Hurricane Katrina has taken a devastating toll on thousands of victims who are trying to piece their lives back together and regain a semblance of normalcy. In a coordinated response between the MACPA, AICPA and other state societies, the MACPA has identified several ways that CPAs can assist with the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Make a Donation
If you’d like to make a contribution to the relief efforts, access this list of reputable organizations with relief funds.

Volunteer, Provide Resources to Affected Firms
The AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS), with the assistance of the AICPA’s Audit Quality Centers and sections, has created a Firm Volunteer Center accessible from the PCPS Firm Practice Center. The Center will match individual members and CPA firms affected by Hurricane Katrina with CPA firms throughout the nation that are offering assistance. Firms can now list the resources they have available on the AICPA PCPS Firm Volunteer Center. Categories of resources being sought include office space, supplies, housing for CPAs, technology, record reconstruction, filing and more. The database will be accessible by affected members so they can seek out the resources they need.

Supporting Affected Clients with Financial Services
If you know a victim of the Hurricane, there are several business recovery resources, tax tools and financial planning information available to you. Access items such as the Disaster Recovery Financial Literacy Toolkit to find out the wide range of services you can provide to help clients manage their finances during the disaster. The AICPA Audit and Attest Standards Team issued a Technical Practice Aid, Consideration of Impact of Losses From Natural Disasters Occurring After Completion of Audit Field Work and Signing of the Auditor’s Report But Before Issuance of the Auditor’s Report and Related Financial Statements. Additional disaster recovery resources are available on the AICPA web site.

The IRS has granted tax relief to victims of the hurricane – ensure your clients take full advantage of this by visiting the IRS web site for information and resources. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) extended the deadline for filing Form 5500 and Form 5500 EZ annual report/returns due to property damage and destruction in the disaster area. The extension applies to plan administrators, employers and other entities located in the areas directly affected.

Continue to visit the MACPA web site news section for further updates on the hurricane relief efforts.

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