Accounting Today articles from August 2008

Accounting Today archives from August 2008

They're retired - now what?
August 4, 2008... Retirement management may be a classic win-win scenario. A fast-growing segment of the population urgently needs sound retirement advice and related services, while the accountants who provide them can derive considerable economic (and...

U.S. tax reformers need to think globally.
August 4, 2008... Whether John McCain or Barack Obama becomes the countrys next chief executive, they will need to look not only at tax reform, but international tax reform early in their administration. We may find it wise to get to [international] tax...

SEC committee drafts reporting improvements.(Securities and Exchange Commissions)
August 4, 2008... Washington, D.C. -- The Securities and Exchange Commissions Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting has released a draft of its final report. The draft report updates a progress report released in February. Among the...

New fund directive gets EU's 'Irish' up.(European Union)
August 4, 2008... Brussels -- The fourth stage of the pending UCITS directives, which sought to introduce a complete passport allowing fund managers based in one European Union member state to run and trade funds in another in a pan-European format, has been...

Mitchell & Titus taps Kendall as CEO.(Mitchell & Titus' new chief executive officer Anthony S. Kendall)(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... New York -- Mitchell & Titus, the largest minority-owned accounting firm in the U.S., has named Anthony S. Kendall as its new chief executive. He will succeed founder Bert N. Mitchell, who will retire at the end of this year after leading the...

GASB requires fair value reporting of derivatives.(Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
August 4, 2008... Norwalk, Conn. -- In a time of volatile energy prices and economic uncertainty, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued a standard that should allow state and local governments to more easily use derivative financial instruments...

In Brief.
August 4, 2008... TAXPAYER ADVOCATE TO FOCUS ON ID THEFT Washington, D.C. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson has released a report outlining her offices priorities for the coming fiscal year, including improving Internal Revenue Service procedures to...

Editor's Desk: Another rough patch.(Column)
August 4, 2008... While in college, my primary means of transportation was an olive-green Ford LTD, an oversized and austere sedan more suited to transporting a family of five than a student attempting to wangle a date or two with available coeds. While the car...

LETTERS: Questioning big firms' ethics.
August 4, 2008... I read with interest Cynthia Fornellis letter in Accounting Today (No lack of ethics at big firms, July 7-20, 2008, page 6). There are two worlds in the accountancy profession. There are big firms and independent firms. The ethics practiced...

Challenges remain for women of color in acctg.: Lack of role models and professional development cited in study.
August 4, 2008... New York -- The door to the proverbial Boys Club may have been cracked ajar, but theres still some heavy pushing to do to get it wide open particularly for women of color. That was the overwhelming consensus of Women of Color in...

ETAAC, IRS Oversight Board weigh in on e-file progress.(Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee)
August 4, 2008... The 80 percent e-file goal, in place since it was proposed in the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, was a major contributing factor to the growth in electronic filing, despite the fact that it fell short of the 2007 deadline, according...

In Brief.
August 4, 2008... WRONG CALCULATIONS MAY AFFECT STIMULUS PAYMENTS Washington, D.C. Calculations of economic stimulus payments by the Internal Revenue Service may have been wrong in nearly 400,000 cases. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration...

Tax Strategy: Tax planning in a troubled economy.
August 4, 2008... One of the advantages of the complexity brought on by social engineering in the Tax Code is that, when personal circumstances change and times get rough, there are usually some provisions in the code that come into play to provide a bit of tax...

10 steps to effective co-sourcing of internal audits: From The Institute of Internal Auditors.
August 4, 2008... Many aspects of business organizations today are challenged to do more with less, and the internal audit activity is no exception. As executive management and boards are increasingly recognizing the criticality of managing risks throughout...

Change of Auditors.
August 4, 2008... MAXXAM JETTISONS DELOITTE Real estate investment and forest products concern Maxxam Inc. has dismissed its auditor, Big Four firm Deloitte, and named Grant Thornton as its new independent accountant. In a federal filing, the...

The Spirit Of Accounting: Mythbusters: At least costs are reliable (not!).(Column)
August 4, 2008... This fourth of four columns on mythbusting is aimed at an old chestnut that has been repeated so often that virtually no one ever casts a wary eye in its direction. Here is a quote from a standard intermediate textbook (italics in the...

In Brief.(Brief article)
August 4, 2008... JUDGE ORDERS IRS TO TURN OVER AGENCY STATISTICS Seattle A judge has ruled against the Internal Revenue Service in a Freedom of Information Act case, telling the agency to stop defying her previous orders and turn over statistical...

Be your own life settlement broker.
August 4, 2008... As the life settlement industry grows at an accelerating pace, an increasing number of life insurance producers are opting to transact directly with life settlement providers companies that actively purchase life insurance policies in the...

In Brief.
August 4, 2008... CFP BOARD DELAYS NEW STANDARDS The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has established a Jan. 1, 2009, enforcement date for its revised Standards of Professional Conduct, allowing members more leeway before enforcement takes...

