Chapter 2 Organization and Structure of the Auditing Profess(8)

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(ii) Tax Services. A major service provided by accounting firms is in the area of taxation-tax and business planning and compliance services offered to businesses and individuals. Tax services offered to businesses by accounting firms cover a broad spectrum, including

preparing federal, state, and local tax returns; advising on merger or acquisition approaches to minimize taxes and on structuring operations to take advantage of tax opportunities; and reviewing tax returns for compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Services to

individuals include tax, financial, and estate planning. A firm's tax practice often includes one or more special service groups that address complex issues related to taxation. For instance, some accounting firms maintain support groups composed of senior tax professionals who monitor new tax laws, regulations, rulings, cases, and other related developments and

communicate this specialized knowledge to the rest of the firm. Many firms employ lawyers and engineers to advise clients on tax aspects of various transactions. Other groups that combine both tax and financial accounting expertise may be established to provide tax services relating to state and local tax matters; mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, sales of businesses, and related financing transactions; specialized industries that are affected by legislative, regulatory, and judicial proceedings; and international tax developments that concern multinational entities.

(iii) Consulting Services. Consulting services, sometimes called management advisory or management consulting services, are offered in several diversified areas, such as strategic planning, finance, inventory and supply, transportation, computerization, and human

resources. For example, professionals working in the consulting practice of an accounting firm may undertake work and make recommendations to an entity's management in one or more of the following areas:

Establishing long-range strategic planning programs Analyzing and improving administration-organization, methods, procedures, and

productivity

Developing information technology strategy, equipment and software evaluation and

selection, and telecommunications network and security evaluation

Designing and implementing information systems Applying techniques, such as just-in-time inventory planning, to improve profitability Improving materials controls, from consumer goods sales forecasting to

manufacturing planning and control

Human resources advisory professionals employed by accounting firms can advise clients about: