Vol. 25 I No. 5 I May 2011

OUT OF THE CLASSROOM P. 6
CPE is moving from long sessions of live learning to
shorter, more mobile ‘bites’ of instruction
LIVING WITH RISK P.31
A special report on dealing with ;nancial
planning clients’ new aversion to volatility

accountingtoday.com

CASE STUDIES P. 34
We examine ;ve ;rms’ experiences with
implementing document management

Taking credit

Tax pros ;nd host of new or under-used credits, deductions

;ousands of tax credits, deduc- tions and other incentives are hidden throughout the Tax Code. Some, such as the Blender’s Credit, are obscure, while others, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the various energy credits, are well known.

;ese provisions, both for individuals and businesses, are an important part of the tax landscape, yet they can be complicated. Although many of them appear and disappear at the whim of Congress, taxpayers and their advisors can unlock significant tax savings through judicious use of credits and incentives.

Congress has a long history of using the Tax Code to encourage certain types of behavior, according to Dan Shapiro, a tax partner at New York-based firm Berdon. “Tax credits and incentives are intended to be indirect subsidies for investment in di;erent areas, as well as inducements to engage in particular behavior,” he said.

;ose include personal credits, designed to furnish bene;ts and incentives to certain taxpayers such

See CREDIT on 52

BY ROGER RUSSELL

CLOUDY, WITH A CHANCE OF SAAS MICROSOFT LAYS OUT A BROAD STRATEGY FOR DYNAMICS IN THE CLOUD See our report from Convergence on page 8

Building a brand-new brand

A proper ;rm rebranding starts with the fundamentals

Marketing professionals are fond of telling clients to look to the logo and beyond when it comes to branding. But for many CPA ;rms, the economic downturn had managing partners’ eyes trained on only one line — and it wasn’t underlining a focus-group-tested font.

Now that the financial landscape is improving, ;rms are reconsidering their brand, and what the word means. For most ;rms, it represents a core identity.

“It’s important that a ;rm de-
velop a brand that is truly who
they are,” acknowledged Jean
Marie Caragher, president of
Chesapeake, Va.-based Capstone
Marketing. “Not something they
wish they were or strive to be.”
Uncovering an intrinsic per-
sonality, however, will usually
require some outside help and
extensive research.

Katie Tolin, as marketing director of Ohio CPA and business advisory ;rm Rea & Associates, is currently in the middle of this process. ;e ;rm’s “many stages of research” kicked off last fall — and started with the basics. “We even looked at, ‘Is our name right?’” she revealed.

While the local consulting ;rm
that Rea & Associates brought in
for the research phase helped
them realize that it indeed was,
the accounting profession ben-
efits from being hard-wired to
look at fundamental aspects like
this on a micro level. “I work with
detail-oriented people,” Tolin
explained. “Any change recom-
mended needs to be based on
some serious statistics.”
Especially when these changes
come so infrequently. Rea & As-
sociates has not gone through
such an extensive overhaul since
its founding in 1938. In her expe-
rience, Caragher has noticed that
rebranding often coincides with
;rm anniversaries. Two ;rms re-
cently chose their 85th and 90th
years as occasions for change.

Anca S. Munteanu, director of marketing for East Coast accounting, tax and consulting ;rm Citrin Cooperman, might have had a similar wait on her hands if not for the speci;city of her proposal.

She had realized that there was a disconnect between the brand and the culture that had outgrown

See REBRANDING on 51

BY DANIELLE LEE

Playing defense

Engagement letters are just the ;rst line in protecting a ;rm against liability

;e old adage of “Put it in writ- ing” remains as valid today as ever as a hedge against ;rm malpractice claims.

“A properly worded engagement letter that includes a clear statement of the professional services provided, that is updated frequently for changes in activities, and contains reasonable limitation and mediation language is the best shield to a malpractice claim,” said Rick Jorgensen, president and chief underwriting o;cer at Jorgensen & Co., a professional liability and risk management consulting firm. “We have seen many instances where a CPA ;rm gets dragged into costly litigation because of the professional relationship with a client that was not