If IRS Imposes a Penalty, That Penalty Cannot be Negotiated as Part of a Settlement on Another Tax Matter  The Internal Revenue Service is opposed to negotiating penalties with noncompliant taxpayers, a stance that should benefit appraisers and tax advisors because individuals will be required to assume more responsibility for their deductions, Bloomberg BNA (subscription required) reported this month.   Ap ...

More Detail on Obligations Included in Minimum Lease Payments Required Under ASC 840  Grant Thornton's On the Horizon web publication  explains that leasing agreements vary in their specific accounting requirements when it comes to assessing — and retiring the value of  — leases.    Here's more:  ...

Find Out the Specific Requirements a Valuation Needs to Include to Pass Muster with the SBA Matt Stelzman explains in The Chattanoogan that the Small Business Administration (SBA) has loans available that can help small businesses make it to profitability, self-sufficient revenue, or at least the next round of funding  —  but in every case these loans require independent valuations.   Here's more:  ...

Requiring Valuation Analysts to Have Specialized Trainingk Credentials, and to Adhere to Professional Standards Will Protect ESOP Participants and Beneficiaries   CPA Practice Advisor reports that the President and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), Barry C. Melancon, CPA, CGMA, has publicly announced his organization's support for a new bill in the House of Representatives.  H.R. 2041 would mod ...

ASCs That Have CON Protection Have Higher Value—But Less Longevity.   Todd Mello, Partner and Co-founder of HealthCare Appraisers, and Nicholas Newsad, Senior Associate at HealthCare Appraisers, opine in ASC Review that many ambulatory surgical center operators perceive increased economic value for those centers with certificate of need protection, multiple practice specialties, and the participation of ort ...

Technology Has Automated Many Accounting Tasks and Lowered Margins on Traditional Core Services.  Here's How to Stay Ahead Dustin Lubertazzi opines at AccountingWeb on what accountants must do to stay competitive in the future, and how technology will change the future role of the accountant.  An excerpt:  ...

U.S. Patent Law Changes from "First to Invent" to "First to File" Standard.  Plus:  New Discount on Filing Fees for Small Businesses and Inventors   This spring, patent law in the United States moved from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system. The new law—called the America Invents Act (AIA)—puts the U.S. in harmony with most patent systems around the world, but it’s also a big change for inventors an ...

A Disparity in Valuation Prices Between Companies Large and Small in Similar Industries Adds to Investment Challenges   Jwalit Vyas at The Economic Times (India) illustrates how a wide disparity in valuation between companies large and small offers an additional challenge for business owners, investors, and financial consultants.  Here's more:  ...

US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is Aggressively Policing Fund Valuation Practices in the Hedge Fund Industry     Kris Devasabai at Risk.net reports that hedge funds, under pressure from regulators and investors, are establishing robust pricing policies for hard-to-value assets.  They are also hiring independent experts to price complex and illiquid assets as investors and regulators intensify th ...

An Overly High Valuation Can Scare Away Investors or Spark a Down Round that Dilutes an Earlier Angel Investment      Mark Boslet at PE Hub explains that with IPOs on track to have their biggest year since 2010 and some major technology disruptions sparking infectious excitement, it's important to keep in mind key fundamentals including not accepting too high a valuation for your business or investment prop ...

Industry Moves to Enhance Transparency of Investments Holding More Than $93 Billion in Assets  The Investment Program Association (IPA), a trade association for non-listed, direct-investment vehicles, announced recently the adoption of the IPA Practice Guideline for the valuation of publicly registered, non-listed real estate investment trusts, The Wall Street Journal reported.   Here's more from a Globe Ne ...

Understanding Both Sorts of Appraisal is Critical to Valuing Minority, Partial Interests in Holding Entities that Own Real Estate and Other Assets that are Gifted, Sold, or Otherwise Transferred   Randolph Glennon, MAI, CRE, MBA, and president of Eastern Appraisal & Consulting in Portland, Maine, explains in the New England Real Estate Journal why there's growing need for appraisers who understand both ...

The Thought of Every Employee Working Together with a Shared Vision of Business Success is a Dream Situation for Companies.  Here's How to Make it Happen.  Gary Davie Friday at Management Today weighs in on how in 2012 the U.K. government (Management Today is UK-based) announced its support for employee ownership, recognizing its ability to promote long-term thinking and growth.  Since then, a number of leg ...

Tricky Problems Must be Shaped Before they Can be Solved.  To Start That Process, and Stimulate Novel Thinking, Leaders Should Look Through Multiple Lenses  In the April 2013 edition of McKinsey Quarterly, Olivier Leclerc and Mihnea Moldoveanu outline an approach for taking a number of different approaches simultaneously to solving difficult problems. These involve flexible approaches using team expertise. ...

Congress Needs to Reduce, if Not Eliminate, Support of the Mortgage Market in Order to Encourage Private Capital to Enter the Market, Says Agency Head Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Acting Director Edward J. DeMarco said that Congress needs to take action to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the government’s continued support of the mortgage market and make it more palatable for private capital ...

How Can You Defend "Reasonable Certainty"?  Here are Some Tips One of the common issues raised when an expert calculates damages is “reasonable certainty.”  It is not uncommon for opposing counsel to suggest that the expert’s calculated damages are speculative, explain the editors at the Fraud Files blog.   The calculation of damages necessarily requires estimates and assumptions.  Something has happened, a ...

Key Concern is that FASB and IASB Continue Work Towards Common Standard Frank Byrt at Accounting Web reports that The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted March 28 to extend the comment deadline for its proposal to improve financial reporting on expected credit losses on loans and other financial assets held by banks, financial institutions, and other public and private organizations, as FASB a ...

Past Performance is No Longer a Viable Valuation Tactic: Learn to Anticipate Future Prospects with Data Mining, Proprietary Benchmark Techniques, and a Close Look at Both Cash Flow and Capital Expenditures.    Caleb Slabbert, writing at VentureCapital.org, which bills itself as a non-profit organization that has been "a premier resource for both entrepreneurs seeking funding and for investors who want to he ...

Many States Require CPAs Practicing Forensic Accounting to Now be Licensed as Private Investigators.  The AICPA Provides an Online Guide. Jeff Drew at the Journal of Accountancy reports that the AICPA has made available to members an online guide detailing which states and cities require CPAs practicing forensic accounting to be licensed as a private investigator.  Here's more detail: ...

Estate of Elkins Included Works by Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Paul Cezanne, and Jasper Johns Roger Russell at Accounting Today reports that in the case, Estate of Elkins, 140 TC No. 5, the court applied Section 2703(a)(2) of the Tax Code in valuing the art, which included works by Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Paul Cezanne, and Jasper Johns.  Section 2703(a)(2) of the Tax Code provides ...