Firms can now audit a much broader group of employee benefit plans including 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit, and health and welfare plans

NEW YORK (May 8, 2023) – The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), CPA.com and Caseware have released an updated version of OnPoint EBP, a cloud audit engagement solution designed to facilitate the efficient and effective performance of audits of employee benefit plans including 401(k), 403(b), defined benefit, and health and welfare benefit plans.

Powered by the Caseware cloud platform, OnPoint EBP helps firms perform audits of employee benefit plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). It combines AICPA-developed methodology, engagement management, analytics and advanced client collaboration tools within a single application.

“We initially launched OnPoint EBP in 2020 to support limited scope audits of 401(k) plans as technology and evolving standards transform the way audits are conducted," said Erik Asgeirsson, CEO, CPA.com. “We believe that by equipping auditors with the best tools, we can help facilitate greater quality and provide better insights during their engagements. With this latest release of OnPoint EBP, we are enabling auditors to support a much broader scope of plan types within a single modern solution.”

The solution's potential impact can be significant as there are close to 87,000 employee benefit plan audits conducted annually in the United States by more than 4,300 CPA firms.

“When auditing employee benefit plans, traditional practice aids can lead to a fair amount of redundant data entry, under or over-auditing and poor documentation requiring extra work to ensure the audit complies with professional and regulatory requirements,” said Scott Epstein, Chief Product Officer at Caseware. “OnPoint EBP offers an integrated, guided methodology that leverages cloud-based technology to produce a dynamic, efficient workflow.”

The latest release of OnPoint EBP includes the following new features:

• Expanded scope to facilitate audits of 403(b) plans, defined benefit plans, and health and welfare plans
• Revised financial reporting risk assumptions to better align with inherent risk factors
• New presentation and disclosure checklist tailored for the various types of employee benefit plans

Illinois-based firm JMM CPA specializes in employee benefit plan audits and values how the OnPoint EBP solution helps to streamline workflows and create efficiencies in the audit process. “With the expanded scope of OnPoint EBP, our firm can now audit more types of benefit plans in an efficient manner,” said founder James Moyna. “The intelligent file build and reporting functionality based on the plan profile ensures that our auditors get a detailed understanding of the type of plan being audited. The software tailors the audit workflow based on the Plan specifics. This helps us plan the engagement and move to fieldwork with a strong understanding of the audit to be performed.”

To support firms in adopting OnPoint EBP, CPA.com offers consulting support and a variety of live and self-study CPE courses.

For more information on OnPoint EBP, including a product overview and key benefits, visit: OnPoint EBP (caseware.com)

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus. The company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners. A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Caseware International

Caseware is the leading global provider of desktop and cloud-enabled solutions for audit, assurance, financial reporting and data analytics for accounting firms, corporations, and government regulators. Caseware’s innovative tools and platforms help more than half a million customers in 130 countries work smarter, dig deeper and see further as they transform insights into impact. For more information, visit www.caseware.com.

• 72% of small and mid-size businesses want a proactive approach to expense management
• Only 34% of accounting firms are offering spend management advisory services
• Firms that offer expense management services are achieving greater efficiencies and profits, and an increased ability to attract and retain clients

NEW YORK (March 15, 2023) – Rising inflation and growing economic uncertainty are driving an increasing need among small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) for a more comprehensive approach to budgeting and controlling spend, according to a new report issued today from CPA.com, the business and technology arm of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). Nearly three out of four (72%) SMBs surveyed said they’re interested in a proactive approach to expense management, including matching anticipated expenses to budgets before the money is spent. Yet only 34% of accounting firms are currently offering these services, highlighting an opportunity for firms to grow their client advisory services (CAS) practices and deepen their trusted advisor roles with clients through spend management services.

“From Expense Tracking to Spend Management: The Next Client Advisory Services (CAS) Opportunity for Accounting Firms” includes insights from a survey of more than 1,100 SMBs and accounting firms on the opportunities presented by spend management, the ability to view, control and track a company’s spend in real time to provide actionable insights to key financial decision-makers. Spend management is an emerging, but rapidly growing, component of CAS, the fastest-growing practice area for the profession. The survey explored the pain points experienced by SMBs surrounding budgeting and spend, and how firms can support them with card-based spend management, which leverages software and corporate cards to provide a more proactive approach to expense management.

According to the survey, there is strong demand for and benefits of outsourced expense management services. Almost half (41%) of SMBs report they outsource this service and have seen positive results, including: a reduction of in-house hours spent on expense management, an implementation of new controls to reduce expense abuses and fraud, and streamlined and improved expense and spend management processes. A majority (51%) of this same group also said their accountant recommended card-based spend management and that it has been a game-changer for their companies.

“We are finding that our average growth for spend management services is at least double, if not triple, the median on all of our client advisory services,” commented Megan Bronson, advisory partner for Squire & Company. “Spend management is what our clients need the most.”

