Accounting Today articles from April 2005

Accounting Today archives from April 2005

2005 season ending with flourish: Pace picks up after bad weather, late 1099s slowed early returns.
April 4, 2005... The 2005 filing season is heading into the homestretch with growth in nearly every category of filing, according to the latest interim figures released by the Internal Revenue Service. At mid-season, out of 55 million returns filed, 72...

Institute task force sees 'gap' in GAAP.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles )
April 4, 2005... New York -- American accounting contains an awkward contradiction. Though 99.7 percent of the country's 4.9 million corporations are privately held, a good deal of the country's generally accepted accounting principles are primarily relevant to...

Is a consumption tax the answer?
April 4, 2005... Washington -- In recent testimony before the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan floated the idea of a consumption tax to replace all or part of the current income tax. Citing the...

Smarter, not harder.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... You work too much, but not well enough. Expert coaches Brian Tracy and Campbell Fraser have some tips for getting more out of your workday. * Write it down. Develop clear, specific, measurable goals - and make them more concrete by writing...

Ebbers found guilty!(Bernard Ebbers )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... New York -- After eight days of jury deliberation, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was found guilty of fraud, conspiracy and filing false documents, which led to the massive $11 billion accounting fraud at the telecommunications carrier. ...

Best to rebrand as Sage.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Atlanta -- Sage Ltd., which lost the right to use the Sage name in the United States four years ago after a court fight, has purchased the rights to the brand in this country and will phase out the name Best Software by March 2006. The...

Plante to merge in Mich. firm.
April 4, 2005... Southfield, Mich. -- Super-regional CPA and business advisory firm Plante & Moran said that it would merge in BKR Dupuis & Ryden, a Flint, Mich.-based concern, effective July 1. Terms were not disclosed. Going forward, the firm will...

Senate passes bankruptcy bill.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Washington -- By a 74-25 margin, the Senate easily passed legislation toughening the nation's bankruptcy laws and thereby making it more difficult for consumers to wipe out their debts. The bill now will go before the House and, if passed,...

Lawmakers mull legislation to spread cash accounting.
April 4, 2005... Washington -- Congress is considering new legislation that could streamline accounting procedures for tens of thousands of U.S. companies by liberalizing the rules for the use of the cash accounting method by small business taxpayers. The...

Mixed results from new IFRS: From good to plain disastrous.
April 4, 2005... Brussels -- One lesson to be learned from one of three early case histories under Europe's new International Financial Reporting Standards is that the system will most probably hit long-established companies with heavy exposure to pension...

Heightened regulations strain reps, broker/dealers.
April 4, 2005... The strain on the financial advisory business is starting to show. As more regulations pile up, advisors and their broker/dealers talk as much about which form to fill out as they used to confer over asset allocation strategies. ...

Feingold measure seeks to step up tax abuse penalties.
April 4, 2005... Washington -- Federal penalties for taxpayers accused of tax evasion, failure to file a return or making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service could increase dramatically later this year if Congress approves legislation being pushed...

LAST-MINUTE TAX RESOURCES.
April 4, 2005... * Clergy Tax Net - www.clergytaxnet.com Clergy Tax Net is an online accounting and finance organization dedicated to serving the clergy and churches of all 50 states. This Minnesota-based site offers a large selection of tax services and...

Footnotes.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... GILMAN CIOCIA LAUNCHES 'APPRENTICE' COMPETITION: Financial planning and tax prep firm Gilman Ciocia has launched a four-month competition that will feature challenges similar to the ones seen on the NBC Show, "The Apprentice." Like the...

In this corner ...
April 4, 2005... My educational pedigree, or more accurately the lack thereof, has often been the subject of much self-ridicule in this space. Once, after I spent a semester sitting in the front row in political science, the professor on the last week of...

Peer review: Reality or fiction?
April 4, 2005... In December 1972, as president of the New York State Society of CPAs, I proposed to the state society's board a program of quality review for society members. The program was to be voluntary and at no cost to members. The following month,...

Response to Doug Jackson.(Letter to the Editor)
April 4, 2005... Dear Mr. Jackson: After reading your letter in Accounting Today (Feb. 21-March 13, 2005, p. 6), Bob Bunting asked me to respond as the volunteer leader within the American Institute of CPAs who has observed the disciplinary process for...

