California CPA articles from January 2005

California CPA archives from January 2005

Get a jump on it: early 2005-06 renewal.(CalCPA News)(California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... CalCPA members can renew their 2005-06 membership early to get a jump on the dues deadline. This year, CalCPA's membership deadline has been accelerated and the final day to pay is June 30. That's why we're giving members the option to...

Accounting, finance salaries on the rise.(News & Trends)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Accounting, Finance Salaries ON THE Rise Position 2005 Salary Range Increase Manager/Director (large-size $81,750-$125,000 5.1% public accounting firm) Manager (mid-size public ...

New guidance on implementing Interpretation 101-3.(AICPA News)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The AICPA's Professional Ethics Division has issued two new documents that provide guidance on understanding and implementing the general requirements of Interpretation 101-3, Performance of Nonattest Services. The first, Guidance in...

IRS issues guidance on reportable transactions.(IRS Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Treasury Department and IRS have issued interim guidance reflecting changes to the requirements for disclosure of reportable transactions by taxpayers and material advisers made by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. The act...

New mileage rates for 2005.(IRS Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Beginning Jan. 1, 2005, the IRS standard mileage rates for the use of a car (including vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: * 40.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven (up from 37.5 cents a mile in 2004); * 15 cents a mile...

Treasury, IRS issue proposed regs on phased retirement.(IRS Update)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Treasury Department and IRS have issued proposed regulations permitting private pension plans to begin pension payments to employees as part of a phased retirement program. The regulations would allow employees who are age 59 1/2 to...

PCAOB sets ambitious 2005 agenda.(PCAOB Update)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The PCAOB has set an aggressive agenda for 2005, with as many as 11 new auditing standards in the works. The top priority for the year is setting ground rules governing the ability of accountants to offer tax services to their audit...

Online event registration.(Web Focus calCPA.org)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Brand new CalCPA ePly empowers you to rapidly register and promptly pay for CalCPA meetings and events 24/7. The days of filling out tedious--and microscopic--registration forms are gone. Once you log on to CalCPA.org and journey on to CalCPA...

New rulings on employment tax.(NEW Revenue Rulings)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Treasury Department and IRS have published two revenue rulings clarifying that payments by employers to employees made in connection with employment contracts are to be treated as wages for purposes of FICA, FUTA and federal income tax...

More guidance for audits of internal controls.(PCAOB Update)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The PCAOB has issued the third in its series of staff guidance to help auditors and issuers implement PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2, regarding audits of public companies' internal control over financial reporting. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

2005 Amnesty website goes live.(FTB News)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... A webpage detailing the Franchise Tax Board's 2005 Amnesty Program went live Dec. 6. The page contains amnesty applications, notices, details on procedures and other guidance and information on the program. Check it out at...

New tax break accounted for as deduction says FASB.(FASB News)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Companies eligible for a tax cut for "qualified production activities" resulting from the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 should use the benefit as a special deduction against taxable income over time, according to the FASB. ...

Punctuation matters.(E - FILE TIPS)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sometimes, punctuation--or lack thereof--can foil an e-fling effort. At the 2004 IRS Liaison Meeting in November, John DiCarlo, CPA, of Long Beach, said that a missing hyphen in a client's federal identification number caused rejection of...

FASB, IASB form performance reporting working group.(FASB News)(Financial Accounting Standards Board forms international group with International Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... FASB and the IASB have formed an international group working to help to forge new financial reporting standards. The group will help the boards set standards for the presentation of information in financial statements as the two bodies...

2004 MAP Survey California Report available.(MAP Survey)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The California Report for the 2004 MAP Survey is available to CalCPA members free of charge thanks to CalCPA and the California CPA Education Foundation's partnership and sponsorship of the survey. Download the 2004 MAP Survey Report at...

National Survey shows local, regional firms thriving.(MAP Survey)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Local and regional firms across the nation saw salary increases and double-digit revenue growth in 2004, according to the 2004 PCPS/Texas Society of CPAs National MAP Survey. Almost a third (32 percent) of the 2,373 local and regional firms...

SEC delays Sec. 404 reporting deadline.(SEC News)(United States. Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The SEC has instituted a one-year postponement of the final phase-in period for acceleration of periodic report deadlines that apply to larger companies known as "accelerated filers," to allow additional time to comply with Sec. 404 of the...

Accounting: no. 1 college major.(Survey Says)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Accounting is the most desired college majors, ahead of engineering and business administration, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. The number of accounting degrees awarded in 2003 jumped 11 percent from 2002....

Guidance on SB 1262.(Legislative News)(Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... The Nonprofit Integrity Act of 2004, known as SB 1262, applies new requirements on the conduct of charities, commercial fund-raisers, fund-raising counsels, unincorporated associations and trusts. Audits will be required for those entities...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 1, 2005... In the December 2004 issue of California CPA, a photograph of Larry McLeland mistakenly ran in the obituary of Larry Stern on Page 10. CalCPA regrets the error.