Software Review: Torrid competition heats up payroll market.(Product/service evaluation)
August 4, 2008... Payroll is becoming a seminal battleground in accounting software, with more than a dozen major companies offering a variety of programs. And that doesnt begin to measure new competition from banks and other financial services firms. Nor...

In Brief.
August 4, 2008... INTUIT TO CUT JOBS Intuit plans to eliminate about 7 percent of its workforce as it realigns its organizational structure to pursue a oconnected serviceso strategy. The move will lead to approximately 575 job cuts across various business...

Boomer's Blueprint: Trust - the confidence to change.
August 4, 2008... Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch said this about trust: You know it when you feel it. Trust is equivalent to confidence, and is critical to learning and change. By building trust, projects take less time, are less disruptive and more...

New Products.
August 4, 2008... Software & Equipment WHERE CREDIT IS DUE We here at New Products once wore lab coats to work every day for a year, under the assumption that that would qualify any work we did for the research and development tax credit. (We were...

People.
August 4, 2008... ALABAMA David Brown, a senior accountant at Barfield Murphy Shank & Smith, Birmingham, has received a Public Service Award from the Alabama Society of CPAs, while founding shareholder John Shank has been elected secretary/treasurer of the...

Firms.
August 4, 2008... ALABAMA Barfield Murphy Shank & Smith, Birmingham, received the 2008 Best in Business Award from the Birmingham Business Journal.... Morrison & Smith LLP, Tuscaloosa, has joined Enterprise Network Worldwide. CALIFORNIA Hood &...

Firms.(The Association of Accounting Marketing)
August 4, 2008... AAM HONORS MARKETING MASTERS San Diego The Association of Accounting Marketing presented awards to 45 accounting firms and marketers at its annual conference, held here in June. Rene Stranghoner, director of practice growth at Weaver...

Coming Events.
August 4, 2008... AUGUST 4-5: Texas State Taxation Conference, Texas Society of CPAs. Omni Southpark, Austin, Texas. Contact: (800) 428-0272 or www.tscpa.org. 4-6: Fraud Prevention/E-Fraud, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Sheraton University...

Advertiser Index.
August 4, 2008... Advertiser Page 1st Global 17 AccountantsWorld 31 ADP Small Business Services 7 CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business 32 Genworth Financial 9 ...

Standard-Setting: Convergence is coming!: But the timeline is uncertain, and the profession needs to do more to get ready.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and International Financial Reporting Standards)
August 18, 2008... Two years ago, Bob Bunting saw the writing on the wall for U.S. GAAP. As former chief executive and chairman of super-regional firm Moss Adams LLP, Bunting established resources to prepare for the reality of International Financial...

Cost, complexity clog FIN 48 compliance.
August 18, 2008... A company may take a position on its tax return in good faith, but due to the complexities of tax law, its never a sure thing that it will be sustained. The now two-year-old FASB Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income...

Litigation Support: Litigation support is booming: Demand is soaring for CPAs as expert witnesses.
August 18, 2008... Stefano Vranca, a principal at Rothstein Kasss Beverly Hills, Calif., office, sees lawsuits in the entertainment industry up close. As head of the firms litigation and forensics practice, he often handles royalty reviews and negotiations...

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 18, 2008... Due to a technological glitch, the entry-level software review that appeared in the July 7-20, 2008, issue of Accounting Today (page 20) was an outdated version. The updated review is available online under the Accounting Today link at...

J.H. Cohn merges in Frederic Kantor.(Frederic Kantor & Co.)(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... New York -- Accounting firm J.H. Cohn has combined practices with Frederic Kantor & Co., a Manhattan-based accounting firm serving high-net-worth individuals and families in entertainment and the creative arts. The merger came on the heels...

Block appoints new CEO: McDonald's vet to take the helm.
August 18, 2008... Kansas City, Mo. -- H&R Block ended an eight-month search to fill its president and chief executive posts as the tax-prep giant, headquartered here, appointed former McDonalds Corp. executive Russ Smyth to those positions. Smyth, who...

GAO report details lax security at taxpayer centers.(Government Accountability Office)
August 18, 2008... Washington, D.C. -- Congressional auditors have uncovered a series of security breaches at the Internal Revenue Service that may jeopardize taxpayer funds, the privacy of IRS records, and the physical safety of employees at the tax service. ...

In Brief.
August 18, 2008... IRS STEPS UP ENFORCEMENT Washington, D.C. The Internal Revenue Services Criminal Investigation Division increased its enforcement activities last fiscal year after they fell behind in fiscal 2006, according to a new report. The Treasury...

Editor's Desk: Check please!(Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae)
August 18, 2008... In a classic marx brothers scene from A Night at the Opera, Groucho is dining at a high-end establishment with Margaret Dumont, the heavyset woman who was frequently at the wrong end of his constant barbs. When the waiter brings the check,...

COMMENTARY: CPAs I have known - Pt. 9.(James Needham)
August 18, 2008... This writer has seldom witnessed so meteoric an ascent to fame as that of James Needham, first to the Securities and Exchange Commission and then as chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Jim was a pleasant, always-smiling CPA with an...

