Section 7216 – requesting client permissions

By Rickard Jorgensen, FCII, ARM, ACIArb We would recently approached by a policyholder about affirmative consent requirements imposed by IRS regulations under Internal Revenue Code section 7216. Under the code, a tax return preparer is subject to criminal penalties under section 7216 if the preparer “knowingly or recklessly” discloses or uses tax return information. A […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, client permission, Cyber Liability, cyber security, data protection, engagement letters, Information Security, risk management

Posted by jorgcpa
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, Client permission, Data protection, engagement letters, IRS cyber rules, Uncategorized
Mar, 06, 2020
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Engagement Letter Defense Rejected

This month, guest blogger Seth L. Laver of Goldberg Segalla writes about a recent legal development concerning the use of engagement letters in the defense of accountants’ malpractice claims. ——————————————————————————————————————— We often write about the importance of engagement letters, in fact we have an entire sub-category devoted to engagement letter defenses. That’s because the engagement […]

Post Tagged with engagement letters, Limitation of Liability, professional liability claims, risk management

Posted by jorgcpa
Posted in Accountants' risk management, engagement letters, engagement letters, lawsuit, Limitation of Liability clauses, Seth l. Laver, trial, Uncategorized
Feb, 05, 2020
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Limiting Malpractice through Scope of Engagement

by guest bloggers Jennifer H. Feldscher and Seth L. Laver. A recent NY Appellate Division decision serves as another reminder of the importance of carefully defining the scope of engagement in an engagement letter. This is because, under New York law, an attorney may not be held liable for failing to act outside the scope […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, claims, client letter, comprehensive coverage, documentation, engagement letters, lawsuit, litigation, professional liability claims

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Claims, Client relations, engagement letters, engagement letters, indemnification clause, Jennifer H. Feldscher, professional liability claims, risk management, Seth l. Laver
Mar, 11, 2019
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Using Indemnification Clauses to protect your firm

by Rickard Jorgensen, FCII, ARM, ACIArb All CPAs know that a signed engagement letter is a crucial tool in the defense of a professional negligence lawsuit. The engagement letter memorializes the terms of the engagement, details what services you are performing and more importantly, the services you are NOT offering (i.e. you will not detect […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, claims, engagement letters, errors and omissions, Fee disputes, indemnification clause, Limitation of Liability, professional liability claims, risk management, settlement negotiation

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' risk management, being sued, client communications, Client relations, due diligence, engagement letters, engagement letters, file documentation, indemnification clause, insurance, Mediation, risk management, settlement negotiation, Uncategorized
Jan, 28, 2019
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Using the engagement letter to reduce cyber liability exposure

By Nick Matarazzo In this digital age, accountants are being forced to deal with all sorts of cyber threats. A well-worded engagement letter can help guard you against a cyber-related liability claim from your client and minimize your overall firm liability. Even if you are careful about your clients’ data, you may still be held […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, CPA claims, cyber insurance, engagement letters, errors and omissions, professional liability claims, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Cyber Liability, Cyber resources, engagement letters, engagement letters, professional liability claims, risk management, security, Uncategorized
Oct, 03, 2018
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How To Minimize The Damage Of Lawsuits

by Rickard Jorgensen, FCII, ACIArb., ARM Things Beyond Your Control That Precipitate Lawsuits With the advent of the computer era and information age, the cultural and business climate of the nation, and world, has shifted. Businesses have become more complicated, as attitudes sanction greater and greater risk-taking. No longer are there sure-fire lifetime jobs […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, accountants professional liability, engagement letters, errors and omissions, lawsuit, professional liability claims, retention policy, trial

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, being sued, Claims, Client relations, Client screening, due diligence, engagement letters, engagement letters, file documentation, File retention, lawsuit, risk management, Uncategorized
Aug, 08, 2017
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An overview of the client screening process

By Rickard Jorgensen, FCII, ACIArb, ARM Extracted from Evaluating Clients – Engagement risk screening for CPA firms. There are solid reasons for screening new clients. Many involve not getting paid, exposure to lawsuits or even the stress related to difficult individuals. Effective client screening can avoid these problems. Implementing a formal screening process is the […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, accountants professional liability, client screening, CPA claims, engagement letters, Limitation of Liability, professional liability, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' risk management, Client relations, Client screening, due diligence, engagement letters, engagement letters, lawsuit, professional liability claims, risk management, Uncategorized
Aug, 08, 2017
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The Risk of Being Consistent

(How Claims Arise From Following Past Work and not Our Independent Judgment) By Ralph G. Picardi, Esq. “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds….” When Ralph Waldo Emerson penned those words in his essay, Self-Reliance, almost 175 years ago I think it is fair to say he didn’t have accounting risk management in […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, Arbitration provision, client letter, client screening, disengagement, fee disputes avoidance, professional liability, Ralph Picardi, retention policy, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, Client relations, Client screening, engagement letters, file documentation, File retention, professional liability claims, Ralph G. Picardi, risk management, Uncategorized
May, 09, 2017
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ADR Provision in Engagement Letters – a new approach

You may recall the blog posting about the Mediation Clause recommended by Ralph Picardi (go here for a link to the post). Recently certain firms have enjoyed success by augmenting this provision with a section step which essentially provides rules for the resolution of a claim or fee dispute by Arbitration. While Arbitration as a process has limitations, […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, accountants professional liability, ADR, Arbitration provision, engagement letters, fee disputes avoidance, Mediation, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' risk management, Client relations, engagement letters, Mediation, professional liability claims, Ralph G. Picardi, Uncategorized
Apr, 10, 2017
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Risk Management for Tax Engagements

According to the AICPA, in 1990 tax engagement were responsible for 42 per cent of all malpractice claims filed against CPA. Fast-forward to today and that apportionment of losses hasn’t change much. In fact, according to the same source, tax claims against CPAs can be quantified as follows: 55% of total number of claims against […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, accountants professional liability, errors and omissions, risk management, tax engagements, tax filings

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, engagement letters, Tax Services, Uncategorized
Feb, 20, 2017
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Category Archives: engagement letters