Control of client funds

by Rickard Jorgensen, FCII, ARM, ACIArb If your CPA firm has control of client funds and can write checks on clients’ bank or investment accounts you may have an exposure to CPAs or firm staff abusing the signatory authority by stealing or misusing the client funds in the firm’s custody and control. This could apply to bill […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liability, Client funds, comprehensive coverage, CPA claims, crime coverage, employee theft, engagement letters, fraud, Limitation of Liability, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, being sued, Client relations, Coverage, coverage limitations, Crime coverage, criminal behaviour, policy coverage, policy wording, risk management, security
Jan, 03, 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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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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Fee Collection – a malpractice risk

Counter suits arising from fee disputes are one of the most common sources of malpractice claims against CPAs. In fact, such suits are a great risk for many professionals. Any steps taken to avoid a collection becoming a malpractice claim are essential. One of the key areas of attention should be a documented Collection Procedure. […]

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

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, professional liability claims, Uncategorized
Mar, 09, 2017
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How to get sued……

There have been many articles about how to avoid law suits and what you should not do to attract problems with clients. So with a tongue firmly implanted in the cheek, we thought it would be fun to tell you what you should do to get sued. Accept an assignment that is beyond your expertise […]

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

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, Claims, Client relations, professional liability claims, Uncategorized
Feb, 07, 2017
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Engagement letters – what should they contain

Every trial attorney will tell you that the first and most important tool in the defense of a malpractice claim against a CPA is a strong and carefully crafted engagement letter. This was brought home last week with one of our long-standing CPAGold™ clients. For years the CPA had provided corporate tax filing services to […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, accountants professional liability, engagement letters, errors and omissions, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, Client relations, Coverage, engagement letters, engagement letters, professional liability claims
Nov, 16, 2016
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Examples of Limitation of Liability Clauses

By Seth L. Laver, (with additional remarks by Rickard Jorgensen). Following the recent article (here) about limitation of liability clauses, I asked Seth L. Laver if he could suggest a limitation of liability wording for engagement letters. This was the response: Before we get to the proposed language, a disclaimer: the enforcement of these clauses vary […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, engagement letters, errors and omissions, Limitation of Liability, professional liability, risk management, Seth L. Laver

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' professional liability insurance, Accountants' risk management, Seth l. Laver
Feb, 17, 2016
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Example Of Mediation Provision For Engagement Letters

The wording of an Alternative Disputes Resolution clause in an engagement letter has been discussed on various occasions in the past. Schools of thought have vacillated between a formal arbitration clause to a voluntary mediation clause. Ralph Picardi, Esq., the risk management consultant to the CPAGold program recommends the following language for a Mediation Clause: […]

Post Tagged with accountants professional liabilit, engagement letters, Mediation, risk management

Posted by Rickard Jorgensen
Posted in Accountants' risk management, Client relations, Mediation, Ralph G. Picardi
Feb, 08, 2016
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