Accounting
Auditors navigate a state of ‘permacrisis’
Richard Chambers is seeing a neverending series of crises confronting internal auditors and posing risks to their organizations.
A former chairman of the Institute of Internal Auditors, Chambers currently chairs the UNICEF Audit Advisory Committee and is senior advisor of risk and audit at the audit technology company AuditBoard. His fourth book, “
“The premise behind the book, and it’s something I’ve been talking about now for the better part of the last three years, is that it’s almost like when the 2020s dawned,” he told Accounting Today. “The switch was flipped in terms of risk, volatility and risk velocity.”
With a consequential election approaching, potential risks are top of mind for many voters. “Risks became much more volatile and unpredictable, and the speed with which they emerged became almost unfathomable,” said Chambers. “We’ve lurched from the pandemic to supply chain disruption to macroeconomic turbulence, to wars in Europe, wars in the Middle East. All of this has the combined effect of really challenging even the best risk managers out there, and the idea that risk managers can do their thing off in their silo.”
The election will bring its own set of risks. “Each party has clearly staked out its position on fiscal policies, tax policies and so forth,” said Chambers. “There’s a lot of uncertainty there as to which way it’s going to go, so you’ve kind of got to manage the risks in both directions. You’ve just got to be prepared for the.uncertainty that lies ahead.”
Internal auditors, risk managers and compliance professionals can no longer operate separately. “We are dealing with almost an existential threat to a lot of companies and a lot of industries,” said Chambers. “We’ve seen a lot of companies and industries be decimated in the last five years,” said Chambers. “What I’ve tried to do with the book is to offer a path forward. It’s in some ways a call to action that says, you know you can’t manage risks like you’ve traditionally managed them in the era of ‘permacrisis.'”
He sees it as a permanent state of crisis where everyone needs to get involved. “It’s all hands on deck,” said Chambers. “You’ve got to have the risk managers, the internal auditors, the compliance team, the information security professionals, everybody’s got to be on the same page. And there’s got to be a lot more collaboration, cooperation and communication to help companies manage the risks.”
Chambers experienced his own crisis in 2022 when his home in Florida was badly damaged by Hurricane Ian. He was only able to move back in this past June.
Cybersecurity and artificial intelligence open up a new set of challenges. “If I were to talk about, the top-of-mind risks in 2025, there’s a whole range of IT risks: cybersecurity, data security risks, increasingly AI,” said Chambers. “AI presents extraordinary opportunities, but it also is laced with some really significant risks. That’s going to become even more acute as we see more and more regulations put in place, legislation and regulations coming from governments to try and tie down how AI is used, to make sure it’s not misused.”
In addition, there is economic uncertainty around inflation, while recruiting is still a problem for many companies. “We’re still not out of the woods on talent management, the ability to recruit and retain the talent a company needs or an organization needs, has been in the top five for almost the whole decade so far,” said Chambers.
Internal auditors will be hard pressed to deal with all of these uncertainties. Chambers sees a “risk exposure gap” in the number of risks that are being presented to a limited number of auditors. “We’ve seen the risk continue to mount, but we have not seen a real increase in the resources to tackle those risks,” he said. “Internal audit resources have been stagnant at best. I personally think they’ve been in a modest decline for the last two or three years because they haven’t been keeping pace with inflation. You are seeing a lot of infusion of resources into risk management or into compliance.”
One way to offset some of the risk exposure gap is through better collaboration among various risk management professionals, along with more investment in up-to-date technology. “If everybody’s still trying to track risks and manage risks using spreadsheets, that’s really not going to be very effective in the volatile environment we’re living in,” said Chambers.
He wants to see more collaboration among internal auditors, risk managers, compliance professionals and information security personnel. “I often encourage the internal auditors to be the leaders in this collaboration movement,” said Chambers. “Start working more closely with the risk managers in your organization and with the compliance teams, in making sure that when you all get in front of the board or in front of the executive management, that you have a pretty good understanding of what the others are doing, that you have hopefully been able to align on what the true risk profile is of your company. There’s nothing that frustrates a board more than having two or three different folks come in and tell them that there are different risks that the company’s facing. I’ve had audit committee chairmen say we just throw them out and tell them to come back when they can find some common ground. There’s too much ambiguity out there anyway, and if a board has ambiguity in terms of their different key players coming in and telling them that the company’s facing different risks, it really leads to frustration. The key here is there’s no one player that has to be the one to take the lead. But if somebody’s going to take the lead and get everyone on the same page with risk management, I think internal audit’s a prime candidate.”
He sees the various risks multiplying now. “I’ve been in the profession for 50 years,” said Chambers. “Next year will be my 50th year since I joined internal audit right out of college, and I’ve never seen a period as volatile as these last five years. We have been averaging as many risk disruptive events per year as we used to see in a decade. The time has come for action and the key risk management players — the risk managers, internal auditors, compliance, infosec — the ball is in their court. If companies are going to navigate the second half of this decade with any degree of success, these players have to come together and be a part of it.”
The Internal Revenue Service plans to send automatic payments later this month to eligible taxpayers who did not claim the
The payments, totaling some $2.4 billion, will vary, but the maximum is $1,400 per individual.
The mailing follows an IRS review of data showing many eligible taxpayers who filed a return did not claim the Recovery Rebate Credit, a refundable credit for individuals who did not receive EIPs.
“Looking at our internal data, we realized that 1 million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, in a statement.
