Choosing the Best CPA Exam Review Course
After obtaining approval for taking one of the CPA exam sections and registering for a specific date, you know that serious study is required to achieve a passing score. The key to success is completing CPA exam review using one of the numerous courses available to help you. Careful course selection is important because of the investment in time and money you’re about to make.
Deciding upon the best CPA review course is a matter of a few personal considerations. Topping the list of criteria is evaluating your learning style. Start with a realistic assessment of your study habits. Some students require structured learning and others are more self-motivated.
Many budding accountants believe that they need a classroom lecture situation because they are familiar with this from college. However, personal interaction is also available with some online courses. If you prefer lectures before reading exercises, a live class is not absolutely necessary. Webin
Tucson’s largest school district approves new budget
The TUSD Governing Board approved a $324.8 million budget Saturday for the 2012-2013 school year.
The Board voted 4-1 to approve the budget. Mark Stegeman was the lone governor opposing it.
The new budget includes:
• $301.3 million in maintenance and operations funds, down 3.9 percent from last year’s budget. M & O funds are used for the day-to-day operation of the school district.
• $21.6 million in unrestricted capital, down 10.7 percent from last year. Unrestricted capital can be used for non-instructional purposes such as construction work, school improvement projects and large purchases of equipment and furniture.
• $1.9 million in soft capital, down 13. 1 percent from last year. Soft capit
Appeals Court OKs School Credit for Religious Released-Time Program
A federal appeals court has upheld a South Carolina school district’s “released-time” program in which students go off campus for religious instruction but receive academic credit at their public schools.
The legal challenge to the program of the Spartanburg County district focused on the provision of academic credits, since the opponents conceded that the U.S. Supreme Court had upheld the basic idea of off-campus released-time programs in a 1952 case, Zorach v. Clauson.
The challengers argued that the provision of credit advances religion in violation of the First Amendment’s prohibition against government establishment of religion. Released-time “students are not just getting an excused absence to pursue religious instruction,” the challengers say in court papers. “Their religious life is being promoted and approved.”
The challengers include a family of non-Christians who received a promotional flier through Spartanburg High School for the released-time program at Spartanburg Bible School.
Accountants That Take The CPA Exam Find Best Job Opportunities From Also Possessing Business Systems Skills
One of the best steps for prospective CPAs after they take the CPA exam is becoming familiar with business systems used by large corporations. According to a recent survey, corporate CFOs are having difficulty finding qualified professionals for accounting and finance job openings.
Corporations are eager to fill accounting jobs with CPAs that understand business systems. Knowledge of business systems is valued as much as the accounting experience needed to meet CPA requirements. About 69 percent of the CFOs surveyed by Robert Half reported challenges in finding candidates with the best skills for accounting and finance positions.
The same survey one year ago reported that only 37 percent of finance executives were having problems finding high-quality job applicants. Speculation has emerged that the slowdown in hiring for corporate accounting and finance positions is attributable to the shortage of individuals with desired qualifications.
Flint school board could take up employee callbacks
FLINT, MI — Some of the hundreds of employees laid off or pink slipped this year by the Flint school board could have their employment reinstated Wednesday.
Board members and administrators at last week’s meeting said they hoped to handle the process at the June 20 meeting.
The board last week passed its 2012-13 budget, a move officials said needed to happen before call backs could begin.
It’s not clear how many employees may be called back. Districts typically lay off teachers and support staff in preparation for setting the next year’s budget and call back most or all of them. That’s less likely to happen in Flint this year, considering the large cuts the district’s been making to fight rising costs and shrinking revenue.
For example, the board has voted to close four schools and outsource much of the non-instructional staff.
Wednesday’s board meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
6-figure earners at PCC getting mentors to show them the ropes
Pima Community College’s newest executive will have a team of mentors guiding him for at least a year if the college’s Governing Board agrees tonight to give him the $148,000 job.
Two other recently hired executives also have been assigned mentors in what interim Chancellor Suzanne Miles calls “part of a plan to better support new administrators.”
The mentoring setup was outlined in a recent internal memo Miles sent to college leaders announcing plans to hire a new head of information technology – one who has no experience in such a senior position.
None of the three finalists interviewed for the college’s top IT job – the vice chancellor for information technology – has held a permanent position at that level, their résumés show.
Miles wants the college’s governing board to approve hiring one of the three, Keith McIntosh, who has been with the college since 2008, mostly in a midlevel IT job where he oversaw 15 employees.
McIntosh excelled in that role, Miles said, and in 2011 won a coveted professional award for “exceptional early- career leadership in higher-education IT.” He’s also filled in as acting assistant head of the college’s IT department.
Miles’ memo said if the hiring is approved, McIntosh will be assigned a team of mentors to guide him in the job.
“I have identified a team of mentors who will be working with Keith for at least his first year. T