•    Federal immigration agents are auditing construction employers’ hiring and paperwork with a renewed vigor—doubling the number of audits over the past two years.
•    In late 2010, federal officials began the process of revising the dreaded, confusing I-9 form yet again—because the current version raises too many questions for employers.
•    E-Verify is now required for most federal contractors and recommended for other employers, but there are continuing issues.
•    Unions are exploiting the immigration issue and targeting merit contractors.
•    The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld Arizona’s right to de-license employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C. was recently notified by the Peer Review Committee of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that it has successfully completed an independent peer review of its accounting and auditing practice.

Peer reviews are required for membership in the AICPA and by the state of Maryland Board of Public Accountancy and are conducted every three years," according to Karl A. Lehman, CPA, Managing Principal of Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C. "We are certainly pleased with successfully completing our tenth peer review, especially with the ongoing scrutiny of the quality of audit work conducted by the accounting profession.

The peer review was conducted by regional firm of Boyer & Ritter, Certified Public Accountants and Consultants under the guidelines established by the AICPA. The reviewers made an independent assessment of the firm's quality control policies and procedures and inspected the working papers and reports on a representative sample of accounting and auditing engagements. They also inspected the firm's administrative files and records and interviewed professional personnel.

Wanda K. Lynn, CPA, Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C. 's Principal in charge of Accounting, Auditing and Quality Control, stated, "We are very pleased that we received the highest rating possible, which puts Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C. in an extremely elite group of CPA firms." A copy of the full peer review report is available from the firm or the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

We are proud to sponsor a number of seminars for clients and friends throughout the year. Recently, we held seminars related to:

• The new Form 990 Rules
  
• Single Audit issues
  
• Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution: Economic Turnaround: Influencers and Indicators
  

Please revisit this area periodically for a listing of dates and times of future events and seminars that may be of interest to you.