Firms scramble to stave off 21st century 'brain drain'.
April 4, 2005... Most often, the phrase "brain drain" refers to the mass exodus of a nation's smartest and most talented people to countries that can offer them better opportunities. But there's a new definition today, one that is expected to change the nature...

Taxing Issues.
April 4, 2005... SUPREME COURT REQUIRES TAX COURT TO INCLUDE TRIAL JUDGES' REPORTS ON APPEAL: The Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision that the Tax Court may not exclude from the record on appeal Rule 183(b) reports submitted by special trial judges. The...

GAO and IRS supply ammo to PCAOB tax service limits.(General Accountability Office )( Internal Revenue Service )(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board )
April 4, 2005... The General Accountability Office and the Internal Revenue Service have added their own muscle to a Public Company Accounting Oversight Board proposal that would restrict the ability of accountants to provide tax services to audit clients. ...

Guidance available on new deferred compensation law.
April 4, 2005... The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 enacted Code Sec. 409A, which requires the current inclusion in income of deferred compensation that does not meet the new, more stringent requirements of Code Sec. 409A. The new provision is...

Change Of Auditors.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... CAMPBELL CANS PWC: Campbell Soup Co. dismissed Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers as auditor for its savings plans, according to a federal filing. The company, however, said that PwC would continue in its capacity as independent...

FASB moving ahead with massive GAAP codification.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles )
April 4, 2005... Norwalk, Conn. -- If you're a CPA, you've got a headache. In fact, you've probably got several headaches. One of them for sure is probably caused by the myriad jumbles of generally accepted accounting principles that can be found in a...

You say you don't like SOX? You're not supposed to!(Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
April 4, 2005... We have read and heard a few things from people who are in the throes of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The common theme runs something like this: "We're spending all this money and what are we getting in return?" While it's an...

PFP briefs.
April 4, 2005... HENSSLER ENTERS ACCOUNTING JOINT VENTURE: The Henssler Financial Group, a Kennesaw, Ga.-based concern, has formed a joint venture with the Atlanta-area accounting firm of Dickinson & DiLuzio to form a new accounting division of the firm -...

Benefits groups mobilizing to handle new rollover rules.
April 4, 2005... The Internal Revenue Service's new rules for qualified retirement plans went into effect on March 28, but the ripple effect from the rules has yet to play out. "We'll wait and see," said David Delgado, a partner at Crowe Chizek and...

Should your married clients file joint or separate returns?
April 4, 2005... With limited exceptions, the tax on married couples filing jointly usually has been lower than the combined tax on married couples filing separate returns. However, as a result of changes in the tax law that caused the end-point of the 15...

Tech Briefs.
April 4, 2005... PAISLEY UNVEILS INTEGRATION: Paisley Consulting, a provider of business accountability software, has launched The Paisley Solution, an integration of two Paisley products, including the new JavaScript-based AutoAudit, in an effort to ease the...

Online accounting: The wave of the future is still out at sea.
April 4, 2005... On-demand accounting software that is accessible without an in-house server may still be relatively young and growing, but as far as it being the wave of the future, don't get out your surfboards just yet, say users and consultants. Many...

Online pricing: For assorted vendors, based on monthly subscription services, unless noted.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... EPeachtree Best Software Single user - $44.97 quarterly; $149.88 yearly. Up to 10 users - $29.97 quarterly; $101.88 yearly. Payroll add-on - $29.97 quarterly; $95.88 yearly. Intacct On Demand Suite Intacct Includes...

Convergence 2005: Evolution versus revolution.
April 4, 2005... San Diego -- For many of the 5,000 or so attendees at Convergence 2005, it was not so much new technology or keynote speeches by titans such as Bill Gates, but the catch-phrase "evolution versus revolution" that circulated throughout the...

Soft skills can mean hard dollars for your firm.
April 4, 2005... When you mention "soft skills" training, many accountants roll their eyes and discount the importance of such efforts. This may appear to be a reasonable reaction, but is it good business? If you think for a moment, the answer is that it is...