Announcements.(member milestones)(appointments in accounting services)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Erika E. Lewis has joined the Encino office of Duffy, Kruspodin & Company, LLP as a supervisor... Jennifer Dizon has been admitted into the partnership of San Francisco-based Hood & Strong LLP... James R. Chevalier has joined Los...

Accomplishments.(member milestones)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Loretta Doon of Belmont has been appointed by Gov. Schwarzenegger to the State Lottery Commission... Kevin Harper of Union City was elected to the New Haven Unified School District Board of Trustees... Gary Capata has been elected to the...

Firm news.(member mile stones)(Gilbert Associates, Inc. has merged with consulting practice of Stephen B. Crocker)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sacramento-based Gilbert Associates, Inc. has merged with the tax and small-business consulting practice of Sacramento-based Stephen B. Crocker.

Members in the news.(member mile stones)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Sheryl Rowling and Jeff Garrison were quoted in the October Practical Accountant. That issue also featured a letter by Ron Baker... Mary Kay Foss was quoted in the October Kiplinger's Retirement Report... Michael Eisenberg had a Q&A published...

NASBA's new VC.(member mile stones)(National Association of State Boards of Accountancy )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Diane M. Rubin of Tiburon has been elected vice chair of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy for 2004-05. Rubin, an audit partner at San Francisco-based Novogradac & Company LLP, will become NASBA chair in 2005-06. ...

Lower your UI rates legally.(unemployment insurance)
January 1, 2005... Dumping. It's an age-old practice. Before the days of regular garbage pick up, farmers used to dump their unwanted junk in fields and ravines behind their barns. In these rusty trash heaps, much would decompose, while the old cars and...

Thank you CPA-PAC contributors!
January 1, 2005... Political action plays a crucial role in CalCPA's ongoing efforts to protect and enhance our profession. Our success depends heavily on a Legislature that understands the importance of CPAs and our profession--which is why CPA-PAC works so...

Raising the bar: the AICPA Peer Review Program moves toward more transparency.(PEER REVIEW)(American Institute of Certified Public Accountants )
January 1, 2005... Since 1977, more than 50,000 CPA firms have undergone more than 160,000 peer reviews thanks to the AICPA Peer Review Program resulting in reports that provide insight into participating firms' stated quality standards and how they put those...

Reporting formats: UPIA, National Fiduciary Accounting Standards provide guidance.(estate planning)(Uniform Principal and Income Act)
January 1, 2005... The required format for an accounting report to a court for an estate or trust is quite different from traditional financial statements. And while the reporting format is not complicated, the guidance on how to prepare these reports is pretty...

ePly into the future: introducing ePly--CalCPA's new online event registration service.
January 1, 2005... EPly enhances CalCPA event registration and payment processing with 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week registration and real-time processing of credit card payments. In short, CalCPA ePly is ushering in a new era of chapter event attendance. "By...

Clarifying CBA, PCAOB differences.(Audit Documentation)(California Board of Accountancy)(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)
January 1, 2005... The following guidance clarifies some apparent conflicts noted by Bertha Minnihan of Mohler, Nixon & Williams in Campbell between the California Board of Accountancy's audit documentation rules--outlined in the October 2004 issue of California...

A respectful divorce: collaborative process involves team approach--not courts--to settle disputes.(DISPUTE RESOLUTION)
January 1, 2005... CPAs, judges, attorneys, other professionals and especially divorcing couples are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the stress and high costs that too often occur in the family law adversarial process. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

A watchful eye: closer scrutiny being paid to the management of 401(k), pension plans.(RETIREMENT PLANS)
January 1, 2005... More than 40 million employees in the U.S. work force rely primarily on their 401(k) plan for retirement. But in today's investment environment, how safe are the investments within your company's plan--and who's responsible for monitoring them?...

Asset acquisition: practical guidance on Sec. 338 election.(PROFESSIONAL ISSUES)
January 1, 2005... The final regulations under Internal Revenue Code Sec. 338 certainly provide much desired clarity and guidance to tax practitioners. The main goal of these regulations was to change several accounting rules relating to deemed and actual asset...

What's new is old: budget issues top legislators' to-do lists.(government relations)
January 1, 2005... The Legislature started a new two-year session Dec. 6 with swearing-in ceremonies and the formal election of officers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda) was elected president pro tempore of the Senate on a unanimous...

IRS talks enforcement: annual liaison meeting tackles all, from Appeals to POAs.(federal tax)(tax policy of Internal Revenue Service)(power of attorneys)
January 1, 2005... The IRS remains committed to improving service to taxpayers, but the agency is beefing up enforcement after years of cutbacks. That was one of the messages IRS representatives imparted to about 50 CalCPA members at the annual...

Following the FTB: plenty of happenings CPAs should know about.(california tax)( Franchise Tax Board)
January 1, 2005... This isn't an official summary of the CalCPA Committee on Taxation's annual liaison meeting with the FTB, but these are a few developments that should be brought to everyone's attention. 1. In response to a query about a rumor, the FTB said...