Accounting Today articles from December 2005

Accounting Today archives from December 2005

Tax preparers bracing for onslaught of filing season.
December 19, 2005... As the year winds down, tax professionals are gearing up for the coming season by checking supplies, test-driving software, training additional staff, and packaging year-end planning tips to their clients. "It's never too late for tax...

A leaner PCAOB: Board reduces its 2006 budget; revokes registration for 2 firms.
December 19, 2005... Washington -- The accounting support fees imposed on corporations by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will be slashed by nearly 20 percent next year, under the organization's recently released 2006 operating budget. In...

2005 bankruptcy law opens door to new client services.
December 19, 2005... Earlier this fall, the Congress passed massive legislation that changed the nature of bankruptcy proceedings for both individuals and corporations. The dust is just beginning to settle on the new bankruptcy rules, but already some opportunities...

Rubin takes over as NASBA chair.(National Association of State Boards of Accountancy)(appointment of Diane M. Rubin)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... San Francisco -- Diane M. Rubin, a partner at San Francisco-based Novogradac & Co. LLP, was recently installed as chairwoman of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy for 2005-06. The election was held on Nov. 1 at NASBA's...

Women may be leaving tech, but these twelve stand out.
December 19, 2005... Behind many great pieces of accounting technology stands a woman - in fact, many women. But women are exiting the tech industry. As the number of women entering the accounting profession rises higher each year, the number of women...

GAO report: Reducing the tax gap could generate $50B.(General Accounting Office )
December 19, 2005... Washington -- The Internal Revenue Service recently estimated that the 2001 tax gap ranged from $312 billion to $353 billion. Although the IRS said that it would eventually recoup some of that shortfall, it still leaves a huge net tax gap that...

Justice won't pursue Andersen.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Washington -- The U.S. Justice Department announced that it will not retry its case against Arthur Andersen. In a federal court filing in New Orleans, prosecutors said that it was not in the best "interests of justice," to pursue the failed...

IRS warns of tax refund scam.(Internal Revenue Service)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Washington -- The Internal Revenue Service has issued a consumer alert about an Internet scam where taxpayers receive an e-mail informing them that they are owed a tax refund. The e-mail, which claims to be from the IRS, directs the consumer to...

WS+B acquires Newman & Co.(WS and B Kaufman)(Newman and Associates P.A.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Princeton, N.J. -- The West Trenton-based firm of Manuel S. Newman & Co. CPAs has merged with WithumSmith+Brown. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Newman & Co. will relocate a staff of nearly a dozen to WS+B's Princeton office....

SEC proposes Net delivery.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Washington -- The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to request public comment on rules that will allow companies to use the Internet to satisfy proxy material delivery requirements. It's estimated that public companies spend...

Top 100 Firms.(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Accounting Today is currently conducting its annual Top 100 Firms survey, to be published in our March 20, 2006, issue. If your firm had over $20 million in revenue for 2005, and you haven't received a survey e-mail from us, please contact...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
December 19, 2005... "Instant messaging is not always an instant solution," (Accounting Today, Nov. 7-27, 2005, page 3) said that when the encryption in IronIM is turned on, users cannot chat with users on other IM platforms; in fact, they can, but the...

Farewell, 2005.
December 19, 2005... As the curtain prepares to fall on 2005 and we present our final issue of the year, this space has traditionally been reserved for reflection on the events affecting the profession over the past 12 months. I see no reason why this year should...

Short shots.
December 19, 2005... The charity scene At this time of the year, we are deluged with charitable requests for every conceivable cause. The request envelope contains a letter describing the organization's need for funds and a return envelope for a gift to the...

NASBA stepping up on peer review.
December 19, 2005... In recent commentaries, both Eli Mason and Lou Grumet expressed concern regarding the effectiveness of the current peer review program administered by the American Institute of CPAs and state CPA societies. The board of the National...

Peer review should be a partnership.
December 19, 2005... I have read with interest the recent columns in Accounting Today by Lou Grumet (Sept. 26-Oct. 9, 2005, page 6, and Nov. 7-27, 2005, page 6), and applaud his efforts and those of others in New York to suggest improvements to peer review. As...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
December 19, 2005... DON'T FIX PEER REVIEW - IT AIN'T BROKE Although I find some comments I can agree with in recent opinion articles by Lou Grumet ("Rethinking the 'peer' in peer review," Sept. 26-Oct. 9, 2005, page 6) and Eli Mason ("Quality review and its...