Olson to take on ISO-AMT, taxpayer rights in 2009.(Nina E. Olson on Alternative Minimum Tax and International Organization for Standardization)
August 18, 2008... National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olsons list of objectives detailed in the first of her two annual required reports to Congress zeroes in on the problems that she intends to focus on during the fiscal year ahead. At least one of the...

In Brief.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... IRS REDUCES BIZ TAX EXTENSIONS Washington, D.C. The Internal Revenue Service has moved up the extended due date for partnership, estate and trust tax returns from Oct. 15 to Sept. 15 to avoid overlapping with the extended deadline for...

Tax Strategy: CRTs: Working some flexibility into rigid rules.(charitable remainder trust)
August 18, 2008... With volatile economic times threatening, flexibility in all aspects of financial affairs, including charitable giving, is more desirable than ever. While there is an increased need for charitable donations, there are also fewer resources among...

Looking for the 'smoking gun': With real estate markets reeling and fraud rising, new schemes and red flags are popping up all over.
August 18, 2008... Real estate mortgage schemes, foreclosure activities, equity stripping and fraud are booming. Individuals mastermind multi-tiered structures designed to hide participants or obfuscate relationships. They often have intentionally incomplete or...

Change of Auditors.
August 18, 2008... PARKWAY PROPERTIES DISMISSES E&Y Parkway Properties Inc., a Jackson, Miss.-based real estate investment trust, dismissed auditor Ernst & Young LLP and engaged KPMG as its new independent accountant. In a filing, Parkway said that...

The Spirit Of Accounting: More golf, GAAP and GAGS.(Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and Generally Accepted Golf Scoring system)
August 18, 2008... Its vacation season, and were buying some relief from the never-ending stream of deadlines by republishing our all-time favorite tongue-in-cheek column that sheds light on how ludicrous many important features of GAAP are. If financial...

Healthy enough to retire?: Medical and health issues make a big difference to your clients' post-work plans.
August 18, 2008... Will health issues force your clients to retire earlier or spend their nest eggs quicker than they planned? Four in 10 Americans retire sooner than they expected. Of those, 40 percent do so because of health issues or disability, according...

In Brief.
August 18, 2008... HOUSE CONSIDERS MANDATING EMPLOYER IRA PLANS The House Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee held hearings on bills that would encourage employers to automatically enroll their employees in individual retirement account plans....

'Adapting' to market needs: Frustration with Excel results in the birth of Adaptive Planning.
August 18, 2008... Mountain View, Calif. -- Prior to co-founding Adaptive Planning, a company that offers Web-based business intelligence software, Robert Hull described himself as a frustrated chief financial officer and the chief culprit behind that...

In Brief.(Brief article)
August 18, 2008... SAGE RELEASES TIMESLIPS 2009 Sage Software has released Timeslips by Sage 2009, an enhanced version of its time and billing application that includes a number of new features and improvements. These include streamlined billing, with...

Boomer's Blueprint: Relief from e-mail addiction.(Column)
August 18, 2008... Ten years ago, not many would believe that e-mail would eventually become a mission-critical application. Yet today it has taken over many work lives and is gaining an even firmer grip as PDAs, BlackBerries and other mobile devices become...

Accountants and accountability.
August 18, 2008... No one is accountable around here! I cant tell you how many times Ive heard that statement from partner groups and leadership teams and we hear it from your young people too! Yes, your up-and-coming leaders want to be held accountable, and...

In Brief.
August 18, 2008... A NEW KIND OF ePOOLINGE Atlanta u Most firms will help young staff members prepare for the CPA Exam, but Bennett Thrasher encouraged associate Haley Chura to take an entirely different kind of test. Chura, 22, tried out for a spot on...

New Products.
August 18, 2008... Software & Equipment SKIP THE IRS As Wesley Snipes found out, there are very few ways you can get around the Internal Revenue Service. One of the few weve heard of is TaxScripts, which vastly speeds up the process of requesting...

People.
August 18, 2008... CALIFORNIA Dennis Young, a CPA in Los Altos, has received the Public Service Award for 2008 from the California Society of CPAs for his quarter century of service to community organizations.... David Rader has joined Grant Thornton LLP,...

Firms.
August 18, 2008... CHINA Lew and Barr Consulting Services (Shanghai) Ltd., Shanghai, has joined BKR International. FLORIDA Argy, Wiltse & Robinson PC has been named one of South Floridas Largest Litigation Support Accounting Firms by the South...

Coming Events.(Conference news)(Calendar)
August 18, 2008... AUGUST 18-19: Advanced Computer-Aided Fraud Prevention and Detection, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Embassy Suites, Columbia, S.C. Contact: www.acfe.com. 18-19: National Governmental Accounting & Auditing Update, American...

Advertiser Index.
August 18, 2008... Advertiser Page 1st Global 17 ADP Small Business Services 7 CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business 32 Florida Institute of CPAs 19 ...