AICPA transitions its budget to a new international association

The American Institute of Chartered Accountants has presented its budget and finances at its Spring Council meeting in Washington, DC on Monday, while the organization undergoes a transformation in international partnership with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Eric Hansen, Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee of AICPA, provided a summary of the finances in the last five months of the organization's fiscal year, which now has a calendar year end, according to CIMA. For the five-month period to December 31, 2016, the AICPA had a net loss of $ 2.6 million, or $ 2.5 million of unfavorable budget. The variation is due to several factors, Hansen said. Net operating revenues decreased by $ 1.3 million above the budget, mainly related to the assumption times for the budget for the five-month period, making most of the amounts expected to be realized in 2017. Expenditure Of total operations was negative by 1.6 million budget. The main factor that contributed was the cost invested in consolidating the new Association of Professional Accountants between AICPA and CIMA.




Two important non-operating elements had an impact on the financial statements during the period. First, a 5 million impairment charge was recorded after the management of AICPA assessed several previous software projects and has been determined to actually replaced or translated "non-current." This decrease charge was offset by a pension gain of $ 5.5 million related to an increase in the plan discount rate due to current market conditions. On a combined basis, net assets were reduced by 2.6 million, mainly because of these differences. Last month, the AICPA Board of Directors unanimously approved the audited financial statements, which included an unchanged opinion.

AICPA Vice President of Finance Tim LaSpaluto said that AICPA's investment portfolio performance has increased since 2012 and that the Institute continues to oversee its mix of portfolio. The pension plans of the AICPA and CIMA are liabilities of each respective organization.

For the calendar year 2017, the AICPA will finance the new partnership as a whole. "As reported in the last board meetings, we have provided a net shortfall of $ 10 million due to the association's investment in strategic value generators," Hansen said. "We expect continued growth in our revenue generation activities and we expect growth of 5% compared to 2016."

One of the highlights of the AICPA hopes that 2017 will be a new event in June called Engage, which will feature the most important innovative, influential and profession leaders. Tax revenue is expected to increase by 5 percent, mainly due to the continued growth of membership in all areas and rates to raise the rate based on previous years and inflation. The AICPA is expected to drop 10% of test sales after last month's release of the next generation CPA exam. However, the AICPA has increased the number of candidates who examined the four quarters prior to the change. The new uniform CPA exam puts more emphasis on cognitive tests of higher order candidate skills, such as critical thinking and analytical skills.

From the point of view of expenditure, the AICPA anticipates increases in its operating expenses due to the annual salary increases, which are indicated as being in line with the market. The budget also includes a contingency of $ 1.75 million, in line with previous years, to allow management and the board to deploy the unbudgeted necessary resources.

Membership continues to grow. "We expect to finish 2017 with more than 670,000 members and students, an increase of 10,000 compared to 2016," said LaSpaluto. "Our cash and credit section has increased by 10 percent, 100-76 thousand, which includes newly accredited ratings for entities' certificates and intangible assets, and we continue to generate revenue in all areas, allowing us to invest In programs and initiatives that support our members around the world.

This year, the AICPA launched the new CeIV grade, which should generate additional income. The AICPA also launched a tax reform in the Resource Center to inform