New IRS regs make second extension requests obsolete.
December 19, 2005... Until now, individual taxpayers who were unable to meet the April 15 tax return filing deadline could file a Form 4868 and receive an automatic four-month filing extension until August 15. And if August 15 didn't provide enough time to get the...

Tax reconciliation bill still struggling through Congress.
December 19, 2005... When Congress managed to agree on a budget resolution this year with $70 billion set aside for tax breaks, it seemed to assure smooth passage for extending President Bush's expiring tax breaks by avoiding risk of a Senate filibuster. In...

Taxing Issues.
December 19, 2005... GAO SAYS CHALLENGES REMAIN IN IRS FINANCIAL CONTROLS: While the Internal Revenue Service has made "great strides" in addressing financial management challenges and internal control deficiencies, a report from the Government Accountability...

Speak Out!
December 19, 2005... The IRS is soliciting comments on these temporary regulations. Comments must be received by Feb. 9, 2006. Send comments to: CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-144898-04) Room 5203 Internal Revenue Service P.O. Box 7604 Ben Franklin...

Sarbanes-Oxley compliance in Year 2 and beyond.(certified public accountant's to comply with the act)
December 19, 2005... Public companies, for better or worse, have completed the first year of compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Now is a good time for CPAs in industry and their external auditors to reflect on the Year One experience, identify lessons learned,...

Change Of Auditors.
December 19, 2005... FIRST VIRTUAL DISMISSES PWC: Video software concern First Virtual Communications Inc. dismissed auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and subsequently engaged Squar Milner Reehl & Williamson as its new independent accountant. In January, First...

FASB plan aims to offer relief for pension tension.
December 19, 2005... Norwalk, Conn. -- One of the many things that make investors sweat is the state of corporate pensions and other post-retirement benefit plans. How well are they funded? Are there enough assets available in the plan, or must the employer satisfy...

Pensions and OPEB: Bass-O-Matic accounting.
December 19, 2005... We feel a little sheepish coming back so soon to accounting for pensions and other post-retirement benefits, but we keep finding new reasons to condemn SFAS 87 and 106. One recent spur is the confusion surrounding the bankruptcy of Delphi,...

Freddie Mac cuts profits by $220M.(Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Washington -- Blaming a computer for accounting errors, mortgage financier Freddie Mac announced that it has cut about $220 million in profits from its statements for the first half of 2005. Freddie said that it earned $1.4 billion in the first...

PFP Briefs.(International Standards Organization has set a standard for personal financial planners)(Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants has launched a money management program for all employed accountants)(financial services companies can earn more by offshoring)
December 19, 2005... GLOBAL BENCHMARK EN ROUTE FOR FINANCIAL PLANNERS: The upcoming International Standards Organization's 2222 standard is now in a final ballot, with the objective of achieving and promoting a globally accepted benchmark for individuals who...

Planners need to pay more attention to Roth 401(k)s.
December 19, 2005... Roth 401(k) accounts will - with the blessing of the Internal Revenue Service - make their debut effective Jan. 1, 2006. Unlike the 401(k), which is funded with pretax dollars, the Roth 401(k) is funded with after-tax dollars from the...

Allocation software: Putting some here, and some there.
December 19, 2005... Financial planning is usually not a static process. When your clients ask you for advice in investing their resources, one of the more difficult tasks is getting them to make decisions on not only what their ultimate investing goals are...

Vendor information.(Directory)
December 19, 2005... * AdvisorVision AdviceAmerica 34770 Campus Dr. Fremont, Calif. 94555 (510) 742-4220 www.adviceamerica.com Price: $500 to $2,000 per year, plus data services, depending on edition. * Cheshire Financial Planning...

Tech Briefs.
December 19, 2005... QUICKBOOKS UNVEILS 2006 PRODUCT LINE: Business software provider Intuit has unveiled major changes to its QuickBooks product line for 2006 - a response, in part, to the launch of Microsoft's Small Business Accounting. The 2006 QuickBooks...

