Ahead of the new health-care law, small firms worry about crossing the crucial 50-person threshold — and about rising premium rates  Emily Maltby at the WSJ Law blog reports on increasing concerns about the forthcoming healthcare laws among small business owners.  This seems to be a prominent issue and concern among small business owners, and has been noted in most every major media outlet in recent weeks, ...

Here are four surprising ways to protect yourself in a law suit and keep legal fees to a minimum. Kevin Daum at Inc. advises:  "Shakespeare said, "First kill all the lawyers." Maybe this seems a tad aggressive, but then again, for most people the last thing you look forward to is someone showing up at your door with a subpoena. Whether a lawsuit is business related or personal, the thought of engaging an at ...

The FASB and IASB Don't Seem to Be Open to Reconsidering Basic Assumptions Behind the "Right-of-Use" Asset.  Here's Why They Should.  The attempt to find a single lease accounting model based on recognition of a right-of-use asset has faltered, assert two professionals in Grant Thornton LLP’s National Professional Standards Group.  In a new white paper, they suggest a control-based model as an alternative: ...

Some Stakeholders Suggest Improvements to Segment Reporting Information  A 1996 accounting standard established to improve the way public companies report financial information about their business segments generally achieves that purpose, although some stakeholders suggest improvements. That was the overall conclusion of the post-implementation review (PIR) of Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) St ...

U.S. Middle Market Leaders Express Preferences re: Spending, Debt, and Fiscal Cliff  The National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) recently (early December 2012) conducted a survey of 1,000 U.S. middle market business leaders across all industry sectors and geographic regions to gauge their preferences for the outcome of the negotiations.  Here's what they found:   ...

Qualifying Offices Can Deduct Up to $1,500 Per Year Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports that The Internal Revenue Service plans to introduce a simplified way for small business owners and home-based employees to claim the home office tax deduction. ...

When Is a Foreign Tax Creditable Under Sec. 901?  The Tax Adviser's  James A. Beavers, J.D., LL.M., CPA, CGMA, reports that The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that delves into the contentious issue of when taxpayers are eligible to claim a foreign tax credit under Section 901 of the U.S. tax code. A ruling by the court would clarify part of the provision that has been litigated for decades. ...

A Valuation Misstatement Results in Tax Underpayment; An Appraisal is “Not Qualified.” In Alpha I, L.P., v. United States, Judge O’Malley of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit considers the legitimacy of certain partnership transfers to charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUTs).  In Rothman v. Commissioner, Judge Laro at the U.S. Tax Court rules on the importance of a “qualified appraisal.”  ...

Document Incentive, Retention, and Non-Compete Agreements; Build a Broad Management Team Business owners need to be careful about vague assurances to “take care of” key employees before an acquisition. Brett Stacey offers tips on how best to manage a transition in a responsible manner that’s likely to address hurt feelings, protect employee morale, and minimize law suits. ...

Investors Cool on Tech A survey of tech firms' valuations shows many companies are challenged.    Here's detail from various reporters: ...

When Valuators Use a Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) to Determine a Discount Rate, the Rate Needs to Be “Iterated.” Here’s Why. When an expert determines a discount rate for a controlling interest in a valuation using the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), that discount rate needs to be iterated. Since market values of debt and equity in a closely held company are not publicly traded and known ...

Enhanced Training, Meaningful Use Incentives, Patient Portals, HIEs, Mobile Apps, a Move to the Cloud, and More Yes, portals and mobile EHRs were big in 2012 — but will they continue to make headlines in 2013? And what about stuff like ICD-10 training, health information exchanges (HIEs), and telemedicine? Marissa Torreri reports that Physicians Practice asked more than a dozen healthcare IT experts, includ ...

Innovation Decreased by 40% at Technology Companies After They Went Public, Finds Stanford Graduate School of Business Study Leslie Kwoh at the Wall Street Journal reports that while many tech entrepreneurs dream of taking their companies public, they may want to think twice.  While public offerings raise cash, new research suggests that IPOs can also result in stunted innovation at technology firms.   Here ...

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 ...