How the AICPA Helps Members Serve Small Business; the Institute's Vice-President for Small Firm Interests Speaks to the Profession
In 2003 small companies made up 99.7% of the 23.7 million businesses in the United States, according to the federal government, and research shows CPAs are among the top professionals to whom small businesses turn for professional and personal financial advice. AICPA members long have maintained important relationships with small business owners, counseling them on how to cope with changing standards and providing services tailored to their individual situations. The Institute makes an ongoing effort to understand and meet the needs of members and their clients in this market segment. In this article, I'll discuss some of the benefits AICPA initiatives offer members working in this area--from advocacy on critical issues to useful new products and services. MONITORING STANDARD SETTING It's difficult for small-business clients to understand and implement the seemingly endless stream of new and complicated accounting standards. Although guidance typically is written with large public companies in mind, both public and private small businesses often must adhere to standards when lenders or business partners require GAAP-compliant financial statements. Standards can be extremely costly and time-consuming for smaller organizations to implement, and the associated requirements and disclosures may not offer them tangible benefits. CPAs help their clients sort through these standards and requirements, and the AICPA supports them not only by monitoring guidance as it is developed but also by ensuring standard setters consider the local and regional firm perspective in critical discussions on areas such as differential standards and independence. To examine the challenges standards pose to small businesses and devise possible solutions, the Institute formed the Private Company Financial Reporting Task Force (www.alcpa.org/members/div/acctstd/pvtco_fincl_reprt/index.htm), which conducts objective research on topics such as whether the general purpose GAAP financial statements of private, for-profit organizations meet the needs of all constituents who use them. A related question is whether it's cost-effective for private companies to meet all the requirements for GAAP financial statements. To better understand these issues, the task force conducted a survey of various participants in the financial reporting process--CPA firms, small companies themselves and users such as bankers. Analysis of the results of that research will help the task force plan its future activities. While the task force is looking at the big picture, the Institute initiates practical solutions to specific challenges. In one example, PCPS: the AICPA Alliance for CPA Firms, working with the AICPA Professional Ethics Division, helped develop practical guidance for firms in a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) on Interpretation 101-3, "Performance of Nonattest Services," of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (www.aicpa.org/members/div/ethics/intr_101-3.htm). In view of certain independence-related aspects of this interpretation, the Institute feared practitioners might feel obligated to implement the standard in a way that would unnecessarily restrict their activities as trusted advisers to their small business clients. Moreover, without clearer guidance clients might feel compelled to establish relationships with several CPA firms--a costly, gratuitous strategy. The Institute's FAQs clarify the standard's meaning in the areas of greatest concern to small firms. Both the PCPS Executive Committee and the PCPS Technical Issues Committee (TIC), collaborating with the AICPA professional standards team, regularly review and comment on guidance that affects small firms and their clients. In fact, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) chair Robert Herz said in congressional testimony that the board relies on TIC to keep it informed about how proposed standards will affect small businesses. In one recent instance, TIC was instrumental in influencing FASB'S decision to defer a planned exposure draft (ED) related to the ongoing convergence of its standards with those of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) that would have imposed hardship on small businesses without providing a commensurate benefit. …