Jeff Thomson, CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants, discusses why certification is essential for accountants — even those with a MBA.
The article provides an excellent overview of the different certifications available to accountants.
Microsoft is infusing AI into many aspects of Microsoft 365 for Office users. Check out the following video for some of the new user friendly options.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6567816925953556480/
Drones are now a part of an auditor’s toolbox by helping with inventory and other asset verification.
After several incidences, including a drone shutting down Gatwick airport, the EU has drafted rules regarding the use of drones. This 70 page document is currently under feedback and will take effect in a year.
To Read more, go to: https://sfmagazine.com/technotes/august-2019-eu-publishes-unified-drone-laws/
The role of a forensic auditor may be to identify suspicious transactions which may be fraudulent. Excel can be a useful tool to review a smaller dataset.
This Excel Zoom article shows users how to perform 5 simple forensic tests, including:
To see the article, go to: https://excelzoom.com/five-ways-performing-forensic-audit-using-ms-excel/
Check out this short video for a clear introductions to predictive analytics.
Check out these publications from O’Reilly which have been made available to you for free.
https://www.datasciencecentral.com/profiles/blogs/80-free-data-science-books
Some of these are older editions, but they are still valuable. Enjoy!
There are times text needs to be converted to lower case, proper case, or upper case for consistency sake. Excel provides functions to easily convert text in these cases.
However, Excel does not convert text to sentence case — the first letter only is capitalized. Using a combination of functions will easily convert text to sentence case.
The formula to convert the text in A1 is:
=UPPER(LEFT(A1,1))&LOWER(RIGHT(A1,LEN(A1)-1))
For examples, see the following:
Next week will continue with more useful text functions.
A recent trend in social media is the use of FaceApp. Upload your photo and it will return an image of how you would look in the future. You may also use the app to change your appearance in a variety of manners. Although it appears to be a fun use of Artificial intelligence, are you also giving them permission to use your photo?
From FaceApp’s Terms and Conditions: ” You grant FaceApp consent to use the User Content, regardless of whether it includes an individual’s name, likeness, voice or persona, sufficient to indicate the individual’s identity. By using the Services, you agree that the User Content may be used for commercial purposes. “
According to this, they can use your photo as they like — including selling it.
To read more about their policy:
https://www.businessinsider.com/faceapp-privacy-data-terms-service-russia-2019-7
Here is a new tip for me. If you type 10 space a, Excel will return 10:00 AM. Similarly, if you type p rather than a, it will return 10:00 PM.
Unfortunately, to get 9:39 AM, you still have to enter 9:39 space a, which isn’t as much of a timesaver.
The AICPA issued new standards for those that perform forensic accounting services engagements.
The standard defines forensic services as those “provided for investigation or litigation”.
To read more about the release of standards, go to: https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2019/jul/forensic-accounting-aicpa-standards-201921580.html
To review the Statement on Standards for Forensic Services No. 1, go to: https://www.aicpa.org/content/dam/aicpa/interestareas/forensicandvaluation/resources/standards/downloadabledocuments/ssfs-no-1.pdf
