Put on a Celebratory Launch Party, Tell Success Stories, Adopt a Mantra, and Realize:  This is What You've Studied and Worked for Throughout Your Career! Let’s face it, writes Tracy Warren at AICPA Insights . Tax time has had a bit of a bad rap for years. You know, talk of never ending piles of work and dreaded long hours. Bah-humbug! Blame it on Ebenezer Scrooge, if you will. But this year it’s time to sta ...

Marvell Technology Group Sold Billions of Semiconductors Developed at Carnegie Mellon University  Jad Mouawad reports in the New York Times that Carnegie Mellon University said it was awarded $1.17 billion by a federal jury in Pittsburgh on Wednesday in a unanimous verdict that found the Marvell Technology Group had sold billions of semiconductors using technology developed at the university without a licen ...

Beyond The Fiscal Cliff:  Details to Act On Gail Perry at Accounting Web introduces a set of articles on the effect of the "fiscal cliff." A first article – New Tax Law Emerges Beyond the Fiscal Cliff – provides an overview of the key tax provisions that will affect your individual and business clients. It's followed by coverage of how the new law will impact federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping ta ...

The accounting rulemakers said they are seeking more feedback about whether groups of companies could phase in IFRS and how investors are dealing with the two sets of accounting rules currently existing in the United States. Emily Chasen at WSJ CFO Report writes [trial subscription required] that accounting rulemakers in the U.S. and abroad are calling for collaboration even as U.S. regulators have so far r ...

Plus: A Black Box that Performs Business Valuations for Privately Held Companies?  The Scenario Might Not Be as Far-Fetched as You Think Not too long ago I had lunch w/a senior valuation guy, someone who's made his living in the field for some 30 years, and was there almost from the first days The National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) was formed and Shannon Pratt began publishing ...

2013 California Filings:   Aetna: 22 percent.  Anthem Blue Cross: 26 percent.  Blue Shield of California: 20 percent. Reed Abelson at the New York Times reported last week that health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapi ...

New York State Department of Taxation and Finance recently adopted amendments to the combined reporting regulations applicable to general business corporations (including REITs and RICs) subject to the Franchise Tax imposed by Article 9-A of the New York Tax Law. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (Department) recently adopted amendments to the combined reporting regulations applicable to ...

Notice implements court of appeal decision involving qualified small business stock gain exclusion/deferral Deloitte's Tax Matters newsletter (Issue 2013-02) reports that on September 10, 2012, a Tax Alert was issued summarizing the California Court of Appeal’s decision in Cutler v. Franchise Tax Board (“Cutler”) involving the exclusion or deferral of qualified small business stock gain.  More: ...

Solid revenue growth last year following strong performance in 2010 and 2011 after a severe revenue decline in 2009 Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports this growth according to a newly published analysis.  The report, from the social networking forum Big4.com, analyzed the 2012 financial performance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It found that after a strong 2011, fisc ...

The Method You Choose Depends On the Data You Have Application of discounts and premiums is one area where valuators demonstrate added value. Paul R. Hyde shows how and when to choose the most appropriate analytical method. ...

The Weighted Average Method of Estimating Expected Future Earnings is Based on the Average or Arithmetic Mean. Here’s Why that’s Important. Companies that are growing in revenue need to be valued regularly, and they need to be valued with their future growth in mind. The weighted average approach is a valuable tool. But Richard Claywell suggests caution in using it to extrapolate large projections of future ...

There’s Lots We Know about Private Capital. There are Things We Don’t Know, too—and Need to Be Aware of. Robert T. Slee explains in this excerpt several key macro insights—and related themes—that his recent book Private Capital Markets is based on.  The macro insights are that corporate finance theory doesn’t predict behavior in private capital markets, and valuation, capitalization, and transfer are not di ...

Consider Lifetime Client Value, Cost of Client Acquisition, and Retention Rate Is your CPA firm making the most of current relationships and doing all it can to expand into new ones?   While there are many metrics CPA firms use to evaluate quantitative performance, AICPA Insights suggests 12 metrics than can provide more qualitative feedback. These metrics can help CPA firms measure their reach with clients ...

U.S.-Based Multinationals Reporting Under IFRS Struggle With Classification of Equities, Liabilities The International Accounting Standards Board agreed with respondents from its public consultation (a study that reached out to industry professionals at all levels in more than 80 countries in 2011) that it needs to better clarify definitions of assets and liabilities for debt instruments, CFO.com reports. T ...

An Interview with Jeremy Levine, a Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners As the new year begins, the Wall Street Journal's Venture Capital Dispatch — which focuses largely on high-tech start-ups and their investors — has asked several venture capital investors to reflect on the past year and give us their outlook for 2013.  Recently, it spoke with Jeremy Levine, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. Levine ...

IFRS Foundation Trustee: Don’t Wave White Flag on Cooperation Global accounting standard setters acknowledge that completion of the convergence projects is unlikely to happen in the near term, but progress can still be made to closely align International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. GAAP, the Journal of Accountancy reports.   Here's more: ...

A Dozen Categories.  Some Categories Alone Encompassing Up to 20 New Taxes.  Here's the Detail.  The American Taxpayer Relief Act, passed by Congress on Jan. 1, permanently extends a large number of tax items from the 2001 and 2003 tax acts and extends many expired tax provisions. Here is a comprehensive look at the many changes contained in the bill, as well as other new taxes that took effect Jan. 1. Paul ...

Extra Help for Puerto Rican Rum, Asparagus Farmers,  Hollywood TV Production, 2-3 Wheeled Electric Vehicles, and Diesel Fuel Joe Weisenthal at Business Insider  gives us the lowdown:  ...

Intent:  Not to Constrain Economic Growth Which Could Lead to Future Revenues David Lawder and Kim Dixon report that The Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday said Senate-passed legislation to avert the "fiscal cliff" would add nearly $4 trillion to federal deficits over a decade, largely because it would extend low tax rates for almost all Americans. ...

Economic Recovery, Intensified Competition, Squeezed Profit Margins, Upward Pressure on Salaries, Downward Pressure on Rates, and a Rush to the Cloud   Rick Telberg counts up the list of the top 20 most-clicked articles at CPA Trendlines provides a roadmap to the profession’s anxieties, aspirations and, just maybe, a glimpse into what 2013 holds: ...