People.
April 4, 2005... ARIZONA Steve Krell has joined Cold Stone Creamery, Scottsdale, as chief financial officer. A CPA, Krell was previously CFO of KnowledgeNet.... Sandra A. Abalos, managing partner of Abalos & Associates PC, Phoenix, has been named national...

Coming Events.
April 4, 2005... - APRIL - 4-5: Canadian Conference on IT Audit, Security and Governance, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, IIA Toronto Chapter and ISACA Toronto Chapter. Toronto. Contact: www.cica.ca/calendar. 5: Mastering QuickBooks...

Firms.
April 4, 2005... CALIFORIA Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt LLP will open an office in Pasadena with the addition of two partners in the firm's tax practice: Vicken M. Haleblian and Kevin A. Cordano. Both Haleblian and Cordano were previously partners at...

Software.
April 4, 2005... Salestax.com Sales taxes, which used to just be an annoyance at the register, are now poised to annoy you at work, too, with the onrushing final implementation date of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. This has sparked a great deal of...

Books.(Book Review)
April 4, 2005... Caveat vulpes The plight of the close to 20 million small business owners in America is often discussed: crushed by giant competitors like Wal-Mart, oppressed by government regulation and paperwork, struggling to make it from day to day....

Advertiser Index.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 4, 2005... Advertiser Page Best Software 8, 9 CCH Tax and Accounting 7, 32 Creative Solutions 2 Drake Software 23 Intuit Pro Series 11 ...

Charity Begins Where?
April 4, 2005... My first job out of college was working as an assistant to a very powerful literary agent. I studied both history and journalism in my undergraduate and graduate schools, and this first job was a feast for me because the office door was...

New Online Resource.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The AICPA has introduced a new online resource for its CPA financial planning community that offers CPAs access to a comprehensive library of tools and educational materials on a full range of financial planning areas, from disaster recovery...

Another Award for CFP.(Certified Financial Planner)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... For the second straight year, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has received a Special Award of Excellence from CPA Wealth Provider, as selected by the chief editors of Accounting Today, Practical Accountant, CPA Wealth...

Expanding Practice.(Singapore Post Private Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Insurance with Stamps Postal services provider Singapore Post is continuing its diversification into financial products and services. It has just signed an agreement to establish an exclusive life insurance distribution partnership with...

Managed Account Assets Up.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... According to the Money Management Institute, the separately managed account industry saw strong growth last year with assets under management growing by 15.9 percent to $576.1 billion. The Institute predicts that the number will reach $1.3...

Fidelity Introduces Market Index Pool.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... For those donors who prefer a custom approach, the Gift Fund is pleased has announced the addition of the Total Market Pool Index that provides another way to diversify the equity portion of the asset allocation mix recommended, and that may be...

Women Smarter?(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... When women decide to invest, they are often shrewder, have lower expectations, and are more receptive to advice about financial matters than men, says a TD Waterhouse investor survey out of Toronto. According to poll results, women appear to be...

A Marketing Force.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... New Clients, Inc., (NCI) a national marketing and consulting firm to accountants, and Padgett Business Services, one of the largest franchises of accounting services in North America, have announced an agreement whereby NCI will provide...

Merger in China.(Deloitte & Touche L.L.P. plans to merge with chinese accounting firms.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Deloitte plans to merge with top quality Chinese accounting firms this year to further localize itself and strengthen its position in the Chinese market, according to the Xinhua News Agency in Beijing. Peter Bowie, Deloitte China's chief...

High Net Worth Gets Bigger Stage.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... In New York City, Yohalem Gillman & Company and Anchin, Block & Anchin have merged their practices, producing a 300-person firm. The entity will operate under the name Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP. Managing partner James Anchin says that the...

Opening New Opportunities.(Grimaldi & Associates CPAs P.L.L.C. merges with Nelkin, Griesel & Graves.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Grimaldi & Associates and Nelkin, Griesel & Graves have combined to form Grimaldi & Nelkin Certified Public Accountants, PLLC, in Syracuse, N.Y. The two firms decided to merge to take advantage of business opportunities available to larger...

