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Peer Review In the latter part of this May, I will be undergoing the eighth on-site Peer Review of my practice's system of quality control. A Peer Review is required every three years and involves engaging a CPA practitioner or firm that has been qualified by the American Institute of CPAs, and the participating state board of public accountancy, to perform on-site system reviews. The goal of every CPA is to complete a review with no comments of discovered deficiencies in their quality control system. I have achieved six out of seven "No comment" reviews, an am looking forward to another successful review. The Peer Review program is essential to the CPA profession, and my participation in this program is another example of my commitment to my clients and those who rely on my work products.
Seminar Review On April 22, 2009, I gave the initial presentation of my four-hour seminar entitled Implementing Forensic Techniques in Audit Engagements, to a group of 53 Maryland CPAs, in Frederick, Maryland. The seminar was sponsored by the Maryland Association of CPAs (MACPA), and attendees received four-hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits towards their license renewal. Overall the program was accepted very well and the auditors that attended were especially appreciative of the program. I will be making a presentation of the program this June for a Rockville, MD, CPA firm for In-House CPE, and another presentation for the Anne Arundel County Chapter of MACPA, on October 19, 2009. As the title implies, this seminar is high-level specialized knowledge, designed for Audit Partners and Managers, comptrollers, controllers, and financial fraud law enforcement personnel. Other attendees will also be given "Implementation hints" for adapting several of the techniques to their own practice and for offering additional services to existing clients. This is an excellent In-House training program as it involves workshops and other forms of attendee participation. CPA firms are welcome to contact me at info@rbl-cpa.com to set up a discussion about this exciting option to standard auditing CPE programs.
Upromise.com is a must for college planning: If you, or anyone you know or are related to, has a young child, planning for college tuition and expenses should be underway now. I have learned of a great way to supplement a child's education funding. Rather than me explaining how it works, just click the link below and sign-up and start contributing to a unique savings plan funded by rewards for credit card use and from participating retailers and organizations.
Mortgages & Mortgage Refinancing: I have been working with Immediate Mortgage, Inc., located here in the Frederick, Maryland area for two years now. They are offering tremendous new mortgage and refinancing packages. If you are interested in the most competitive mortgage for your needs, let me know and I'll arrange a telephone interview for you, with my associate at Immediate Mortgage. With interest rates still being the lowest they have been in decades, there's no reason to not see if a refinance will help you. It will cost you nothing to find out and could save you hundreds of dollars a month. Did you know that a 1.75 percent reduction in interest on a 30 year mortgage saves you $115.64 a month? If you invested that savings in a Roth IRA using a monthly long-term investment plan, that returned a conservative 8%, after 15 years you will have just over $40,000 to use tax free upon retirement! So even if you have a 7% or slightly lower rate, but are hesitant to refinance because of expensive closing costs, rest assured that Immediate Mortgage has consistently matched or out performed the competition in terms of rates and closing costs. Call me to discuss the do's and don'ts of home-equity credit lines, purchasing a house or refinancing your present mortgage.
Check out the Helpful Links page. I have added an interesting news link which also provides links for global news sources. Also, remember to add the Financial Calculators page to your Favorites list. I have received a lot of positive feedback regarding the calculators from web-site visitors.
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