The IRS issued its annual updates of per-diem rates for use in substantiating certain business expenses taxpayers incur when traveling away from home on or after Oct. 1, 2016. Sally Schreiber, senior editor for JofA, explains. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: IRS Issues 2016–2017 Special Per-Diem Rates for Travel.
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Simple Changes to the Way You Approach a Negotiation Can Help You Cut Costs and Increase Profits Taking a fresh approach to negotiation can help you cut costs and increase profit for your organization. Samantha White, senior editor for CGMA Magazine, explains that expert negotiators draw on a raft of skills, but thorough preparation, builds confidence and is the foundation of a successful negotiation. To read the full article in CGMA Magazine, click: Checklist for a Better Negotiation.
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Mergers and acquisition activity relays much information to the general public. Following an M&A transaction, acquirer companies conduct purchase price allocations (PPAs) to measure the fair value of various tangible and intangible assets of the acquired business. Karolina Calhoun, senior financial analyst with Mercer Capital, discusses that the Mercer Capital Lab Services Newsletter observes and analyzes M&A transactions in order to gain insight into the drivers and financial metrics behind the deal. To read the full article in Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Purchase Price Allocations in the Lab Services Industry. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial…
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A White Paper Detailing Use of the Pluris Database to Develop a DLOM (Part II of III) In this second part, of a three-part series, Marc Vianello examines whether discounts reported in PLURIS DLOM Database are consistent with past changes in SEC Rule 144 required holding periods; How the PLURIS Restricted Stock Discounts Correlate with other reported Metrics; How to use PLURIS Database for Benchmarking; and the two challenges practitioners attempting to benchmark will encounter using the PLURIS Database. Read Part I here.
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Appraisals from Real Estate, Machinery and Equipment to Business Valuation: Book Review by Michael D. Pakter The purpose of this book review is to introduce the reader to Shannon P. Pratt’s newest book, co-authored with John Lifflander. For those improbable few business valuation professionals who do not know who Dr. Pratt is, he is the Chairman and CEO of Shannon Pratt Business Valuation, Inc. and Publisher Emeritus for Business Valuation Resources LLC.
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The Tax Rules Were Never Friendlier, But Changes May be on the Way The biggest loophole in the tax code may soon be coming to an end—at least according to the messages sent by the Obama administration and its recent budget proposals. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) set a whole new tone for most estate plans when it took the dreaded estate tax off the table. However, it is no secret that the IRS has been making a concerted effort to recapture some of the revenues lost from property transfers by way of gift or upon death.…
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A White Paper Detailing Use of the Pluris Database to Develop a DLOM (Part I of III) Business valuation practitioners continue to debate the merits of different databases to develop a discount for lack of marketability (DLOM). In this first- of a three-part series, Marc Vianello discusses what the Pluris DLOM database is, explores how accurately Pluris transactions are reported, and discusses how the Pluris DLOM Database has been presented to the business valuation community.
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Under legislation enacted last year, the IRS is required to use private debt collection agencies to collect outstanding inactive tax liabilities. The IRS has awarded contracts to four companies to participate in the program in spring 2017. Sally Schreiber, JofA senior editor, explains what this all means. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Private Collection Agencies to Start Collecting Tax Debts in the Spring.
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With the news media announcing hacks, breaches, or phishing scams virtually every week, cybersecurity has become a major concern for businesses of all sizes. To recognize National Cybersecurity Month, the AICPA is publishing a series of blog posts on the issue. In this first post, Susan Pierce has some tips to help CPAs understand five low- or no-cost ways to defend against cybercrime. To read the full article in AICPA Insights, click: 5 Low- Or No-Cost Ways for CPAs To Help Slam the Door on Cybercriminals.
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Goodwill—should it be amortized or not? That is one of the questions the FASB has wrestled with over the last few years. Lucas Parris, senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, takes us through the changes to this system that are in the works, as the FASB Board made a few tentative decisions regarding the accounting for goodwill impairment for public and private entities. To read the full article in Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: FASB Muses on Goodwill Impairments. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe…
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The Internal Revenue Service issued three sets of regulations last week that address issues of disguised sales of property by or to a partnership and allocations of excess nonrecourse liabilities to partners. Alistair Nevius, The Tax Adviser’s editor-in-chief, explains these regulations. To read the full article in The Tax Adviser, click: Disguised-Sale and Partnership Liability Allocation Rules Issued.
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Areas of high attention for auditors during the 2016 audit cycle will include a new standard on naming the engagement partner as well as internal control over financial reporting. Ken Tysiac, JofA editorial director, reports that key considerations for auditors in general and auditors of brokers and dealers are discussed in two new publications by the Center for Audit Quality. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Top Considerations for 2016 Audit Cycle.
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Golden parachute payments can lead to significant tax consequences for both the company and the individual. Lucas Parris, senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, discusses strategies to mitigate these tax risks to reduce the likelihood of additional excise taxes. To read the full article in Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Noncompete Agreements for Section 280G Compliance. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
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In re Marriage of Schneeweis, 2016 IL. App. 2d No. 140147 Marital law varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In this article, Daniel R. Stefani discusses a recent Illinois Appellate Court case where the issue before the court was whether husband dissipated assets. The term dissipation is defined and the question raised is how much information do you share with your spouse and how that can impact an equitable division of marital property.
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Analysis of Unaudited Financial Statements—Who and How? There has been much discussion within the ESOP community about the “settlement” and its reverberations. As readers are likely aware, the settlement in question refers to the 2014 settlement agreement between GreatBanc Trust Company and the United States Department of Labor (DOL). The terms of the settlement include, among other things, an agreement concerning fiduciary engagements and process requirements for employer stock transactions. The settlement provides pause for thought for all trustees and their advisors, as the agreement can be viewed as a “playbook” that, if followed, could serve as evidence that the…
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How to Encourage Fairness in Negotiations Parties often start with unreasonable offers when negotiating with one another, which can needlessly draw out the resolution process. Max H. Bazerman and Daniel Kahneman discuss how using final-offer arbitration can encourage all participants to start with more realistic offers. To read the full article in Harvard Business Review, click: How to Make the Other Side Play Fair.
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Deciding What Type of Foreign Entity to Set up The check-the-box rules that permit taxpayers to determine which form of business entity to create apply to foreign entities as well as domestic. In this article, Raymond Polantz examines the different tax issues involved in choosing, including tax rate differentials, income deferral and the availability of foreign tax credits. To read the full article in The Tax Adviser, click: Considerations on Whether to Check the Box for Foreign Subsidiaries.
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On Monday, September 26, Chris Mercer presented a webinar in which he examined the recently Proposed Changes to Section 2704 of the Internal Revenue Service Code from business and valuation viewpoints. To download the webinar, slides, and whitepaper from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Recent Webinar on Proposed Changes to Section 2704. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
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Conduct a Systematic, Structured Research to Get Results How can an existing marketing plan be improved? In this article, Dr. Frederiksen outlines five steps a firm can use to strengthen an existing marketing plan.
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Ways 16 through 30 (Part II of II) This is the second part of this two-part article where the author presents fifteen other structures owners may want to consider as part of a succession plan. Click here to read part one.