First, Define a Computer Use Policy for Your Firm How can you best protect against IP theft—or simple misuse—by employees? Karl Epps explains that a solid first step is defining a computer use policy establishing approved policies and protocols for removable media, offsite storage, remote access, and laptops. Here’s an overview of common problem areas and software and policies that can help best address the ...

Cases in Ohio, Delaware Assess Acquisition Share Value, Family Business In Iacampo v. Oliver Iacampo, the Ohio Court of Appeals rules on the appropriate use of experts in valuing a family business, the nature of passive income, and financial help from the wife’s parents. In Delaware,  Gaerreald v. Just Care, Inc. turns on proper methods for determining share value, the value of an expert opinion, and defere ...

Here’s How a Systematic Review of Risk Can Help Valuators Assign Appropriate Discounts and Premiums Industry risk can vary widely from company to company and industry to industry. Here are 20 questions valuation analysts can use to identify risk related to market segment; competitive position; political, environmental, and legal factors; pricing trends; profit margins, and more. ...

Business Owners Need to Establish Clear Guidelines for Future Buyouts with Their Partners John Markel explains that it’s critical for partners to put together a buy-sell agreement that establishes in specific detail the standard of value, the level of value, and acceptable methods for funding a buyout. Here’s why. ...

CBO Details Penalties For Being Uninsured Under The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office recently reported an estimated six million people would be subject to the Obamacare tax, approximating $7 billion in taxes in 2016 with each of the 6 million people paying at least $695. ...

Typical Household Taxes Go Up by $2,000, Says Non-Partisan Tax Policy Center More than a dozen tax cuts are set to expire Dec. 31 and a couple of new taxes are scheduled to start with the new year, Catherine Rampell at The New York Times reports.  Here's more: ...

Should Valuators Give Citations to Specific Court Cases in Expert Reports? Different expert witnesses subscribe to different schools of thought about whether it’s best to make frequent and specific citations in an expert report or not. Charles Lunden lists 12 reasons supporting one set of conclusions. Find out more! ...

Fifth Circuit Disallows 40% Valuation Misjudgment Penalty, OKs 20% Negligence Penalty The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit disallows a 40% valuation misjudgment penalty in Bemont Invs., LLC v. United States, but affirms a Texas Court’s 20% negligence penalty.  Judge Goeke at the Tax Court draws distinctions on when charitable deductions are allowable in Dunlap v. Commissioner. ...

Owners: Don't Exit Before You're Ready, Lock Yourself In, or Count on Future Consulting There is no single formula that will result in a happy retirement for business owners. Over 75 percent of business owners say they regretted selling their companies a year after the sale, according to a PwC study entitled “Whose Business is it Anyway?” But there are ways to improve the chances that consultants can help o ...

Booming Demand for Nurses and Physician Assistants;  Huge Need for Primary-Care Physicians An estimated 30 million people will gain insurance as a result of the Affordable Care Act, asserts Aubrey Westgate at Physicians Practice.   At the same time, the Association of American Medical Colleges anticipates a shortfall of 45,000 primary-care physicians and 46,000 specialists in the coming decade.   More:   “W ...

Media Vary on Whether Election Increases or Decreases  Uncertainty;  Concur It's Good for Business A number of media outlets have begun to weigh in on the topic. At Accounting Today, the editors have put together a topical list of some of the relevant issues: ...

Why Experts Working from the Same Facts Generate Varying Opinions Financial experts can differ wildly in their opinions and findings because of differences in their underlying financial and economic assumptions, differing legal interpretations, differing theories on damages, and different access to information. Jim Gravitt explains. ...

The FASB Lists 29 Different Intangible Asset Categories. Here’s What You Need to Know. Intangible assets have comprised an increasing proportion of the value of assets of most companies in the last decade, Gregory Marsh explains. Often a collection of intangible assets is accounted for as a single asset labeled “goodwill.” Here’s why that sometimes doesn’t make sense. ...

Star Wars Creator Strikes Savvy Deal with Disney Quentin Fottrell at CBS MarketWatch reports that Disney will buy George Lucas' LucasFilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, the two companies announced Tuesday: Wade Westhoff, a financial adviser based in Danville, Calif., says of the Disney deal. “This is a textbook example of exit planning for a private business owner.” (Lucas and a spokesman for LucasFil ...

Federal Lawsuit from AHA and Four Other Providers Accuse HHS of Illegally Denying Medicare Payments Joe Carlson at Modern Healthcare reports the story: In a federal lawsuit, the American Hospital Association and four healthcare providers accuse HHS of illegally denying hospitals Medicare payments for audited outpatient procedures. The Chicago-based interest group for hospitals says in the complaint that HHS ...

Disaster Area Declarations Have a Lot of Tax Implications.  Learn Specifics. Natural disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy, may provide certain tax opportunities and insurance recovery situations that business owners and individuals should be aware of.   Howard A. Lewis, MS, ABAR, AVA, and Former IRS Program Manager for Valuation Service offers insight: ...

Maintaining Professionalism Under Pressure and Under Oath Different legal professionals can use vastly different deposition techniques. John R. Markel shares two starkly different experiences with depositions, and details how to prepare yourself for the standard questions as well as how to cope with curveballs. ...

Willamette Management Author Explains: What You Need to Know About DLOMs Aaron Rotkowski explains why it’s appropriate to apply a DLOM to a controlling ownership interest—and how to figure it—and why it doesn’t make sense to rely on restricted stock studies and pre-IPO studies to estimate the DLOM for that interest. Find out more. ...

IFRS News Offers Summary of Significant Developments in International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)   Grant Thornton's IFRS team publishes a quarterly update on developments in the international accounting arena: ...

WhitServe Alleges that Mac OS X Infringes on a Patent it Holds for "Sequentially Opening and Displaying Files in a Directory."  Steve Musil at c:net  reports that WhitServe, which owns intellectual property but doesn't make any real products, is suing Apple over allegations that versions of the Mac OS X operating system infringe on a file viewer patent it holds: The complaint, filed today in U.S. District C ...