fraud

Fraud is a significant concern for businesses and financial institutions, and understanding what drives individuals to commit these crimes is crucial for prevention. The four-element fraud diamond is one of the most insightful models for explaining the motivations behind fraudulent behavior. Built as an enhancement to the traditional triangular model, it adds a fourth element […]

What is Agile Accounting? An Introduction to Agile Finance Practices

The agile approach to working has become a cornerstone for businesses that need to be adaptable and respond swiftly to change. The accounting industry is one such sector where frequent updates to laws, regulations, and company policies necessitate adapting to new ways of working with ease. This blog explores the concept of agile accounting, its […]

AI in Accounting: How Machine Learning is Transforming the Industry

Like many industries, accounting firms and CPAs must contend with labor shortages, wringing more efficiency out of already overworked staff. Forbes estimates that more than 300,000 accountants and auditors resigned during the Great Resignation of 2020 and 2021. The same article notes that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there have been nearly 16% […]

The Kaspersky Ban’s Impact on U.S. Cybersecurity

The United States government recently expanded its ban on Kaspersky cybersecurity products, citing the company’s Russian connections as representing an “undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the safety and security.” The ban, effective from September 29 for existing customers and July 20 for new sales, aims to eliminate the use of the […]

Diversifying Revenue for CPA Firms: Strategic Alliances with Investment Advisory Services

In this episode of Risky Records, John Pastore from Integrated Partners and I discussed the benefits of accounting firms partnering with advisors for investment advisory services. John emphasized clear communication, transparency, ongoing dialogue, and adapting to the evolving accounting industry.  To close out the session, we put on David Bowie’s Changes One album. Changes to the accounting […]

Understanding the FTC Non-Compete Ban

Non-compete agreements have long been used to bar employees from working for competitors or using sensitive information to kickstart competing organizations. A new ruling from the Federal Trade Commission has banned these agreements nationwide. The ruling will go into effect in late August, preventing companies from enforcing existing agreements with the vast majority of workers. […]

4 Steps to Prevent Corporate Credit Card Fraud

Business fraud costs organizations billions of dollars every year. While employees are often at the heart of these losses due to cybercrime schemes such as phishing and identity theft, 17% of all business fraud is due to expense reimbursements. Many large corporations give commercial credit cards to their employees to allow them to make purchases […]

Technology Risk Management for Accounting Firms and CPAs

In this episode of Risky Records, I spoke with the Editor-in-Chief of Accounting Today, Dan Hood, to get his perspective on the technology risk environment that accountants work in today. (Read to the end to see Dan’s album recommendation. Emerging technology risks for accountants The technological breakthroughs of the past few years, including remote work […]

How to Tackle VPN Security Risks

The US experienced more data breaches in 2023 than in 2022 before the year even came to a close. USA Today predicts that this number will continue to climb and that by 2031 “attacks on businesses, consumers, governments and devices will happen every two seconds.” This significant increase indicates that cybercriminals are using every tool […]

Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting: How to Stay Compliant

What the Corporate Transparency Act and its Recent Legal Developments Mean for Your Business What is the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)? The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was a part of a much larger raft of bills that became law in 2021. As of January 1st, 2024, a vital component of the CTA became active, the […]