Accounting Today articles from August 2004

Accounting Today archives from August 2004

PCAOB reopens tax services debate.(Public Company Accounting Oversight Board)
August 9, 2004... The right of accounting firms to offer tax services to audit clients - an issue that Congress effectively ducked in drafting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - is back under active debate in Washington by rulemakers at the Public Company Accounting...

Options debate rages on: House passes Baker bill.
August 9, 2004... With an ominous backdrop of politics seeping into accounting standards, lawmakers last month sided with many of the top tech companies and special interest groups by passing a bill that mutes the requirements for expensing stock options. ...

OIC program still 'compromised'.
August 9, 2004... The Internal Revenue Service continues to have difficulty in administering the Offer-in-Compromise program, charged National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson in her Fiscal Year 2005 Objectives Report to Congress. "This is due, in part, to the...

Permanent data protection.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Firewalls and password security are important while you're using your computer - but what about when you're finished with it? As PC prices drop and computers are replaced more frequently, it becomes all the more important to make sure that...

AICPA survey to study Little GAAP.(Generally accepted accounting principles)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... The American Institute of CPAs has launched a Web-based survey to poll the stakeholders of private company financial reporting to determine if general purpose financial statements prepared for private companies' stakeholders are meeting their...

E&Y settles Medicare case for $1.5M.(Ernst & Young L.L.P.)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Ernst & Young agreed to pay the government $1.5 million to settle claims that the Big Four firm provided improper advice that caused nine hospitals to submit false Medicare claims for outpatient clinical laboratory tests. The complaint...

Cos. struggle to meet 404 deadline.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... The majority of senior executives say that their company must make improvements in order to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, with financial processes and computer controls topping the list of areas in need of remediation,...

IRS reveals new strategic plan.(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... The Internal Revenue Service has unveiled an updated strategic plan that focuses on three broad goals for the agency through 2009: improved service to taxpayers, enhanced enforcement of the tax laws, and modernized business processes and...

Electronic filing fraud: Latest tax scam's got legs.
August 9, 2004... Identity theft. Stolen Social Security numbers. Falsified W-2 forms. These are the tools of the fraudulent e-filers. These are "taxpayers" who electronically file fake tax returns asking for refunds to which they're not entitled, so that they...

A conversation with Sally Glick: AAM prez has spent her whole career in accounting marketing.(Interview)
August 9, 2004... Sally Glick is currently the president of the Association for Accounting Marketing and chief marketing officer for Roseland, N.J.-based J.H. Cohn, one of the 25 largest firms in the country. In a candid conversation, she discussed how the...

All systems are go for new Schedule M-3 to Form 1120.
August 9, 2004... In January, the Internal Revenue Service announced plans for a new schedule to accompany the Form 1120, U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return. Schedule M-3, Net Income (Loss) Reconciliation for Corporations with Total Assets of $10 Million or...

New regulations are causing new headaches for planners.
August 9, 2004... Investment advisors find themselves on the wagging end of the dog in the new regulatory environment. Between the accounting and investment scandals, the agencies charged with protecting investors have been working overtime. The resulting...

Credentials.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... AICPA - www.aicpa.org The American Institute of CPAs is making a big push to draw members to its three designations - the Accredited in Business Valuation credential, the Certified Information Technology Professional credential, and the...

Footnotes.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... ADP PARTNERS FOR CHARITY 5K: Payroll services and benefits provider ADP recently teamed with the Essex Chapter of the New Jersey Society of CPAs to host the 13th Annual CPA 5K Race, in Roseland, N.J. Approximately 500 runners participated,...

Widening the GAAP.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles)
August 9, 2004... Until the recent resurrection of the "Big GAAP-Little GAAP" debate, my sole experience with "differential standards" was the 50 cents more per hour they paid me at my first newspaper job for working nights. So for the privilege of slogging...

A demographic tidal wave.
August 9, 2004... One of the popular movies released earlier this summer was "The Day After Tomorrow," which generated both interest and controversy with its theme of dramatic climate change. While the science behind the movie was subject to debate, those...

Opinion: Letters: Baker response to Jay Nisberg commentary.
August 9, 2004... Thank you for your letter (Accounting Today, July 26-Aug. 8, 2004, p. 6) and for reading my article ("The diffusion of a new idea," Accounting Today, June 21-July 11, 2004, p. 9). The intent was to begin a dialogue with the supposed "change...