National Growth Envisioned.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Reznick Group, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, and Friduss, Lukee, Schiff & Co. of Chicago, will merge, with the combined firm operating under the Reznick Group name. Reznick's strategic plan was to become a top 10 firm with 10 offices in...

Increasing Fee-Based Revenues.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Compass Bancshares of Birmingham has acquired Houston-based Stavis, Margolis Advisory Services, a financial planning and investment advisory firm. SMA specializes in investment, estate, retirement, and business succession planning for high net...

Wealth Management Sub Formed.(Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... MCF Corporation, the parent company of Merriman Curhan Ford & Co, a securities broker-dealer and investment bank, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Catalyst Financial Planning & Investment Management, a fee-only registered investment...

Merger in New Jersey.(Gershon, Pierce, Lissak & Co)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Regional CPA and business advisory firm WithumSmith+Brown has merged with Morristown N.J.-based Gershon, Pierce, Lissak & Co. Gershon provides financial planning and tax compliance services, estate and trust administration, litigation support,...

Comparing Financial Data.(Creative Solutions Financial Analysis Solution )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Creative Solutions' Financial Analysis Solution enables accountants to compare the financial data of two or more of their clients' businesses. Accountants can benchmark their clients' financial position in relation to other similar companies...

Estate-Planning Features.(Profiles+ Professional version 7.5)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Profiles+ Professional version 7.5 boasts advanced estate-planning features. It gives providers the ability to calculate multifaceted estate modeling scenarios.The analysis and concepts are also presented in a format that customers can...

Practice Builder.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... A complete client relationship management package, Practice Builder Financial incorporates a contact manager, automated marketing, practice management tools, financial planning aids, and Text Library Systems' Resource Library of letters,...

Allocation Flexibility.(Advent Partner version 4.2)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Advent Partner version 4.2 creates efficiencies in partnership accounting process by automating several tasks. These include the reallocation of profit for the performance incentive fee, and allocation of realized gains and losses for tax...

Portfolio Tracking.(MyStockOption.com )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... MyStockOption.com has built online calculators and portfolio-tracker for employees whose compensation includes restricted stock and restricted stock units. MyRecords has its own presentation alongside the record-keeper for stock options,...

Andersen Into Supreme Court.(Arthur Andersen L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Arthur Andersen LLP will get a U.S. Supreme Court hearing as it looks to overturn its conviction for obstructing the government's Enron investigation. The justices agreed to review an appeals court decision upholding the conviction, which...

Warning Raised.(by Financial Services Authority )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... In London, the Financial Services Authority has warned British financial groups that it could face significant risks from the volume of regulation by international bodies, particularly the European Union. It says that firms failing to apply...

Options Expensing Guidance Coming?(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The SEC's chief accountant says that while he fully supports the FASB decision to require stock option expensing, the agency may have to issue guidance to aid compliance. Speaking to reporters at a recent internal controls conference, Don...

More Time for Audit Rule Proposed.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... SEC Chairman William Donaldson says that the agency may give non-U.S. companies more time to certify that their internal financial controls are in order. He notes that foreign companies and their U.S. counterparts, have complained the...

Cutting Tax on Share Transactions.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Financial Times in Shanghai reports that the government has announced a new cut on share transactions tax to try and boost investor sentiment. Analysts say that market's performance is hampering efforts to build a strong domestic capital...

Rule on Gifts and Gratuities.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has proposed to the SEC a rule to amend regulations regarding gifts and gratuities, with the goal of having them conform to the National Association of Securities Dealers standards. The MSRB...

Uniform Regulations Nationwide.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Financial Planning Association is pushing to have more uniform regulations for advisors and their branches throughout the country. At least five states have introduced versions of the Uniform Securities Act, a law to keep intermediary...

Real-Time Price Transparency.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... SEC Chairman William Donaldson has commended the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for its implementation of real-time price transparency. He says that for the first time, "investors will have ready access to real-time price data for...

"Practice Made Perfect".(designed to help investment advisors )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... That's the title of the new book by Mark Tibergien and Rebecca Pomering (Bloomberg Press) that answers some of the biggest practice-management challenges including not making enough money for their effort, not having enough time to manage and...

