California CPA articles from September 2007

California CPA archives from September 2007

Updated audit documentation regs effective Aug. 1.(CBA News)(California Board of Accountancy)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... California auditors will no longer have to scramble to complete their audit documentation prior to issuing an audit report. New Regs. 68.3 and 68.4 (pp. 15-16, CBA Regulations) took effect Aug. 1 and correct differences between the California...

CBA takes mobility, licensure action.(California Board of Accountancy)
September 1, 2007... The California Board of Accountancy recently embraced the mobility concepts contained in the revised Uniform Accountancy Act, which state that CPAs from substantially equivalent states would be allowed to provide services to California clients...

Staying put.
September 1, 2007... Small-business employers are doing something right when it comes to retention according to these findings from a National Federation of Independent Business Small-Business Poll on unemployment compensation: * 49% of small businesses...

Annual report update.(CalCPA News)
September 1, 2007... A typesetting problem occurred in the CalCPA and California CPA Education Foundation's 2007 Annual Report in the August issue of California CPA. The problem dealt specifically with a chart on Page 34. A clean version of the Annual Report...

Celebrating women CPAs.
September 1, 2007... Join us for a day of leadership development, professional growth and recognition as we celebrate California's women CPAs and their tremendous contributions to the profession. Attend Celebrating Women CPAs and leave with: * A clear...

The federal government.
September 1, 2007... "The federal government is on a 'burning" platform,' and the status quo way of doing business is unacceptable for a variety of reasons." --David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States

Accounting & Auditing.(EDUCATION FOUNDATION FOCUS)
September 1, 2007... Don't miss this year's Accounting & Auditing Conference Oct 17 in Los Angeles and Oct 18 in San Francisco. Focused on current and emerging issues, the conference will provide technical guidance and practice enhancement updates applicable...

Accounting for insurance projects?(FASB News)
September 1, 2007... The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an invitation to comment to help it decide whether there is a need for a project on accounting for insurance contracts and whether it should undertake this project jointly with the...

New adjusted interest rate.(FTB News)
September 1, 2007... The adjusted interest rate has been determined for the period Jan. 1, 2008 to June 30, 2008, and will remain at 8 percent. The interest rate (Sec. 19521, formerly 19269, of the California Revenue and Taxation Code) is compounded daily and...

New fee & reporting requirement.(BOE News)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Effective Jan. 1, 2007, most California employers with 50 or more employees, who work more than 500 hours per year, are required to file an environmental fee return and pay a fee based on the number of employees in California unless...

SEC approves new audit standard.(PCAOB News)(United States Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The SEC recently approved the PCAOB's Auditing Standard No. 5, An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting That Is Integrated with An Audit of Financial Statements, which replaces the PCAOB's previous internal control auditing...

New venture for Armanino McKenna.
September 1, 2007... Armanino McKenna LLP, the largest California-based accounting and business consulting firm, has joined forces with publishing veteran Vintage Foster to form Armanino McKenna Foster (AMF), a media consulting firm offering strategic...

IRS changes system to update passwords.(IRS News)(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The IRS has made available to tax practitioners a better system for changing their expired password for E-services. Under the new system, when a user logs on to the system, they will be asked a few questions to establish identity, such as last...

IRS eliminates Schedule P to Form 5500.(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... The IRS recently announced Form 5500 filers no longer have to submit Schedule P, Annual Return of Fiduciary Benefit Trust. The decision was made to discard that requirement to reduce the administrative burdens for employers, plan...

IRS seeks new issues for Industry Issue Resolution Program.
September 1, 2007... The IRS is encouraging business taxpayers, associations and other interested parties to submit controversial or frequently disputed tax issues to the Industry Issue Resolution Program. The program works to clarify and recommend guidance...

IRS not complying with basic computer security practice.(Senate Finance Committee News)
September 1, 2007... An audit by the Office of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration discovered that IRS employees, including managers, are not complying with the basic computer security practice of protecting their passwords. TIGTA conducted a...