Salt Lake City firms to merge.(Karren Hendrix & Associates)(Stagg & Associates)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Local firms Stagg & Associates and Karren Hendrix & Associates have merged their practices, effective Aug. 1. The combined entity will operate as Karren, Hendrix, Stagg, Allen & Co., with six shareholders, 29 employees and revenue of about...

The eternal riddle of being an effective leader.
August 9, 2004... Few, if any of us, are natural-born leaders. And while many want to be leaders, few become effective ones. Leaders are shaped by their experiences and continue to grow and develop throughout their lifetime. Winston Churchill became a great...

Taxing Issues.
August 9, 2004... AICPA SUPPORTS PREPARER REGISTRATION, WITH RESERVATIONS: While the American Institute of CPAs supports the concept of tax preparer regulation, it raised some public policy and drafting concerns about the registration proposal in S. 882 (H.R....

After 120 years, EAs finally are getting a little respect.(enrolled agents)
August 9, 2004... The complaint by enrolled agents that they're not getting the respect they deserve is heard less these days, as two provisions in pending legislation promise to raise the standards for commercial tax return preparers who are not attorneys, CPAs...

Exempt organizations get increased agency attention.(Column)
August 9, 2004... A number of high-profile tax issues attracting the attention of the Internal Revenue Service, the Congress and the media over the last couple of years have involved exempt organizations. In the IRS's focus on tax shelters, some of the...

Edwards may shift Kerry to left on taxes.(John Edwards, John F. Kerry)
August 9, 2004... Although his views on tax policy are already on the left end of the political spectrum, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry could find himself nudged even further in that direction by his running mate, North Carolina Senator John...

Change of Auditors.
August 9, 2004... GARDENBURGER RETAINS BDO: Gardenburger Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of meat alternative products such as veggie burgers, hired BDO Seidman as its independent accountant, according to a federal filing. BDO succeeds Big Four firm KPMG as...

The audit conundrum: Did the tick ruin a profession?
August 9, 2004... Was Everett Delaney right when he told me in 1976 on my first accounting job that it was time to secede from the American Institute of CPAs? You see, we had gotten into an argument of sorts, me the greenhorn aspiring CPA, and he the...

FASB: A good fight - but not a good answer!(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
August 9, 2004... Note: This column reproduces our comment letter to the Financial Accounting Standards Board on its exposure draft concerning stock options. You'll see that it refers to a much longer analysis of the issues that we sent to the board nearly a...

The clock is ticking for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
August 9, 2004... Many companies are aggressively documenting, assessing and testing their internal controls for financial reporting and disclosure to ensure compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Even companies that are not required...

PFP Briefs.(Personal Financial Planner)
August 9, 2004... STUDY SAYS TECH FIRMS SLASH OPTION GRANTS: The high-tech industry has decreased its use of broad-based stock option grants by approximately 15 percent to 20 percent, according to two studies by Mellon Financial Corp.'s Human Resources &...

CFOs weigh in on economy, outsourcing, Bush vs. Kerry.(George W. Bush, John F. Kerry)
August 9, 2004... With the 2004 election just three months away and campaign promises popping up more frequently than summer barbecues, chief financial officers polled by Financial Executives International indicated that incumbent George W. Bush ranked ahead of...

Tax treatment for different types of settlement awards.
August 9, 2004... In a new publication (Publication 4345), the Internal Revenue Service explains the tax treatment of cash settlement awards. To help practitioners with clients who have received or are negotiating settlements, this article discusses the rules...

Checkpoint adds real-time access.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... RIA has added SECPlus and RIA Tax Alerts to its Checkpoint software. SECPlus is an online research product that provides access to selected Securities and Exchange Commission filings. It includes interactive links to relevant source...

Tech Briefs.(products, news)
August 9, 2004... STUDY SAYS 2004 TO SEE SURGE IN IT UPGRADES: Nearly eight of 10 businesses polled in a recent survey by information technology consultant and researcher Yankee Group said that they will have undertaken a major software upgrade by the end of...

XBRL gains ground abroad; growth here is more modest.
August 9, 2004... While XBRL continues to wend its way through the European Union and other parts of the world, the Internet business reporting language has carved out more modest progress on domestic fronts. As an example of its growing presence overseas,...

