California CPA articles from March 2004

California CPA archives from March 2004

Regan leads 2004-05 candidate slate.(CalCPA News; D. Paul Regan )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CalCPA's Nomination and Leadership Development Committee has selected the following slate of candidates for 2004-05 statewide leadership positions: D. Paul Regan (San Francisco Chapter), chair; Christopher T. Yahng (East Bay Chapter), first...

Explore career opportunities: CalCPA online classifieds.(CalCPA News; California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Whether you're looking for employment or filling a vacancy, CalCPA's online classified ads will point you in the right direction. The classifieds populate a targeted, virtual community with job seekers and large, corporate employers,...

California CPA Education Foundation seeks nominations.(Foundation News)
March 1, 2004... The Nomination and Leadership Development Committee for the California CPA Education Foundation is accepting applications for trustees through April 21. Information and applications are being mailed by request only. If you would like...

Form 706 revisited.(IRS News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The IRS has revised Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, which deals with estates of decedents in 2003. The executor of a decedent's estate uses the form to determine the estate tax imposed by...

IRS increases enforcement, decreases back-office jobs.(IRS News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The IRS will eliminate thousands of back-office jobs and add more front-line positions in a far-reaching restructuring plan. The restructuring, slated for 2005, would close the Memphis, Tenn., tax return processing center, which has about...

IRS proposes changes to Circular 230.(IRS News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The Treasury Department and IRS have taken steps to curb the opinion letters drafted by accountants and attorneys. The agencies have proposed several changes to Circular 230 that would set higher standards for attorneys and tax...

IRS corrects user fee for extending Form 3115 approval requests.(IRS News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Stuart R. Josephs, CPA, of San Diego-based Tax Assistance Practice, reports that IRS Announcement 2004-8 (IRB 2004-6, 2/9/04) indicates that the correct user fee for a letter ruling request for an extension of time to file Form 3115,...

AICPA providing free audit committee toolkit.(AICPA News; American Institute of Certifed Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The AICPA has put together a toolkit for audit committees in response to Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements. The toolkit offers information on topics like anti-fraud accountability and internal controls, and provides charts, sample documents...

AICPA provides guidance on outsourcing.(AICPA News; American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The AICPA recently published guidance on outsourcing in response to growing concerns over the legal and ethical obligations of CPAs who use third-party service providers in client engagements. The guidance outlines the chief...

Revisions to Ethics Interpretation 101-independence.(AICPA News; accounting)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CPAs who perform compilations, reviews, audits and other attest services need to be familiar with the revisions to the AICPA Ethics Interpretation 101-3 to ensure they have not performed non-attest services--such as bookkeeping or payroll...

Amnesty program extended for illegal tax shelters.(FTB News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The FTB's Voluntary Compliance Initiative has begun its second wave, as the board urges businesses and individuals in California that may have used illegal tax shelters to voluntarily amend their state tax returns to avoid new penalties. ...

Tax relief for victims of San simeon earthquake.(FTB News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... The FTB has granted tax relief to those affected by the Dec. 22 earthquake in San Luis Obispo County. Both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties have been designated federal disaster areas. Taxpayers can claim a disaster loss in the...

FASB closer to convergence of global standards.(FASB News; Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... FASB has issued four exposure drafts to move U.S. GAAP closer to existing international accounting standards. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The exposure drafts were the first phase of an ongoing collaboration between FASB and the...

CPAs: more than just tax advice.(Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Investors are turning to CPAs for more than just tax advice, a recent survey found. Affluent investors increasingly view CPAs as important sources for investment advice. Some of the key findings of the survey, which polled 1,016 respondents...

Fraud CE requirement suspended until 2005.(CBA News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... A California Board of Accountancy regulation requiring eight hours of CE in fraud detection that was slated to go into effect July 1, 2004, has been suspended until at least Jan. 1, 2005. The regulation, approved by the CBA, would have required...

Noninteractive self-study CE accepted through '04.(CBA News)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Because of concerns that many CE providers have not yet modified their courses, the California Board of Accountancy will continue to accept noninteractive CE through Dec. 31, 2004. Effective Jan. 1, 2005, only interactive continuing...

