CPA Profile: Jennifer de Leon

Internal audit in the public sector: The quiet revolution

It used to be that internal auditing in the public sector served as a simple administrative procedure comprised mainly of checking accuracy of transactions, pre-payment verification and control, counting assets and reporting on past events to various types of management. But in recent times, a combination of forces has led to a quiet revolution in the profession. Governments moving toward higher levels of transparency must demonstrate accountability in the use of public money and efficiency in the delivery of services. Larger and more complex operations demand greater competency and professionalism from internal auditors to minimize and manage risk.

Hani Mounir Khoury
Deloitte, Middle East -The Middle East Point of View issue #4

Mohammed J. Masoud Becomes a Member of the ACFE Advisory Council

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has approved Mr. Masoud to serve as a member of the ACFE Advisory Council effectively from January 26, 2011. Birzeit Consulting ME congratulate Mr. Mohammed J. Masoud, CPA, CFE, CICA, MBA for this International professional role in the anti fraud profession and wish himll the best.

Do You Want to Pass the CPA Exam?

I think the answer is yes. The CPA exam will be conducted for the first time ever outside the US starting in August 2011. I am personally extremely happy for this news as so many excellent accounting students from the Middle East will be able to sit and pass this exam without any worries about the Visa of the US.

Therefore, Birzeit Consulting started a facebook page called CPA Review to provide the accounting students and the CPA candidates with the latest relevant information regarding the CPA exam.

I hope you will find all what you need there.

Mohammed Masoud CPA, CFE, CICA, MBA










       

internal control: risk-based principles...

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the auditor's responsibility regarding ...

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Overview of the Auditor's Responsibility Regarding Fraud in a Financial Statements Audit ISA 240

This is a part of a workshop we conducted in Cairo in September 2010 at Safir Hotel for the PACPA. For more, you may visit our YouTube channel

the auditor's responsibility regarding ...

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Test Your Knowledge of Internal Control and Anti Fraud

If you have three minutes of your time, you may find out how far you are in control of your knowledge of internal control and anti fraud.

New Faces Enter Fray in Accounting

As the great accounting fight of the past decade moves near to a conclusion that seems likely to satisfy no one, the cast of characters is suddenly changing. The two most important accounting bodies in the world will be under new leadership as they try to move on from bruising battles that have pitted them against banks, bank regulators and politicians.

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Mike Theiler/Reuters

Robert H. Herz stepped down as head of the F.A.S.B. rule-making board this month.

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Leslie F. Seidman is acting chairwoman of the F.A.S.B.

The changes are coming before it is clear just how far the two boards — the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which sets accounting rules in the United States, and the International Accounting Standards Board, whose rules are followed in a growing number of countries — will have to back down in their efforts to force banks to report the current value of their assets.

CPA Exam Offered in Five International Locations Next Year

CPA Exam Offered in Five International Locations Next Year

The Uniform CPA Examination will be offered in Japan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates in 2011, marking the first time in the exam’s history that it will be offered outside the 55 U.S. jurisdictions.

PACPA in Cairo -The Auditor's Responsibilities Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements-

 

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Risk Assessment Standards in Action

By Paul Kiel, Jennifer Carney, Carla A. Gogin and David A. Johnson

january 2008

ight standards rolled out in 2006 by the Auditing Standards Board are sparking a cultural shift for auditors.

The standards—Statement on Auditing Standards nos. 104–111—are designed to enhance auditors’ responses to audit risk and materiality and encourage them to focus on areas with the greatest risk of misstatement. The standards are effective for audits of private company financial statements for periods beginning on or after Dec. 15, 2006.

The JofA asked partners at three accounting firms to write about how the new guidance has affected their work. In their first-person accounts, beginning below, the partners share their experience with putting the guidance into action and offer practical advice for tackling some of the common challenges of implementation.

Proposal Would Require Most Leases to Appear on the Balance Sheet

AUGUST 17, 2010

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) today unveiled a joint proposal to revamp lease accounting.

The proposal would result in a single “right-of-use” approach applied consistently to lease accounting for lessees and lessors. Among other changes, the approach would result in the liability for payments under all lease contracts within the scope of the standard and the right to use the underlying asset being included on the lessee’s balance sheet. The standard setters say the changes would improve the information available to investors and other financial statement users about the economics surrounding lease contracts.

Money Laundering

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and several other financial institution regulators issued guidance to clarify and consolidate existing regulatory expectations for obtaining beneficial ownership information for certain accounts and customer relationships—information that the agencies said can help financial institutions better understand and address money laundering and terrorist financing risks, protect themselves from criminal activity, and assist law enforcement with investigations and prosecutions.

As part of an institution’s Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program, a financial institution should establish and maintain customer due diligence (CDD) procedures that are reasonably designed to identify and verify the identity of beneficial owners of an account, as appropriate, based on the institution’s evaluation of risk pertaining to an account. CDD procedures may include:

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  Determining whether the customer is acting as an agent for or on behalf of another, and if so, obtaining information regarding the capacity in which and on whose behalf the customer is acting.
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  Where the customer is a legal entity that is not publicly traded in the U.S., such as an unincorporated association, a private investment company (PIC), trust or foundation, obtaining information about the structure or ownership of the entity so as to allow the institution to determine whether the account poses heightened risk.
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  Where the customer is a trustee, obtaining information about the trust structure to allow the institution to establish a reasonable understanding of the trust structure and to determine the provider of funds and any persons or entities that have control over the funds or have the power to remove the trustees.

The guidance says that certain trusts, corporate entities, shell entities and PICs are examples of customers that may pose heightened risk. In addition, FinCEN rules establish particular due diligence requirements concerning beneficial owners in the areas of private banking and foreign correspondent accounts. With respect to accounts that have been identified by an institution’s CDD procedures as posing a heightened risk, these accounts should be subjected to enhanced due diligence (EDD) that is reasonably designed to enable compliance with the BSA’s requirements.

Questions about the guidance may be directed to FinCEN’s Regulatory Helpline at 800-949-2732 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 800-949-2732 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or the financial institution’s appropriate regulatory agency. The guidance is available at

tinyurl.com/ybp7k3q.