Wednesday, March 29, 2017

AICPA Survey Reveals Companies Are Underprepared for Enterprise Risk


For more than 20 years, former flight instructor Roger Stadtmueller has been the managing partner at Stadtmueller & Associates, PS, an accounting firm in Spokane, Washington. An active member of his professional community, Roger Stadtmueller belongs to several organizations, including the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the largest member association for accounting professionals in the world. 

The AICPA recently released a report on corporate risks and risk management efforts. Conducted with the help of North Carolina State University, the report is titled “The State of Risk Oversight: An Overview of Enterprise Risk Management Practices.” The report surveyed more than 400 senior executives and chief financial officers. 

According to the report, nearly 70 percent of respondents noted that the risks they see are growing in number and complexity. Yet less than 50 percent of the organizations surveyed have increased their risk management efforts. 

Further, only 25 percent of respondents felt that risk management initiatives had been effectively integrated into companies’ strategic plans. Based on these results, the AICPA concludes that there is a disconnect between company risk and risk management efforts. 

While most companies have conventional risk management initiatives in place, these plans often focus on sales risks rather than enterprise risks. As a result, many companies are underprepared to handle financial risks.

Friday, March 10, 2017

Financial Satisfaction Down Only Slightly in 2016


Since 1997, Roger Stadtmueller has led the Spokane-based CPA firm Stadtmueller & Associates, P.S., as its managing partner. Additionally, Roger Stadtmueller maintains membership with the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

According to a recent survey of financial satisfaction conducted by AICPA, Americans saw a minor decline in their financial happiness during the last three months of 2016. Rising inflation levels were mostly attributed to the decrease in satisfaction, though those worries were somewhat countered by cautious optimism about the trajectory of the nation’s economy in 2017.

Market experts share the opinion that the prospect of lower taxes and fewer regulations were responsible for a surge in financial satisfaction at the end of 2016. By year’s end, the market saw a boost with increase share prices and higher trading volumes. During the fourth quarter, the financial sector posted the most gains, with industrials and materials not far behind. 

To learn more about the financial satisfaction survey, visit www.aicpa.org/PFSi.