Finding out what knowledge management is - and isn't.
August 9, 2004... Knowledge management has been a hot topic for some time now. However, many firms have placed this initiative on the back burner due to the financial costs or the time commitment required for the major cultural change that accompanies the...

Choices for payroll software run the gamut.(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 9, 2004... Payroll is the one application where many clients are unhappy with all of the alternatives. That's not because the choices are poor or sparse - there are plenty, from inexpensive in-house solutions to robust service bureaus. The reason so...

Vendor contact information.(Brief Article)(Directory)
August 9, 2004... Accpac Simply Accounting Payroll 2004 Accpac International Inc. 6700 Koll Center Pkwy. Pleasanton, Calif. 94566 (800) 808-7000 www.accpac.com Pricing: $79. Abra Payroll 7.32 Best Software Inc. 888 Executive...

To CAATch a thief: Use software to fight fraud.(computer-assisted audit tools)
August 9, 2004... In its "Report to the Nation" on fraud and white-collar crime, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimated that 6 percent of revenue was lost in 2002 as a result of occupational fraud, which includes corruption, asset...

Software.
August 9, 2004... Accpac Faxserve Accpac has released a major upgrade of its Accpac Faxserve product for fax management. Version 7.0 offers usability enhancements and improvements to administration features to help users send, receive and manage faxes...

Books.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 9, 2004... Doing good and well With the scandals of the past few years, it's no surprise that a recent documentary portrayed the essential personality of the corporation as more or less sociopathic. The question is, how do you prove that your...

People.(appointments, awards)
August 9, 2004... Alabama Ralph Q. Summerford, president of Summerford Accountancy PC, Birmingham, is a finalist for the 2004 Executive of the Year Award of the Birmingham Business Journal. Arizona Sandra A. Abalos, managing partner of Abalos &...

Firms.(company news)
August 9, 2004... Arizona Abalos & Associates PC, Phoenix, has been named to the AthenaPowerLink Program, a mentoring project that links women-owned businesses with a volunteer panel of advisors to educate business owners on networking, accessing capital...

Coming Events.(Calendar)
August 9, 2004... AUGUST 9: Government Accounting & Auditing, PPC-Bell Learning. Cleveland. Contact: www.bellcpe.com or (800) 548-1551. 9-14: Business Valuation Training Center & CVA/AVA Proctored Exam, National Association of Certified Valuation...

Advertising Index.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
August 9, 2004... Advertiser Page 1st Global 0.19 AccountantsWorld 0.39 ADP 9 Best Software 16 CaseWare 12 ...

Editors' Note: Follow the Money...Again.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
August 9, 2004... This time of year, the only thing SOX-related to come out of Boston should be referring to Pedro Martinez and how the Red Sox are doing in the America League East. But the SOX coming out of Boston now refers to Sarbanes/Oxley since the Boston...

Audits, Standards, and Integrity in Nonprofit Organizations.
August 9, 2004... Today's financial press continues to be filled with articles on business failures and restatements of prior-period financial data, as well as allegations of management improprieties and even outright fraud. Of course, it can be argued that this...

Need for Greater Oversight.(nonprofit organizations)
August 9, 2004... Recent media coverage of questionable practices at some not-for-profit ("NFP") organizations has raised public concerns as to whether the problems uncovered in those NFPs are indicative of issues that may have yet to be discovered at other...

Products to Help Prevent Embarrassing Mistakes.(PPC Nonprofit Products )
August 9, 2004... I recently returned from the AICPA's National Not-for-Profit Conference in Washington, D.C.," says Steve Eason, executive editor, PPC Nonprofit Products (Fort Worth, Texas). "It was clear by some of the sessions at the conference that the...

A Winner in Many Ways.(Cougar Mountain Software)(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Cougar Mountain Software started winning industry coveted awards for its FUND accounting software in 1982 and their compliance to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) as mandated by FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) has...

The Time is Now.(Tax Economics of Charitable Giving)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
August 9, 2004... Current low interest rates have generated a substantial amount of interest in the use of charitable lead trusts. In a low interest rate environment, it is possible to shift substantial wealth to future generations with very attractive tax...

Lifetime Deferred Giving.(Brief Article)
August 9, 2004... Charitable giving has long been a vital part of wealth management. Americans contributed $212 billion to charity in 2001, $2 billion more than the previous year. While the humanitarian and moral aspects of private philanthropy always have been...