Navigating CalCPA's website made easier.(WebFocus; California Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... CalCPA Online has undergone some spring cleaning a little early to bolster the site's navigation so members can get the information they need more quickly. The new navigation offers "one-click" access to the most popular parts of the site, such...

Announcements.(Member Milestones; accounting)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Ken M. Kasianovitz has been promoted to partner at San Diego-based Peterson & Co. LLP... Patrick Manning has been named CFO at Camarillo-based EdenTree Technologies... Drew Delisser has been named managing partner of Santa Monica-based Miller...

Firm news.(Member Milestones)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Holthouse, Carlin & Van Trigt LLP has been named to the Los Angeles Business Journals 2003 list of the "Top 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies"... The accounting offices of Joseph A. Deledonne joined with Riverside-based Teaman, Ramirez &...

Awards.(Member Milestones; accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Jeanne Laye has won the East Bay Chapter's Laverne W. Garcia Achievement Award for her contributions to the profession and community. In addition to her work in various CalCPA leadership positions, Laye founded The LOLs' Protective Association,...

Accomplishments.(Member Milestones; accountants)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2004... Bob Klein earned the Certified Fund Specialist designation... Kevin J. O'Connell, a partner at Macias, Gini & Company LLP, was appointed to the AICPA's State and Local Government Expert Panel, the only West Coast representative on the...

Members in the news.(Member Milestones)
March 1, 2004... Fresno Chapter members Larry Coffin, Douglas Smith, Paul Jacobsen, Cathryn Chase-Mason, Andrew Cameron, R. Emeterio Castro, John Baerg, Sheila Bagley and Rebecca Nunes participated in a Nov. 24-25 tax hotline on KGPE-TV... Jeanne Shannon...

Inherited IRAs: planning tips for non-spouse beneficiaries of IRAs, 401(k)s.(EstatePlanning)
March 1, 2004... A young woman came to me recently looking for help in sorting out her investments after her mother's death. Her mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness in 2000 and died in 2002. Unfortunately, the mother's overall financial planning was...

Under scrutiny: are pension plans being audited properly?(Cover Story)
March 1, 2004... Listen up. An individual's retirement is sacred. Remember the uproar when it became clear that most Enron employees' retirement had been wiped out? Our profession provides the public with a sense of security about their retirement. ...

Legislature in OT: plenty of issues--from Regs to outsourcing--keep officials busy.(GovernmentRelations; accounting)
March 1, 2004... There was some good news for California businesses in January. A little-reported section of the California Constitution mandates that proposed laws which have not passed the house of origin by Jan. 31 of the second year of the two-year session...

MAPping it out.(MapSurvey; accounting services)
March 1, 2004... Living up to its name, the MAP Survey continues to provide direction to scores of CPA firms, helping them find the most efficient routes of managing an accounting practice. The survey is a collection of dozens of indicators for CPA firms...

Avoiding top-heavy retirement plans.(RetirementPlans)
March 1, 2004... Failing to timely file Form 5500, failing to advise clients about restrictions on types of distributions and adviser actions that cause a retirement plan to fail to operate within its terms are just a few reasons why those who provide services...

New life insurance market.(LifeSettlements)
March 1, 2004... Imagine a world where buyers are willing to purchase your car at substantially more than its trade-in value--and you get to choose the highest bid. No advertising, no haggling, no expense to you. Science fiction? Nope. Such a world exists--not...

Growing a business? Advisory boards are key.(AdvisoryBoards)
March 1, 2004... In this challenging economy, many businesses are working to keep their customers rather than planning for growth. Don't get trapped into managing your business day-to-day--position your business for growth by creating an advisory board. ...

Deductible personal costs: IRS Chief Counsel Advice allows favorable treatment.(FederalTax)
March 1, 2004... IRS Chief Counsel Advice 200344008 considered whether IRC Sec. 274(a)(1)(A) disallows an S corporation's deductions for expenses of providing corporate aircraft for personal use by shareholders or employees, where these expenses exceed the...