National Credit Union Administration’s Directive Is Driven by Desire to Reduce Risk of Report Manipulation by Management

NEW YORK (August 14, 2017) – The American Institute of CPAs supports the National Credit Union Administration’s focus on the overall integrity of audit report submissions, and recently worked with the regulatory body to remove obstacles to the implementation of a new policy designed to reduce the risk of manipulation or fraud by credit union management.

NCUA regulates or insures almost 5,800 federally insured credit unions. The policy change on external auditor reports was designed to reduce the risk of manipulation by management after some issues emerged in the agency’s periodic material loss reviews. The new requirement initially caused concern among some CPA firms, however, because the act of forwarding the audit report directly to the agency is considered a management function, which could impair an external auditor’s independence. At the AICPA’s request, the NCUA agreed to accept an online delivery option for the documents.

“The policy change was designed to preserve the integrity of the auditor’s report, but inadvertently raised issues for external auditors,” said Sydney Garmong, a partner with Crowe Horwath LLP and chair of the American Institute of CPAs’ Depository Institutions Expert Panel, which addresses professional practice issues regarding financial institutions. “We’re grateful that the NCUA heard our concerns and agreed to acceptable alternatives to preserve auditor independence.”

In an update to credit union management and boards in May, the NCUA said the external auditor could either forward its audit report directly to the regulator, provide time for physical inspection of the document at a specified time or place, or use “a secure portal that verifies and validates the original document source and ensures the audit report submitted to NCUA is authentic and unaltered.” An online platform jointly developed by CPA.com – the technology arm of the AICPA – and Confirmation.com, RIVIO Clearinghouse, meets the latter criteria and is already in use for NCUA submissions.

RIVIO ensures private companies and authorized third parties can share audit reports and other relevant records from validated CPA firms. Company management, in this case credit union directors, can designate who views the audit reports uploaded by CPA firms, but cannot alter the financial presentation in any way. And because the clearinghouse ensures that management is solely responsible for authorizing access to data, it defuses questions about the auditor’s independence.

CPA firms that specialize in serving credit union clients are already making use of the platform.

“We have used RIVIO for all the NCUA requests received. It’s a very efficient way for us to follow the updated policy,” said Chris Vallez, CPA, of Nearman, Maynard, Vallez, a Miami-based CPA firm.

Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, said: “The RIVIO Clearinghouse was developed to address the exact type of potential fraud or financial manipulation identified by the NCUA.” Brian Fox, president of Confirmaton.com, added: “Going forward, RIVIO will provide the NCUA the peace of mind that it is getting an unaltered audit report from a verified CPA firm, while still ensuring independence for CPA firms.”

About CPA.com

CPA.com offers a growing list of products and services for practice management, client advisory services and professional development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on cloud technology and has been a driving force around the reemergence of virtual CFO/controller services by firms. The RIVIO Clearinghouse, a joint venture between CPA.com and Confirmation.com, is an online financial document clearinghouse that enables private businesses to exchange key financial information with lenders and investors.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member body representing the CPA profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the American Institute of CPAs

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 418,000 members in 143 countries, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, offers specialized credentials, builds the pipeline of future talent and drives professional competency development to advance the vitality, relevance and quality of the profession.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, Washington, DC, Durham, NC, and Ewing, NJ.

Media representatives are invited to visit the AICPA Press Center at www.aicpa.org/press.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) is the most influential body of professional accountants, combining the strengths of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to power opportunity, trust and prosperity for people, businesses and economies worldwide. It represents 650,000 members and students in public and management accounting and advocates for the public interest and business sustainability on current and emerging issues. With broad reach, rigor and resources, the Association advances the reputation, employability and quality of CPAs, CGMAs and accounting and finance professionals globally.

Long-Term Relationship Underscores Success of Partnership and Ongoing Commitment to Profession

NEW YORK (June 26, 2017) – CPA.com, the technology arm of the American Institute of CPAs, and Bill.com, the nation’s leading business payments service, have agreed to extend their strategic partnership. Together, the two organizations will continue to help CPA firms grow their client accounting service practices and improve profitability through the power of cloud technology and digital payments.

Bill.com, used by more than half of the top 100 accounting firms, is the preferred provider of digital payments solutions for CPA.com, which offers a broad array of resources for firms on technology adoption and change management. The long-term partnership between Bill.com and CPA.com is based on strong traction and proven success with transitioning firms to cloud-based accounting services. Through training and educational programs such as the client accounting advisory services certificate and the Digital CPA workshops and conference, CPA.com has positioned firms to succeed in the shift to higher-margin, higher value services.

Firms using Bill.com, meanwhile, report substantial business growth and efficiency gains on once tedious, error-prone and time-consuming bill payment and invoicing processes. Bill.com is recognized as SOC 2 compliant, offers flexible and robust payment controls and, with features such as Positive Pay, offers greater payment security than paper checks.

“Early on at CPA.com, we identified the cloud as a transforming technology for client accounting and virtual CFO services,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “Traditionally, the business payment process presented a substantial pain point for accounting firms and their clients, and we felt we could play a role in reducing that burden. Our relationship with Bill.com offers firms a proven way to leverage technology to grow, establish a competitive advantage, and satisfy and retain clients.”