No Longer Hostages.(AccuFund)
August 9, 2004... AccuFund, based in Needham, Mass., specializes in affordable, powerful, and flexible financial reporting and accounting software for nonprofit and government organizations. Its fund accounting suite is designed specifically for nonprofit...

Unparalleled Auditability.
August 9, 2004... Serenic Software, Inc. of Lakewood Colorado, offers a software solution for not-for-profits that meets their needs for cleaner audits, comprehensive "tier-1" functionality, user satisfaction and truly unbeatable cost of ownership. The flagship...

IRS, union vie over agents' education.(Internal Revenue Service )
August 23, 2004... The Internal Revenue Service vowed to appeal a decision by a federal arbitrator that the agency cannot raise the accounting qualifications for newly hired revenue agents from 24 to 30 hours. "To protect the public's interest, American...

Issues still dog tax preparation ASPs.(Application Service Provider)
August 23, 2004... The tax prep application service provider juggernaut has slowed considerably during the past several years, as software providers decline to allocate resources to technology that still isn't in great demand. "There isn't a significant...

Nonprofits balk at auditing proposal.
August 23, 2004... A new congressional plan to impose tougher auditing requirements on public charities and other tax-exempt organizations is drawing sharp objections from the nonprofit community and from the accountants who audit their financial records. A...

A spam reminder.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... With spam an ever-growing nuisance, it never hurts to go over the basics of protecting yourself: * Do not respond to suspicious spammed e-mails. A response only confirms the accuracy of your address. * If you are suspicious, do not...

IRS board: Strengthen enforcement.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... While the Internal Revenue Service has improved in its assistance programs, its enforcement program remains woefully underfunded and undermanned, according to the annual report released by the IRS Oversight Board. The report said that the...

Witt Mares, PKF Mid-Atlantic merge.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... Witt Mares, one of the largest CPA firms in Virginia, has merged with regional accounting and consulting firm Pannell Kerr Forster Mid-Atlantic PC. The union gives Witt Mares a total of 26 partners, 80 professionals and more than 200...

CA nominates Unger to board.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... Troubled Computer Associates International Inc., which dismissed 14 executives in the aftermath of a $2.2 billion accounting scandal, nominated former Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner Laura Unger to its board. Unger, who...

GAO: Share info, protect consumers.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... Better sharing of information among financial services regulators could improve protections for consumers and investors, according to the recently renamed Government Accountability Office (formerly the General Accounting Office). The...

Grant Thornton to settle MCA audit case for $1.5M.
August 23, 2004... Top-tier CPA and consulting firm Grant Thornton agreed to pay $1.5 million and implement a systemwide fraud-training program to settle charges of securites violations related to the firm's audit of now-collapsed mortgage banker MCA Corp. ...

Brussels inches forward on fudged acc'ting standards.
August 23, 2004... The Europe Union's agonizing over international accounting standards continues, with the most likely outcome now emerging as one unified set of rules applying to all of the EU's 7,000 listed companies from Jan. 1, 2005. The package will,...

IRS issues software expensing regs.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed and temporary regulations relating to the election to deduct the cost of certain tangible property and computer software. The regulations reflect changes to the law made by the Jobs and Growth...

The internet made easy.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... * Adobe Systems Inc. - www.adobe.com Go here to download a free Acrobat Reader, so you can view and print the PDF files that are more and more becoming the method of choice for distributing documents on the Internet. * BugNet -...

Footnotes.(New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants)(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... CARR, RIGGS & INGRAM PARTNER DONATES $500K: Steve Riggs, a partner in the Florida firm of Carr, Riggs & Ingram, and his family have donated half a million dollars to help build a stadium at the local high school. Riggs was a member of the...

EITF proposes to change the accounting for CoCos.(Emerging Issues Task Force)(Contingently Convertible financial instruments)
August 23, 2004... The Emerging Issues Task Force of the Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposal that would change the accounting for contingently convertible financial instruments. These are the bonds affectionately known as "CoCos." ...

FASB assessing benefits on unremitted foreign earnings.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
August 23, 2004... It's far from decided, but the Financial Accounting Standards Board is looking into the practical and cost-benefit considerations of requiring U.S.-based multinational companies to record deferred tax liabilities on profits that are earned...