Wooing Planners.(MLC Advice Solutions)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The National Australia Bank's financial planning arm, MLC Advice Solutions, has targeted independent advisors with the intention of bringing them into the MLC camp. The bank is offering transition packages giving advisors access to marketing...

Strategic Priorities for 2005.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The Financial Planning Association has revealed its strategic priorities for this year that includes helping its members improve their professionalism, increasing the awareness of the CFP certification, strengthening chapter structure, and...

IRA Beneficiaries Guide.(Individual Retirement accounts)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... T. Rowe Price has developed a new guide to help beneficiaries better understand their distribution options, legal obligations, and deadlines when inheriting assets from a traditional IRA, SEP-IRA, Simple IRA, or 403(b) account. It is free and...

Practice Management Needed.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... More than 90 percent of advisors in Australia view practice management as very important, with 44 percent spending at least 10 hours per month on practice management development. The results are revealed from a MLC national survey of 600...

New Firm Using CPAs.(H and R Block Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... H&R Block says that it is launching a nationwide business employing CPAs to meet the tax, financial, and business services needs of small business owners in the U.S. It will be known as H&R Block Small Business Resources and over the next five...

Two in a Row for Vest.(CPA Wealth Provider Financial Planning Award of Excellence to H.D. Vest Advisory Services Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... H.D. Vest Financial Services picked up its second straight CPA Wealth Provider Financial Planning Award of Excellence for its support of tax professionals who have added financial planning to their practices. Vest was the company cited for...

Next-Generation Investment Research from Morningstar.(Morningstar DirectSM)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Morningstar, Inc., has introduced Morningstar DirectSM, a Web-based global research platform that connects institutional investment professionals throughout the world with Morningstar's database and research. It is being rolled out through...

TA Platform Gives CPAs Independence.(Trust Advisors)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Trust Advisors has a platform that allows CPAs to maintain their independence. The model is composed of comprehensive financial planning so that localized financial professionals are available nationwide to partner with CPAs. Trusted Advisors,...

Building Partnerships to Grow Business.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Linsco/Private Ledger (LPL) has a partners program that offers CPAs the ability to transform their practices into full-service financial firms. By forming a strategic alliance with LPL and an experienced LPL investment representative, the firm...

Taking Financial Planning to New Heights.(Bernard M. Kiely )
April 4, 2005... Bernard M. Kiely is the founder and owner of Kiely Capital Management, Inc. in Morristown, N.J., a fee-only investment management and financial planning firm. However, go to any financial planning conference and mention the name and you will be...

Adding Financial Services to Your Practice.
April 4, 2005... Either you have decided to offer financial services to your clients or you want to grow the talent pool of your existing financial services practice. Should you acquire a firm that already offers those services to accomplish that goal? ...

How Successful are CPAs Offering Investments?
April 4, 2005... Tiburon Strategic Advisors, a market research and strategy-consulting firm based in Tiburon, Calif., and serving the brokerage and investment management industry, has recently released a new research report on the CPA industry. According...

About Tiburon.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The company was formed in 1998 to offer market research and strategy consulting services to all types of financial institutions and investment managers. It has served more than 250 corporate clients and completed more than 600 projects since...

Gift Now or Pay Later.
April 4, 2005... Inviting your clients to consider a gifting program means more than generating additional revenues for your firm. A gifting program takes you beyond serving clients more fully. At its core, the development and fulfillment of a comprehensive...

Weighing Your Options in Foreign Stocks.
April 4, 2005... A lack of enthusiasm for domestic investments in the current economic situation may force some to search abroad for higher returns. But foreign stock purchases can be complicated due to currency conversions, the lack of financial reports from...

Putting It All Together.(LaserFiche Document Imaging)
April 4, 2005... Paper could be cluttering, confusing, and costing your business more than you think, says Jeffrey Green, national director of compliance solutions for financial services at Long Beach, Calif.-based Laserfiche, the document management company....

Athletes vs. Investment Managers.
April 4, 2005... Most sporting events, or other forms of competition (e.g., a chess match, a game of checkers or bridge), are what are known as zero sum games-for every winner, there is a loser. In addition, in most forms of competition, even small advantages...