Live from the AICPA Sustainability Workshop

I live blogged from the AICPA's Sustainability Workshop that took place May 2 to 3 in New York City. The workshop is part of the Executive Boardroom Series from the AICPA and the Enterprise Risk Management Initiative at the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. Below is a replay of the entire two-day event.

2013 TTI Survey Lists Top 10 Technology Initiatives in U.S. and Canada

Technology allows CPA firms to better understand, manage and grow their practices. Yet, it can come with its own set of challenges when trying to manage and retain data, secure IT environments and stay in compliance, according to the latest top technology initiatives survey from the AICPA’s Information Management and Technology Assurance Division.

The 2013 North America Top Technology Initiatives Survey, conducted jointly by the AICPA and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, asked accounting professionals in public accounting, business and industry, consulting, government, not-for-profit and other organizations about their top 10 technology initiatives in 2013. Here's the top 10 in the U.S. and Canada:

What We’ve Uncovered… About the Risk Assessment Standards

When performing peer reviews, reviewers document the areas in which firms struggle to comply with professional standards. The AICPA Peer Review Team compiles and periodically communicates these common areas of noncompliance so that other firms won’t make the same mistakes. This is just one of the many ways in which peer review benefits the profession.

Over the past few months, peer reviewers have reported that firms failed to properly assess risk and properly document IT risk assessments. Some of the most common areas of noncompliance with the risk assessment standards are listed below, along with some advice to help your firm prevent the same mistakes.

Innovation through Sustainability: It’s as Simple as Soda Pop

Call it what you will: pop, soda, Coke, Pepsi, Cheerwine, bubbly juice… countless Americans have an insatiable thirst for carbonated drinks, but we all know the costs of consuming a lot of soda over time can add up and it’s often bad for us. Plus, the discarded cans and bottles take a heavy toll on the environment, piling up in landfills across the world.

Enter SodaStream, an appliance you can use to make carbonated drinks straight from the faucet. SodaStream International Ltd., the product’s manufacturer, has a completely sustainable business model featuring reusable bottles that can last one year or more, rechargeable CO₂ canisters and any number of flavored syrups to liven up your drink. The result: landfills are spared more than 1,000 plastic bottles per consumer every year, customers reuse system components, and this savvy company gains major profits and a well-earned reputation for being innovative and environmentally conscious. Over the past few years the company has also achieved remarkable growth, increasing revenue by 51% and net income by nearly 60% from 2011 to 2012. What CFO wouldn’t be impressed with that?

Technology Risks and Rewards: A Balancing Act

The AICPA has long recognized the impact that technology has on the accounting profession. In fact, for over two decades, we’ve been reaching out to members and key stakeholders to better understand how it can be effectively harnessed through our Top Technology Initiatives Survey.

Back in the early 1990s when the survey debuted, the technologies we take for granted today would have been impossible to fathom. In an era when only early adopters had digital answering machines, the idea of a personal computer, which could obtain almost any piece of information in the world was beyond most people’s comprehension. Now, we carry these devices around in our pockets, take pictures with them and call them phones.