Congress' toolbox.
August 23, 2004... When I was young and rather simpleminded - if you'll pardon the obvious redundancy - I attempted one Saturday afternoon to help my father put up wall paneling. For some unknown reason, I grabbed a heavy screwdriver out of the toolbox and...

Commentary: Financial literacy - a gulf of misunderstanding.
August 23, 2004... The American Institute of CPAs recently launched an extensive program to promote financial literacy. This is a commendable effort and should apply to all consumers and producers of financial statements, from shareholders of Fortune 500...

Opportunity in a multi-provider environment.
August 23, 2004... For decades, a simple, one-to-one relationship existed between the CPA firm and its clients. Now, Sarbanes-Oxley has changed the landscape, potentially pairing a single client with multiple providers. Although the legislation chiefly...

Taxing Issues.
August 23, 2004... NEW TAXPAYER ACCOUNT, PROCESSING SYSTEM DEBUTS: A modernized system designed to replace the Internal Revenue Service central database of taxpayer account information has processed its first live returns, the IRS announced. The Customer...

IRS strategic plan: Service, compliance, modernization.
August 23, 2004... The Internal Revenue Service has unveiled an updated strategic plan that outlines three broad goals for the agency through 2009: improved service to taxpayers, enhanced enforcement of the tax laws, and modernized business processes and...

IRS pushback on like-kind exchanges alters planning.(Internal Revenue Service)
August 23, 2004... Like-kind exchanges have come a long way over the years, from simple swaps of one business or investment property for another, to forward exchanges, reverse "Starker" exchanges, and even four-way exchanges, with or without cashouts. They...

Justice sues East Cleveland tax preparer.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to stop an East Cleveland tax return preparer from preparing federal tax returns and from promoting an alleged tax scheme that omits wages from taxpayers' returns. The lawsuit also seeks an...

Founder Schwab back in charge.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... After announcing a 10 percent drop in earnings for the second quarter, discount brokerage Charles Schwab said that chief executive David S. Pottruck would be stepping aside in favor of company founder and chairman Charles R. Schwab. ...

Change Of Auditors.
August 23, 2004... SAVON TAPS BDO SEIDMAN: Savon Team Sports Inc., a Culver City, Calif.-based concern, hired national firm BDO Seidman as its auditor, after dismissing incumbent HJ & Associates. According to a federal filing, there were no disagreements...

FASB considers next move to principles-based acc'ting.
August 23, 2004... The Securities and Exchange Commission has spoken, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has listened, and the shift to principles-based accounting standards is about to take a stride forward. FASB's conceptual framework is the focal...

Members of Congress are flinging bull - again.
August 23, 2004... Back in April 2003, we published a column that roundly condemned members of Congress who were pressuring the Financial Accounting Standards Board to not move ahead with its proposal to expense the initial cost of options. Now, in a bold...

Intuit unveils advisor council.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... As part of its ongoing strategy to service the CPA channel, Intuit Inc. has unveiled a new and integrated Accountant and Advisor Customer Council for Intuit Inc., 2004-2005. Building on Intuit's previous product-focused customer advisory...

Axena rolls out new version of SOX product.(Brief Article)
August 23, 2004... Business governance solutions provider Axena Inc. has rolled out the latest version of its Web-based Sarbanes-Oxley compliance solution, SOAx Toolkit 4.0. The SOAx Toolkit aims to help corporations address the requirements of SOX Sections...

PFP briefs.(financial services brief)
August 23, 2004... GENWORTH COMPLETES HOCHMAN & BAKER INTEGRATION: Genworth Financial, a global insurance and financial services concern, said that it has completed the integration of Hochman & Baker Securities into Terra Securities Corp., its broker/dealer unit....

Advisors and accountants: Still working well together?
August 23, 2004... Both the financial advisory services and accounting industries continue to undergo significant change. Product delivery models for the financial services product manufacturers and distributors are going through major evaluation and...

Tax factors in acquiring a new business automobile.
August 23, 2004... If your client is planning to buy a new business automobile, she must decide whether to trade in the old business auto or to sell it and use the sale proceeds to pay part of the price of the new auto. While you would expect that making this...

Tech Briefs.(RIA)(Altara)
August 23, 2004... RIA ENHANCES CHECKPOINT: RIA, a provider of high-end tax research and compliance software and products, has added a series of upgrades to its Checkpoint online platform. The company, a Thomson business, said that a sampling of the new...