Accounting firms that perform audits need to be more aware of unclaimed property, held by clients, property that must be handled correctly and properly reported to state governments. But too often, says Thomson Reuters' Valerie Jundt, companies spread the amounts across different accounts and report "This is what this is what the accountants told us to do."

Properly recording unclaimed property during audits was one of the topics that Jundt, director of the unclaimed property group for Thomson Reuters' Tax and Accounting business, is addressing in the 2009 Seattle Roundtable for Unclaimed Property and Property Tax, led by Thomson professionals in Seattle on Sept. 18.Teaching accounting firms the ins and outs of handling unclaimed property is a something that Jundt, a former state audit administrator, had experience in. A few years ago, she reached out to a CPA society and ended up speaking on this topic annually. Among her topics was the information that unclaimed property should be placed in a reserve or protected account.