According to the research, 58% of firms currently offer or are interested in offering this service, underscoring the growing demand and strategic nature of this service. Firms who are packaging expense management as part of their advisory service are realizing significant benefits, including greater efficiencies and profits (63%) and an increased ability to attract and retain clients (74%).

“The most successful client advisory services practices are very intentional about how they build and scale their practices,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “Spend management is strategic and a natural extension of CAS – adding it allows firms to deepen their relationships and deliver the real-time insights and proactive guidance that their small and mid-size business clients value.”

For firms interested in offering spend management advisory

CPA.com, a recognized leader in CAS, has breadth of education and resources to support firms looking to get started with spend management services, including:

• Free CPE live webinar March 29 at 2 p.m. ET with technology and profession leaders focused on key SMB expense management pain points and steps firms can take to get started with spend management advisory.
• On-demand webinars with practitioner insights on how firms can start, package, price and productize spend management, staff an advisory practice, identify clients for spend management, and more.
• Divvy Accountant Advisor Program, offered in partnership between CPA.com and Divvy, a BILL company, that provides firms with the dedicated support, training and technology to effectively deliver spend management services. Divvy is a free all-in-one spend and expense management solution that pairs with corporate cards to budget, track and manage expenses in one place. This enables accounting firms and their clients to have greater visibility into cash flow and save time on closing books, while eliminating tedious expense reports.

To learn more about spend management advisory or the Divvy Accountant Advisor Program, visit cpa.com/Divvy.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted from September to November 2022 and included responses from 368 accounting firm participants and 763 SMB participants, for a total sample size of 1,131. The survey was administered online, conducted by CPA.com and Divvy, a BILL company. For more information on the participants, including titles and organization sizes, please visit the appendix at the end of the report.

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About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

Program Fosters Emerging Technologies that Benefit the Accounting and Finance Profession

NEW YORK (Feb. 28, 2023) – Today the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA.com announced its 2023 Startup Accelerator cohort at a kick-off meeting held at AICPA headquarters in New York. This year’s participants include five early-stage companies pursuing a variety of solutions in audit, accounting, tax and e-commerce.

The Startup Accelerator supports the growth of early-stage technology companies benefiting the accounting and finance ecosystem. Selected companies receive focused insight into the evolving needs of finance and accounting professionals, access to firms and finance leaders who are shaping their profession and a $25,000 grant. They also benefit from marketplace intelligence and guidance from AICPA and CPA.com senior leaders and the program’s advisory board members. Selected companies have an opportunity to showcase their solutions at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE, the premier conference for the accounting and finance profession, to be held in June at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

“At CPA.com, we’re focused on empowering the accounting profession for the digital age through innovative products and solutions designed to transform their practice areas,” said Kacee Johnson, vice president – Strategy and Innovation, CPA.com. “The Accelerator program has been instrumental in helping us stay ahead of emerging trends while connecting CPA firms with leading-edge solutions uniquely tailored to meet the evolving needs of the profession.”

The 2023 cohort is comprised of the following technology solutions:

• 4impactdata – The Texas-based company created the “first ever knowledge as a service” business guidance system that equips CPA firms to be the strategic partner their business clients need. The client advisory platform is pre-built on the latest Analytics-AI cloud platform, includes industry best practices, proactive alerts and benchmarking across clients.
• Audit Sight – The company’s platform eliminates manual work for auditors, diligence and private equity providers by automating financial transaction verification. The solution automates the audit testing process and generates a GAAS-compliant workpaper.
• Synder – Based in San Francisco, the business intelligence platform for CFO and accounting professionals helps automate repetitive tasks around multi-source e-commerce data and translate it into actionable insights for businesses, enabling accountants with a monthly advisory service for their clients.
• TaxPlanIQ – Based in Texas, the SaaS software solution automates an entire tax planning engagement from selling the plan to implementing all tasks throughout the year, and educational resources to support the accountant with videos, checklists and templates of 100 tax strategies.
• VERIFYiQ – The Vancouver-based company offers solutions that augment workflow systems and CRMs to make bookkeeping more accurate and efficient, including a practice management solution that automates quality control reviews and a tool that enables sales teams to scope a potential client's books in under five minutes.

For more information about the startup accelerator, please visit cpa.com/accelerator.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus. Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the 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 431,000 members in the United States and worldwide, 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, and 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.

Kacee Johnson, VP of Strategy and Innovation at CPA.com, an AICPA Company, joins the show to walk us through the 2023 Accounting and Finance Hype Cycle. Learn about the methodology, why certain trends move forward vs. back, and more.

https://proconnect.intuit.com/podcast/?s_cid=soc_FAM_LI_O_BR_20230110_1

Amy Bridges of CPA.com dives into what it takes to build a successful client advisory services practice, based on the results of the latest CAS Benchmarking Survey.

https://www.accountingtoday.com/podcast/the-hallmarks-of-a-top-performing-cas-practice