The financial advisory profession is growing, but some states are better than others for adviser pay.  Dan Berman, Contributing Editor for ThinkAdvisor, looks at the best, and the worst, states when comparing the mean U.S. salary for financial advisors. To find out more on this ThinkAdvisor article, click: ThinkAdvisor (best) and ThinkAdvisor (worst). ...

Making decisions when faced with a difficult situation is not an effective estate planning strategy.  Encourage clients to plan before a stressful life change occurs.  It is important to help them set up health care proxies, consider nominating guardians or conservators, and revise estate plans when they make changes to their wills or trust.  Patricia M. Annino, from Estate Planning practice at Prince Lobel ...

Does anyone know what the future holds for markets?  Perhaps fairness options can help financial advisors seek the answers they are looking for.  Jeff K. Davis, Managing Director of Mercer Capital’s Financial Institutions Group, explores this option and some issues to consider when deciding if it should be used in a falling market.   To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital's ...

R Programming and Ivy League Classes—For Free There are a host of excellent statistical and optimization software packages available to valuation analysts and litigation support consultants. They are good, but also expensive. “R” is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statisti ...

For Current Market Conditions How can one adjust the cost of capital to reflect current market conditions? Does inclusion of the βSIZE and SPH/ERPH result in double counting? In this article, Marc Vianello answers these questions. ...

Crowdfunding has taken off providing CPAs with many chances to cultivate new business—and also carries risks for investors.  Courtney L. Vien, JofA associate editor, discusses the crowdfunding basics and what an exciting area of opportunity this may be for some CPAs. To find out more on this JofA article, click: Crowdfunding Brings New Opportunities for CPAs. ...

This article provides more than a dozen tips to help transform your computer into a lean, clean performance machine.  J. Carlton Collins, Journal of Accountancy contributing editor, provides some excellent user-friendly instructions to help get your computer running more efficiently. To find out more on this Journal of Accountancy article, click: Boost Your Computer’s Performance. ...

Two corporate finance tools available to private companies are leveraged share repurchases and leveraged dividend recapitalizations.  Z. Christopher Mercer, founder and CEO of Mercer Capital, looks at which transaction may be the right one for you or for your client. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital's Financial Reporting Blog, click: Leveraged Dividend Recapitalizations an ...

Similarities and Differences in Securities Valuation Over the past three decades, the number of both dissenting shareholder appraisal rights claims and shareholder oppression claims have increased significantly. This increase has created a demand for forensic-related business and security valuation services. Valuation analysts are not legal counsel, of course. However, valuation analysts who practice in thi ...

Background and Objectives of the Job Aid (Part 3 of 3) In the third article of this three part series, the author discusses the remaining portions of the Job Aid, specifically, the Discussion and Analysis Section of the Job Aid which addresses: Evidence-Based Valuation Analysis, Theory-Based Valuation Analysis, and Weighting of Factors and Approaches and shares his views on the value and limits of this docu ...

When you "like" a company or group on Facebook, you may unwittingly be surrendering certain legal rights.  J. Carlton Collins, Journal of Accountancy's contributing editor, discusses some of the pitfalls and what could potentially happen. To find out more on Journal of Accountancy's article, click: Social Media: Be Careful What You “Like”. ...

The House passed a bill earlier this year that would repeal the estate tax, but it's unlikely the Senate will approve the measure.  David Lenok, senior editor for Wealthmanagement.com and Trusts & Estates, looks at an act that would allow people who expect to owe estate taxes to pay what they owe while they are still alive. To find out more on this Wealthmanagement.com article, click: Bi-Partisan Estate ...

Is the degree of difficulty on the rise for fair value measurements?  Travis Harms, leader of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, looks at some interesting current trends   To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital's Financial Reporting Blog, click: Turning on the Fasten Seat Belt Sign: Fair Value Measurement in Turbulence.  This article is republished from M ...

How to Hire, Train, and Retain the Best Employees Training leaders means developing a partnership between the employer and employees. This commitment takes time and involves both bottom line and business metrics, as well as behavioral and team building skills. The issues related to soft skills, such as behavioral and team building skills are explored in depth in Mike Gregory’s book, The Servant Manager, 203 ...

When Performing a Business Valuation Earnings are not always objective and valuations apply a multiple to earnings to determine a company’s value. The elements making up a company’s valuation involve determining normalized earnings, a decision whether income taxes would be applied, and the capitalization rate to be used to get the value. There are also other factors, but this article looks at the quality of ...

Background and Objectives of the Job Aid (Part 2 of 3) In the first of this three-part series, the leading cases involving tax-affecting where analyzed; those cases discussed included: Gross, Wall, Heck, Adams, Dallas, Gallagher, Korbel, and Guistina. This second part analyzes the first two parts of the Job Aid by section, the “Executive Summary” and first three subsections of the “Discussion and Analysis”, ...

Bank for International Settlements sees global trouble brewing   Several major factors are converging and posing a threat to the global economy, the Bank for International Settlements said in a report.  China's slowdown is hurting emerging markets dependent on commodity exports, the bank said, even as the rising value of the U.S. dollar adds stress in markets where much debt is dollar-denominated.  Bri ...

There are many reasons why clients need solid financial advice in these turbulent times.  This article lays out four of them, starting with the observation that nobody—or almost nobody—can time the markets.  Bob Clark, Editor-at-Large for Investment Advisor Magazine, explains the importance of speaking to the client’s understanding and the importance of a financial advisor’s role.   To find out more on ...

Are you covered for data breaches?  The skinny on cyber liability insurance   Finding out that clients' data was stolen or accessed would be a nightmare for any CPA.  To make it worse, the recovery costs may not be entirely covered by standard insurance policies.  Valrie Chambers, CPA, explores cyber liability insurance and offers key points to consider as filing season approaches.   To find out m ...

In recent years, appraisal arbitrage cases seem to be a more strategy.  Karolina Grabowicz, a senior financial analyst with Mercer Capital, looks at some current cases and their outcomes.   To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital's Financial Reporting Blog, click: To (Appraisal) Arbitrage or Not?  This article is republished from Mercer Capital's Financial Reporting Blog.  I ...