Journal of Accountancy articles from June 2008

Journal of Accountancy archives from June 2008

Managing IT in a downturn.(information technology)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During an economic downturn, the impact of good governance of information technology is magnified. CFOs managing IT under current conditions would benefit from keeping these action items in focus. [check] Monitor...

A new day for business combinations: recognizing the whole enterprise.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * FASB outlined a major overhaul of GAAP related to mergers and acquisitions when it issued Statement no. 141 (revised), Business Combinations, in December 2007. The standard is effective for...

Virtues and evils of life settlement: under the right conditions, sale of a life interest may be a good policy.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Life settlement, in which life insurance policies are sold in a secondary market, has become a major financial market and viable opportunity for CPA clients to convert unneeded policies for...

Web syndication using RSS. (Really Simple Syndication)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Perhaps you are too busy to visit numerous Web sites to keep up with updates about your clients, your clients industries, general financial and business news, and your own profession. Thanks to a feature in Microsoft...

Accounting for Second Life.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Second Life is a virtual world with education, public relations, and economic implications. CPA Island is the center of the public accounting profession in Second Life. * At a minimum,...

Fair value roundtable: standard setters, preparers and auditors analyze challenges arising from the subprime meltdown.(Discussion)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On a quiet Friday in New York--less than a month after that chaotic Friday when Bear Stearns' stock went into a free fall--a panel of financial reporting experts met with about 200 corporate directors and other...

Creating growth: using opportunity risk management effectively.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * By focusing on the downside of risk, companies can overlook opportunities that provide significant possibilities for organizational innovation and new competitive advantage. *...

Swinging for the fences.(Major League Baseball's chief financial officer Jonathan Mariner)(Interview)
June 1, 2008... Jonathan Mariner sports a shiny 1997 World Series championship ring on his right hand-a trophy from the nine years he spent with the Florida Marlins. Mariner got into the business of professional sports by answering the fledgling baseball...

Interstate mobility and the CPA tax practitioner: it does apply to you.(certified public accountants)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * If you are a CPA who performs only tax services, interstate CPA licensing requirements apply to you, regardless of the type of client services you perform. CPAs who perform services or serve...

Share loans under IRS microscope.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In a recently released Coordinated Issue Paper (LMSB-04-1207-077), the IRS underscored how its examinations will home in on a once-favored strategy for monetizing stock gains while deferring capital gains taxes. In...

High court: no evasion without deficiency.
June 1, 2008... The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a conviction for criminal tax evasion, holding that the taxpayer could argue that distributions he received were a nontaxable return of capital. If they were so characterized, then the taxpayer had no tax...

IRS will not acquiesce in Kohler.
June 1, 2008... In Action on Decision 2008-001, the Service said it would not acquiesce in the Tax Court's allowance of a taxpayer's contested valuation of the stock of a closely held corporation following a post-death, tax-free reorganization. The court's...

Cook won't excuse estate from table.(Cook v. Commissioner)
June 1, 2008... Despite contrary holdings by other circuits, the Fifth Circuit recently held fast to its earlier decision in Cook v. Commissioner to once again overrule an estate's discounting of an annuity interest and restrict it to the valuation tables...

LIFO snafu is change in method.(last-in/first-out)
June 1, 2008... The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld a Tax Court finding that the consistent omission of a step when computing inventory cost under the dollar-value LIFO method was a change in accounting method rather than a mathematical error....

Equitable recoupment a timeless remedy.
June 1, 2008... An amendment to IRC [section] 6214(b) included in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 empowers the Tax Court to apply equitable recoupment to offset overpayments of hospital insurance taxes (the Medicare portion of FICA) against income tax...

How will IFRS affect tax practitioners?(International Financial Reporting Standards)
June 1, 2008... Many companies are in the early stages of considering what impact the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from U.S. GAAP will have on financial reporting. However, are they also thinking about the impact it will...

Statement of financial accounting standards no. 161 - disclosures about derivative instruments and hedging activities (an amendment of FASB statement no. 133).
June 1, 2008... Space considerations prevent publishing here the appendices to FASB Statement 161. Since the appendices often are important to understanding FASB statements, readers are advised to obtain complete copies. For additional copies of FASB...