The Bill.com Accountant Program in partnership with CPA.com offers significant advantages for firms building an advisory practice and their clients with:

1. Digital AR and AP, including the ability to review, approve and pay bills from any device, at any time
2. A single sign-on console that allows firms to manage all clients
3. Convenient and secure cloud-based management and storage for bills and documents
4. Integrations with leading accounting solutions
5. The ability to maximize efficiency with certifications, training and tools that help grow practices

“With CPA.com, we have spent nearly a decade working with and listening to the nation’s leading accounting firms. Bill.com has developed into an essential tool that promises more innovations in the future. We are delighted to extend our partnership with CPA.com and continue our journey to help firms become more efficient and profitable through technology,” said René Lacerte, CEO and founder of Bill.com.

Firms say the best gauge of the program’s effectiveness is the response from their clients.

“Bill.com allows us to increase collaboration with clients, while adding the right controls and expediting the bill pay process,” said Lila McNair, a CPA with Warren Averett, CPAs and Advisors, a Top 35 firm in the southeastern United States. “The built-in access and controls are unmatched by other solutions.”

“We had no bill payment clients before adopting Bill.com three years ago. With Bill.com, we now have a service that brings in $250,000 a year in revenue,” said Matthew May, managing partner of Acuity. The firm has built its client base by bundling services with innovative third-party technologies.

For more information about the Bill.com Accountant Program, visit Bill.com or cpa.com/bill-management.

About CPA.com

CPA.com offers a growing list of products and services for practice management, client advisory services and professional development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on cloud technology and has been a driving force around the reemergence of virtual CFO/Controller services by firms.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member body representing the accounting profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Bill.com

Bill.com is the leading business payments network, with over 2 million members paying and getting paid over $36 billion per year in volume. Bill.com saves companies more than 50% of the time typically spent on financial back-office operations by automating end-to-end processes. Bill.com ties together finance and accounting programs, banks, customers, vendors, accounting professionals, and documents. The company is the choice of three of the top 10 U.S. banks and over 50 percent of the top 100 accounting firms. Bill.com is a trusted partner of Intuit (makers of QuickBooks Online), Xero, and the American Institute of CPAs. The recipient of more than 70 awards, Bill.com was recently recognized as one of the San Francisco Business Times Most Innovative Companies and proudly received a PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award.

Contacts:

Association and CPA.com Accelerator to Focus on High-Impact Startups

LAS VEGAS (June 14, 2017) – The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and CPA.com are jointly sponsoring an initiative to accelerate the growth of early-stage companies that could have significant impact on the accounting profession. The goal is to promote innovation and give the profession early insight into disruptive technologies and services in finance and business.

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants and CPA.com Startup Accelerator will look to support up to five early-stage companies over the next year. It will focus on startups in two key areas: 1) Technology and Financial Information, which could include advances in artificial intelligence, automation of routine tasks, and the application of blockchain/digital ledgers, and 2) Professional Competency Innovation, which can encompass machine learning to personalize professional education, collaboration tools for mentors and experts, and improvements in measuring professional competency, among other categories.

“The Association and CPA.com have a deep base of knowledge and resources to offer entrepreneurs looking to find a foothold in the accounting ecosystem,” said Lawson Carmichael, the Association’s executive vice president for strategy, people and innovation. “And for us, the startup accelerator offers a chance to ‘see around corners’ and take a more long-range view of opportunities in business transformation and innovation. There’s a compelling business case for collaboration.”

The startup accelerator will offer benefits to entrepreneurs in three ways:

• Provide up to $20,000 in funding per finalist
• Access to subject matter experts, including an advisory panel of thought leaders in the accounting technology field, who can provide coaching and mentoring on issues and opportunities unique to the profession
• An opportunity to showcase their product or service next June at AICPA ENGAGE 2018, one of the largest accounting-related events in the United States, and – with continued, successful development – the potential for longer-term, strategic relationships within the profession.

Applicants from all global markets are eligible. To qualify:

• Startups should be at a pre-Series A stage of financing, with some exceptions
• The company must have a functioning product or service
• Pre-revenue companies will be considered based on their development progress and business plan
• Candidate companies must agree to pitch their product or service to Association and CPA.com executives this fall, after which up to five finalists will be selected

“At CPA.com, we have been driving innovation for the past decade through our technology services, strategic partnerships, and training and education programs,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, the technology subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs “We’ve also been convening leading technology companies at our Executive Roundtables and other collaborative events, so the next logical step for us is to support earlier stage activity with this startup accelerator. It’s like ‘Shark Tank’ for companies serving the accounting profession,”

The startup accelerator was announced at AICPA ENGAGE, a premier event for the profession that incorporates five AICPA conferences devoted to public accounting, plus the Association for Accounting Marketing summit.

Submissions by startups are due by Oct. 5. Interested companies who want more information can contact Greg Lafollette, a strategic advisor with CPA.com, greg.lafollette@hq.cpa.com, or Mark Brooks, a member of the AICPA’s innovation team, mark.brooks@aicpa-cima.com. To apply for consideration or learn more details about the startup accelerator, visit aicpaglobal.com/accelerator.

About CPA.com

CPA.com offers a growing list of products and services for practice management, client advisory services and professional development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on cloud technology and has been a driving force around the reemergence of virtual CFO/Controller services by firms. The RIVIO Clearinghouse, a joint venture between CPA.com and Confirmation.com, is an online financial document clearinghouse that enables private businesses to exchange key financial information with lenders and investors.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member body representing the accounting profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association) combines the strengths of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) to power opportunity, trust and prosperity for people, businesses and economies worldwide. It represents 650,000 members and students in public and management accounting and advocates for the public interest and business sustainability on current and emerging issues. With broad reach, rigor and resources, the Association advances the reputation, employability and quality of CPAs, CGMAs and accounting and finance professionals globally.