Journal of Accountancy articles from March 2005

Journal of Accountancy archives from March 2005

Write the right business plan.
March 1, 2005... CPA entrepreneurs and business owners need professional business plans to get organized, apply for bank loans or bring in new partners. If you're at a loss on how to begin, get over the hurdle by following these 10 steps. [] Decide why...

How the AICPA helps members serve small business; the Institute's vice-president for small firm interests speaks to the profession.
March 1, 2005... In 2003 small companies made up 99.7% of the 23.7 million businesses in the United States, according to the federal government, and research shows CPAs are among the top professionals to whom small businesses turn for professional and personal...

Payroll: a tie that binds; offer payroll services to position your firm as an all-service provider.
March 1, 2005... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * EVERY BUSINESS HAS TO PAY ITS STAFF and its taxes. Many CPAs are addressing those twin needs by offering to help their small-business clients, not just with taxes But also with the many chores that go into payroll...

IRAs and 401(k)s: how to pick the best plan; help your firm - or your clients - make the right choice.(individual retirement accounts)
March 1, 2005... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * RETIREMENT PLANS ARE OFFERED BY a variety of providers, including financial institutions, insurance companies and payroll service providers. But adherence to IRS regulations is the responsibility of the business owner....

Frame a travel strategy: find the delicate balance between avoiding travel costs and keeping travelers productive.
March 1, 2005... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * HAVE A CLEAR TRAVEL POLICY signed off on by the highest levels of management, and give someone responsibility for managing the program. * BEST PURCHASING PRACTICES are to maximize the amount of business you do with...

LTC insurance for owners and executives: a valuable perk for key employees.(long-term care plans)
March 1, 2005... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * COMPANIES INCREASINGLY OFFER LONG-TERM-CARE insurance as a benefit to owners and key employees. Company-sponsored LTC insurance is an economical way to prefund long-term care and protect executive retirement income from...

Executive roundtable.(concerns and misconceptions of using sophisticated software or technology solutions in accounting)(Panel Discussion)
March 1, 2005... We caught up recently with Jonathan A. Baron, President and CEO, Thomson Creative Solutions; Dr. Chandra Bhansali, President & Co-Founder of Accountants World, LLC; Ray Jimison, Sr. Vice President and General Manager Best Software--Specialized...

Hi-tech tops must-have wish lists; CPAs just can't seem to live without their PDAs, smart phones, laptops and other electronic tools of the trade.(certified public accountants)
March 1, 2005... Newfangled tech devices to ease mobility and ensure constant contact seem to be all the rage for today's CPA. To many, the gadgets are true work-savers; to some, they are lifesavers. To others, like it or not, they are essential for staying...

Information security tops CPA tech issues in 2005: paperless office advances to No. 2 on the list. Spam slips to No. 4 while storage and authentication technologies debut in Top-10.
March 1, 2005... from the AICPA For the third consecutive year, information security appears to be the number one technology concern for CPAs, according to the results of the 2005 Top Technologies survey of the American Institute of Certified Public...

Integration and the Internet: an unbeatable combination for firm success.
March 1, 2005... Sponsored by Thomson Creative Solutions "I've always believed strongly in integration," says Dave Ligotri of Ann Arbor, Michigan, a CPA for 22 years. "I've never understood why some accountants try to cobble together software from...

Accountant-Centric solutions finally put CPAs back in the driver's seat.(certified public accountants)
March 1, 2005... Sponsored by Accountants World Whether CPAs choose to accept it or not, they have lost control of their client engagements. Payroll service bureaus have taken away the payroll business. Off-the-shelf tax software has chipped away at...

Choose the right tools for internal control reporting: internal control software for changing business conditions.
March 1, 2005... Excerpted with permission from the Journal of Accountancy, February 2004 As companies struggle to comply with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act--the section that significantly tightened internal control and financial reporting...

Trust services: a better way to evaluate I.T. controls: fulfilling the requirements of section 404.(information technology)
March 1, 2005... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * SARBANES-OXLEY REQUIRES MANAGEMENT to include an assessment of internal controls over financial reporting, using a suitable framework, in the annual report. While a number of frameworks are available, some do not...

Add even more muscle to "what-if" analyses: team Scenario Manager with Scenario PivotTable for a more powerful tool.(part 2)
March 1, 2005... This is the second of two articles on how to use Excel to conduct powerful business analyses. Excel experts know Scenario Manager conveniently calculates what-if analyses of multiple versions of budgets and other financial projections. But...

XBRL and data standardization: transforming the way CPAs work; save time and improve reporting.(extensible business reporting language, certified public accountants)
March 1, 2005... Accountants spend too much time moving data from one financial reporting spreadsheet to another, leaving less time for analyzing information to enhance reporting integrity and improve management's decision making. The extensible business...

A gap in insurance GAAP? New life insurance markets demand new accounting method.(generally accepted accounting principles)
March 1, 2005... There's a new philosophy in the marketplace about life insurance, and we believe it warrants a change in the accounting method used for this popular investment product. Traditionally, life insurance has been viewed as a legacy paid to...

Section 1341 clarified.(Pennzoil-Quaker State Co. v. United States)
March 1, 2005... As a result of unforeseen circumstances, taxpayers may discover they must repay an amount previously collected and included in income. If the tax rates or other items have changed from those that existed in the year the income was reported, the...

Note sale: does it accelerate related-party interest deductions?(Ronald Moran Cadillac, Inc. v. United States)
March 1, 2005... An accrual-basis taxpayer normally takes deductions for expenses in the year the item accrues. But when the expense accrued by the taxpayer is owed to a related party who uses the cash basis of accounting, IRC section 267(a)(2) delays the...

Tax shelter can have business purpose.(Black & Decker Corp. v. United States)
March 1, 2005... The IRS has been developing policies to attack a variety of tax shelters including the contingent liability shelter, in which a high-basis asset is transferred to a new corporation in exchange for stock in an IRC section 351 transaction. The...

"Wages" and the employer-employee relationship: a change in IRS position on withholding.(from The Tax Adviser)
March 1, 2005... In revenue ruling 2004-110, the IRS effectively reversed its position on cancellation payments in the context of an employer-employee relationship, concluding that amounts paid to an employee as consideration for the cancellation of an...

Golden business ideas.
March 1, 2005... Overcome the Seduction of Consensus Conventional wisdom gives high marks to consensus and failing grades to dissension. After all, the prevailing theory goes, those who don't give unqualified support to the boss, but question his or her...