AICPA Technology Resource Center Podcasts
Committee members share their knowledge and expertise on a variety of topics related to issues you need to know in practice.
Listen to the podcasts below to hear the latest on these issues.
Topics and Description
Accounting Today - Planning for Your Future
Join Amy Vetter, CPA.CITP, CGMA with special guests Jay Kimelman, CPA and Blake Oliver, as they discuss accounting today versus the future trends to be ready for. This podcast will cover their experiences with the change management needed to keep up with the technology demands from clients and millennial staff.
In this podcast, CPA and CITP Adam Chaikin compares Agile to Waterfall project methodologies. By providing a real world example, Chaikin discusses his preference for Agile and why it is sometimes better for projects in dynamic, ever changing organizations.
In this podcast hear Joel Lanz, chair of the IMTA executive committee with Mariusz Grabek discuss big data; its implications and its opportunities for the CPA profession. The concept of big data is not new. Big data has been around for a long time and provides great prospects specific to CPA careers. What has changed? The storage and retrieval of big data. These issues have created vast opportunities for the profession. It is important to remember that data is an asset that can be handled to provide value. The key is in transforming data to information to facts to knowledge. But where do CPAs start? It is important to remember that big data is relative to the size of the company, everyone has big data, no one size fits all, and that big data is a team sport.
Dana Greene, Virginia Collins, and Al Friedman discuss computer assisted auditing techniques (CAATs) in this lively podcast. The analytics maturity model is reviewed and low cost CAATs tools such as power query in excel 2016 are identified. CAATs are more accessible than ever and should be extended to more and more auditors. Firms no longer necessarily need an information technology auditor to do CAATs. The three also discuss how to use CAATs, how to prepare your data for CAATs, and your overall risk assessment.
In this podcast, Adam Haverson, of Pall Corporation, discusses cloud integration. In the current environment, there is a huge need to connect systems that you control to those you do not control. In this quickly growing space, that only five years ago consisted of mainly sharing internal data, there are now major vendors available to simplify point to point integrations. These combinations can be completed using what is close to off the shelf software now that basic security is less of an issue.
Computer Assisted Auditing Techniques (CAATs)
In this podcast, Virginia Collins discusses how CPA firms can begin their data journey by developing a learning path that will increase their usage of CAAT’s for all audits and by all auditors.
Using low cost tools such as Excel, Active Data and Microsoft BI Tools, the auditor can learn the foundational data concepts in a familiar environment and without being an IT professional.
Cybersecurity Social Engineering
Cybercriminals will use any means available to get your information or you money – both, if possible. These criminals are using attacks that take advantage of our natural tendency to trust. Cybersecurity professionals refer to these as Social Engineering attacks, but they are the same confidence scams, as old as human history. The big question is - how do we prevent these from happening? During this session Rob Rudloff will cover the threats and provide approaches to build in layers of security controls to reduce the risk from Social Engineering attacks.
Developing Your Unique Social Media Strategy - Recording | Slides
In this podcast, Bobbi Baehne, president of Think Big, Go Local, a digital marketing agency, offers concrete advice on how to build a solid social media strategy for your organization or your client’s and how to use that strategy to increase your bottom line or your client’s bottom line.
Emerging Technologies for CPAs
The Internet of Things (IOT) – Big Data – Cyber Security initiatives. How they are related to CFO, Controllers and CIO professionals? In this podcast, Matt Bogusch, Kevin Martin, Chris Vergamini, and Chris Fraser discuss emerging technologies including Internet of Things, technology in a pick and pack system, big data and analytics and they conclude with a dialogue of cybersecurity and penetration testing.
In this podcast, Rich Vera discusses the use of encryption as a means of protecting data, weighing in on various methods of data protection that use encryption to ensure only those authorized to use data possess the ability to access it.
Information Technology and the Audit Committee
In this podcast, moderated by AICPA member Karen Percent, and joined by members David Wood, Torpey White, and Audrey Katcher, Information Technology and the role it plays in Audit Governance is discussed. The panel engages in a lively conversation regarding why audit committees should pay attention to information technology and also what audit committee members are asking audit partners about information technology. The group deliberates the role technology plays in risk assessment and how to best explain complex technology topics to management. The panel finishes up with a discussion of cybersecurity risks. What should the Audit Committee be asking and have any cybersecurity threats prevented investments in business relationships?
In this podcast Alex Thorne touches on specific steps that both business and consumers can take to secure their own devices. Suitable for firm partners and executives who might be looking to utilize a mobile strategy for their firm; advisors and consultants looking for a broad topic summary, or organizations looking to secure mobile devices in their enterprise.
In this podcast Terry Campbell discusses self-service business intelligence [SSBI] which represents the opportunity for CPAs to assist decision makers and analysts with decision support tools. SSBI tools are data-driven to improve evidence-based decision making by using currently available technology combined with the CPA’s business acumen of numbers and data to place the power of data and analytics in the hands of the users.
In this podcast, Chris Chudyk, Traphagen Financial Group, discusses small business technology. Mr. Chudyk reviews several technology topics relevant to the small business owner including the benefits/detriments of using the cloud, cyber risk, mobile computing, marketing through social media, customer relationship management software, and using business intelligence.
So You're Considering an IT Career Path
In this podcast, Matt Bogusch, Khoa Huynh, Roupen Yaramian, and Rory Heenan from Deloitte & Touche LLP discuss young CPAs considering a career in information technology. The panel engages in a lively discussion of what led them to information technology and the advantages to young CPAs of entering the information technology field. They provide advice based on their individual and collective experiences to guide young CPAs considering or who may should be considering a career focused in the growing field of information technology.
Social Media: What's Working and What's Not
In this podcast, Adam Chaikin, Larry Boyd, and Chris Fraser weigh in on the relevance of social media in today’s marketplace. The panel provides insight into their experience with a number of different social media outlets and discusses a variety of critical factors that often influence the effectiveness of the social media platform at the organizational level.
In this podcast, Jeff Krull discusses new developments in Service Organization Control (SOC) Reporting such as SSAE 18, vendor management, complimentary user entity controls, and the newly revised Trust Services Principles.
Jeff walks through the significant changes in SOC reporting as well as the implementation dates users and auditors need to know.
This panel (David Wood, Audrey Katcher, Torpey White, and Brian Thomas) discusses the recent SOC 2® updates in this podcast. The panel discusses why the SOC 2® guide seems to be always changing, the major differences between the 2013 guide and the new 2015 guide, and how to select a firm for SOC 2®.
The panel delves into issues such as opinions, and emphasis of a matter, and how SOC 2® can help “audit once – report many.”
The privacy principle for SOC 2®… Those dreaded words for years steered companies away from reporting on it due to the perceived herculean effort that was required in order to be compliant. In 2016, the AICPA revised all of the SOC 2® trust principles with the issuance of TSP 100. One of the most significant revisions in this update was a simplified set of criteria for the privacy principle. In this podcast, Jeff Cook of Veris Group RA will discuss these changes to the privacy principle and the effect on SOC 2® reporting.
The panel (David Wood, Audrey Katcher, Torpey White, and Brian Thomas) discusses the recent changes to the Trust Services Principles (TSP). The panel discusses the changes between the TSP that was released in 2014 and the TSP that was just recently released. They also discuss whether or not every Service Organization must include privacy in their SOC 2® audit now.
The panel goes on to discuss the effect of the new TSP if service organizations do not want to adopt it and can the criteria be used now or when is it required to be used.
What CFO Needs to Know about Information Technology