'More likely than not' causes tax preparer distress.(AICPA News)
September 1, 2007... The AICPA is urging Congress to modify a provision it approved that has resulted in a fundamental change in the role of tax return preparers and, according to the AICPA, will cause an increase in preparer fees for taxpayers. The provision is...

Small business hiring mistakes.(HR News)
September 1, 2007... Recruiting is always on top of the list of small-business challenges, but a few simple techniques that tweak the recruiting and hiring process can help to avoid some of the more common hiring mistakes. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According...

Member milestones.
September 1, 2007... ANNOUNCEMENTS Macias Gini & O'Connell LLP has announced the following promotions: Linda Hurley to director; Eugene Ma to senior manager; Prudence Pugeda, CPA to director; Debbie Chan to senior manager; Angelica Alfaro, Abel Escobar and...

Pivotal: as the scale tips toward a female majority in the profession, change is inevitable.
September 1, 2007... The numbers don't lie. Over the past 35 years, the ranks of female CPAs in the nation has jumped from 2,000 to more than 100,000, and there are more to come. Nationwide, more than 50 percent of the new accounting graduates are women, and, in...

Supporting women's retention & advancement: 12 key questions your organization needs to ask.
September 1, 2007... 1. Do you track the percentage of women entering your organization and the percentage of women in leadership positions? 2. Is women's retention and development a component of your strategic initiatives? 3. Are women on key committees...

AICPA releases: off-ramping retention guide.
September 1, 2007... This brochure provides innovative ideas to build employee loyalty and keep off-ramped individuals--those on family leave--connected to the organization through improved technology options, flexible work arrangements, training, strategic...

Tax Patents: until Legislation banning patents is certain, CPAs should be prepared.(PROFESSIONALISSUES)
September 1, 2007... Recent actions of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office are poised to present CPAs and other tax practitioners with a new set of challenges. A landmark judicial decision in 1998 resulted in the PTO, for the first time, issuing patents for...

Cost segregation: a closer look at an emerging tax planning trend.(TAXPLANNING)
September 1, 2007... Taxpayers and their advisers constantly are looking for ways to legally reduce their taxes by implementing planning solutions that will help them to shelter income against tax. In recent years, cost segregation has emerged as a popular method...

Interviewing 101: conduct a safe, legal interview--and hire the best candidate for your position.(EMPLOYMENTPRACTICES)
September 1, 2007... Employment-related issues have been a legal minefield for employers. Asking the wrong questions during the interview process--or in pre-interview applications--can spell disaster for a company or firm in the form of discrimination lawsuits. ...

Fraud finds: auditors, armed with SOX provisions, chip away at corporate fraud.(CORPORATEFRAUD)
September 1, 2007... An independent auditor is required to plan and perform an audit to obtain reasonable assurance that financial statements are free of material misstatements, whether caused by error or fraud. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Generally accepted...

Tax gap operations: FTB's procedure may be new to many CPAs.(Franchise Tax Board and Certified Public Accountant)
September 1, 2007... California's Franchise Tax Board has a procedure that is new to many. A client received an inquiry requesting a 2005 Form 540. Included in the verbiage was something to the effect of: "You paid $35,000 in home mortgage expense, we believe that...

Student loan ABCs: CPAs can help negotiate the gauntlet of funding a student's education.(PERSONALFINANCE)
September 1, 2007... As trusted financial advisers, CPAs are in a position where clients, friends and family will ask about college financing--or, more specifically, about student loans. But which one do you recommend? Or what combination of loans is best? Options...

Taxing issues: do your clients pay use tax?(governmentrelations)
September 1, 2007... CalCPA's Committee on Taxation identified issues with AB 969 (Eng) requiring individuals to pay use tax obligations with their California individual income tax return. Taxpayers are required to file and pay the use tax to the California...