Networking works - and it doesn't have to be old school!
December 19, 2005... As you plan your 2006 marketing activities, consider adding networking to your firm-wide marketing mix. Networking is a great way to build your business, and it's something that all members of your firm can do. Networking offers an...

Burgum assumes new role at MBS.(Doug Burgum)(Microsoft Business Solutions)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... Redmond, Wash. -- Doug Burgum, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Solutions group, will assume the newly created role of chairman of MBS - coinciding with the release cycle for Microsoft Dynamics, the new branding for MBS. ...

Smaller niche markets don't crave niche software.(William F. Gurrie & Company Ltd.)
December 19, 2005... William F. Gurrie & Co. Ltd., a CPA and consulting firm in Oak Brook, Ill., has offered niche accounting services for municipalities over the last 71 years. The founder and namesake started by helping his clients with financial services -...

Good news, bad news: A prescription for the profession.(strategic planning of accounting firms can help to overcome the employee turnover)
December 19, 2005... American Institute of CPAs chair Leslie Murphy, in her recent address to Council, stated, "One out of six CPAs left their firms during 2004." The cost to replace these people is estimated at 1.5 times their current salary. Enrollment and...

Books.
December 19, 2005... Being in charge Did you ever notice that the people who say leaders are born, not made, are the sort of people who aren't leaders? That doesn't mean they're wrong - just suspect - but we would suggest that whether they're born or made,...

Hardware & Services.
December 19, 2005... Year-end help Hopefully, you've already begun your year-end financial tasks - but if you haven't, ADP Employer Services can help you kickstart the process. The payroll processing company has set up a Web site called Year End Central that's...

People.(Pratesi and Co. LLC)(CPA Mutual Insurance Co)
December 19, 2005... ARIZONA Doug Brady, chief information officer at Plante & Moran PLLC, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Information Technology Alliance, Scottsdale. COLORADO Matthew Anderson has been promoted to principal at...

Coming Events.(calendar)(Calendar)
December 19, 2005... - DECEMBER - 19: Federal Tax Update, PPC-Bell Learning. Imperial's Hotel, Melbourne, Fla. Contact: (800) 548-1551 or www.bellcpe.com. 20: Partnership Taxation Conference, New York State Society of CPAs. The New York Marriott Marquis,...

Firms.(Reznick Group )(RubinBrown LLP)(Titus Group)(Brief Article)
December 19, 2005... ARIZONA The Information Technology Alliance, Scottsdale, announced a number of new members: Incortech LLC, as a practice firm member; AccuFund Inc., Intacct Corp. and NetSuite Inc., as alliance partners; Lighthouse Business Development, as...

2006 Top 100 Products: The New Game: What's in a name? Plenty!
December 19, 2005... As Accounting Today's Top 100 Products was in its preparatory stages in terms of gathering information, procuring product shots and planning the requisite page layouts, we searched for something that would make this - the 13th edition - stand...

Ones to Watch: Contenders for 2006.
December 19, 2005... In addition to those products that made it to Accounting Today's Top 100 Products, our editors have chosen a strong crop of contenders that bear consideration. Here are some of the products to watch in 2006. * CCHHand (CCH): CCHHand is...

2006 Top 100 Products.
December 19, 2005... HIGH-END AND MID-MARKET ACCOUNTING ACCOUNTMATE 6.5 FOR SQL AccountMate Software Corp. This accounting and business management software provides a stable and modifiable accounting solution for the mid-market. It is sold by the...

Vendor Directory 2006.(Directory)
December 19, 2005... Contact information for the vendors of the Accounting Today 2006 Top 100 Products and Ones to Watch. AccountantsWorld Accounting Relief AC, Payroll Relief AC Hauppauge, N.Y. (888) 999-1366 www.accountantsoffice.com ...

Study: SOX means prominence for tax execs.(Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)(tax executives)
December 19, 2005... New York -- There is a clear link between Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance work and dramatically higher profiles for senior tax executives, particularly with audit committees and boards of directors, according to a survey of senior tax...

Advertiser Index.(Illustration)
December 19, 2005... Advertiser Page 1st Global 19 AccountantsWorld 41 AccuFund 55 ADP 31...