Page 292 - Accounting Best Practices

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13–22 Create Accounting Training Teams
13–21 SUBSCRIBE TO AN ON-LINE TAX INFORMATION SERVICE
Congress is constantly tinkering with the tax laws, while the IRS continues to
issue a flood of interpretations in response to new tax situations. Consequently, it
is extremely difficult to stay current on which changes in the tax code apply to a
company’s specific circumstances. Many companies solve this problem by hiring
a CPA firm that specializes in taxation issues. However, the cost of this service is
extremely high; moreover, the people working for the CPA firm may not be aware
of ongoing operational issues at a company that may impact its tax situation.
A good alternative is to subscribe to an on-line tax information service, such
as the CCH Internet Tax Research Network (located at tax.cchgroup.com) or the
RIA Federal Tax Product Packages (located at www.riahome.com). These ser-
vices allow one to conduct searches on a wide range of tax topics, including the
IRS Code, executive orders, pending and enacted legislation, U.S. tax treaties,
and individual tax acts. These services update their databases of tax information
as soon as new information becomes available, which makes this a better source
of information than CD-based products. Also, search features allow one to
quickly hone in on all tax information pertaining to a specific topic.
The downside of these services is their cost, which generally fall into the
range of $2,000 to $5,000 per year, depending upon the scope of services pur-
chased. Also, these subscriptions only provide information—they are no substi-
tute for the expertise that can only be acquired through years of tax research, so a
company should continue to regularly consult with its tax advisors. Thus, an on-
line tax information service should be considered a supplement to other sources
of tax information and advice, rather than a replacement.
Cost: Installation time:

13–22 CREATE ACCOUNTING TRAINING TEAMS

A key problem for accounting managers is how to determine the correct amount
and type of training to require of their employees. Sending them to degree pro-
grams is too expensive and only provides relevant training for a small proportion
of the time spent being trained. Shorter programs are more targeted, but are still
expensive and may not directly relate to work requirements. For these reasons,
many accounting managers do not allow any training, or only under very
restricted circumstances. By doing so, they are limiting the skill sets of their
employees and not allowing them to fulfill personal career advancement goals,
which may result in increased employee turnover.
A solution to this problem is the use of internal accounting training teams.
The basic process is to conduct a periodic survey of employees and job functions
to determine what types of training programs are needed. A consultant or man-
ager-level employee then creates the general course syllabus for each training