Qualified taxpayers are those who filed a 2021 tax return but left the data field for the Recovery Rebate Credit blank or filled it out as $0 when the taxpayer was actually eligible for the credit.
Taxpayers who haven’t filed 2021 tax returns might also be eligible as well, but they face an April 15, 2025, deadline to file. Eligible taxpayers who did not file must do so to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit even if their income was minimal or nonexistent.
(For questions regarding eligibility and how the payment was calculated, see
These payments will go out automatically in December and should arrive by late January. The payments will be automatically direct deposited or sent by paper check; eligible taxpayers will also receive a separate letter notifying them of the payment.
The payment will be sent to the bank account listed on the taxpayer’s 2023 tax return or to their address of record. If the taxpayer has closed their bank account since filing their 2023 tax return, they do not need to take any action. The bank will return the payment to the IRS and the refund will be reissued to the address of record.
Becoming a Certified Public Accountant is no small feat. The CPA exam is one of the most demanding professional exams in the U.S., with a notoriously
A system rooted in the past
This decades-old rule was first introduced in Florida to raise the standards and credibility of the profession, and the other 49 states followed suit over time. Today, the extra year of education — with its significant time commitment and cost — is turning potential CPAs away, especially when they can pursue alternative careers with just a four-year degree. The
Additionally, researchers from
As fresh talent struggles to break into the industry, seasoned CPA-certified accountants are exiting just as noticeably. According to the
Rethinking the CPA path
It’s time to reevaluate the 150-hour rule and consider whether an additional year of education is necessary to become a CPA. Instead, the industry should consider substituting practical work experience. This approach could combine four years of college education with two years of relevant, hands-on accounting experience. Another consideration: allow anyone with a bachelor’s degree to take the CPA exam, regardless of their field of study. If they can pass one of the most challenging professional exams in the country, their major should not be a barrier to entry.
To further streamline the profession and adapt to modern work practices, we should advocate for automatic mobility of CPA licenses across all states. Just as a driver’s license issued in one state allows you to drive anywhere in the country, a CPA license should grant the ability to practice in any state without additional hurdles.
These alternatives could open the door to a broader range of candidates, including those who cannot afford five years of college or come from different educational backgrounds.
Adapting to modern times
Finally, we must embrace innovation and advancements in technology. As education evolves, so should our approach to CPA licensing. For example, we have coding bootcamps that turn people into software developers in months, so why not have the same for accounting? These fast-track programs could provide focused, practical training and allow people to enter the accounting profession more quickly and conveniently without sacrificing the necessary skills and curriculum needed for success.
We’re already seeing similar programs in action, like Intuit Quickbooks’
While the creation of the 150-hour CPA requirement was well-intentioned, the needs of the accounting industry have evolved. With so many businesses relying on CPAs to manage their finances, it’s time to rethink this requirement to attract and retain the talent needed to drive the economy forward.
Accounting
FinCEN extends beneficial ownership information reporting deadline for Corporate Transparency Act
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has extended the deadline for beneficial ownership information reporting after an injunction was lifted by a federal appeals court.
On Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of a preliminary injunction by a federal district court in Texas that had temporarily paused a requirement for filing BOI reports with FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act of 2019 in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland earlier this month. That means most companies are once again subject to the requirement for reporting their true owners to FinCEN, except for members of the National Small Business Association, which had won an earlier lawsuit over the requirement. The law aims to deter criminals from using shell companies for illicit purposes such as money laundering and terrorism financing.
However, after all the legal back and forth, the Treasury Department
Reporting companies created or registered in the U.S. on or after Sept. 4, 2024 that had a filing deadline between Dec. 3, 2024 and Dec. 23, 2024 have until Jan. 13, 2025 to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
Reporting companies created or registered in the U.S. on or after Dec. 3, 2024 and on or before Dec. 23, 2024 have an additional 21 days from their original filing deadline to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN.
Reporting companies that qualify for disaster relief may have extended deadlines that fall beyond Jan. 13, 2025. These companies should abide by whichever deadline falls later.
Reporting companies that are created or registered in the U.S. on or after Jan. 1, 2025 have 30 days to file their initial beneficial ownership information reports with FinCEN after receiving actual or public notice that their creation or registration is effective.
However, there’s an exception for members of the National Small Business Association, FinCEN noted: “As indicated in the alert titled “
FinCEN also provided some background on the lawsuit, pointing out that Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc., et al. v. Garland, et al., No. 4:24-cv-00478 (E.D. Tex.), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, issued an order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction. On Dec. 23, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a stay of the district court’s preliminary injunction enjoining the Corporate Transparency Act entered in the case of Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. Garland, pending the outcome of the Department of the Treasury’s ongoing appeal of the district court’s order. It pointed out that the Texas Top Cop Shop case is only one of several cases that have challenged the CTA pending before courts around the country. Several district courts have denied requests to enjoin the CTA, ruling in favor of the Treasury Department.
“The government continues to believe—consistent with the conclusions of the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia and the District of Oregon—that the CTA is constitutional,” said FinCEN. “For that reason, the Department of Justice, on behalf of the Department of the Treasury, filed a Notice of Appeal on December 5, 2024 and separately sought a stay of the injunction pending that appeal with the district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.”
However, that may change next year when the Trump administration takes office given the deregulation promised on the campaign trail. The American Institute of CPAs has advocated for extending the reporting deadline. A provision for delaying the deadline had been included in one of the continuing resolutions to keep the government open, but the version that ultimately passed in Congress over the weekend omitted it.
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U.S. Beneficial Ownership Information Registry Now Accepting Reports
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