The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday voted to change the definition of “smaller reporting company” in an effort to expand the number of companies that qualify for scaled disclosure accommodations. To read the full article in Journal of Accountancy, click: With SEC Vote, More Companies Qualify for Scaled Disclosure. ...

At Flint Hills Resources, robotic process automation is supercharging, not eliminating, finance professionals.  The Koch Industries subsidiary shows us how. To read the full article in Financial Management, click: Empowering the Human Element in Automation. ...

As the case for an alternative business model for accounting firms becomes more compelling, traditional partnership arrangements in public practices are being challenged. To read the full article in In The Black, click: Alternative Ways to Structure Your Accounting Practice. ...

Ex ante, Ex post, and Hybrid Methodologies January 2019 will be the twentieth anniversary of one of the seminal articles written on discounting lost profits, Peter Schulman’s Economic Damages: Discounting Concepts and Alternatives. This article addresses the concepts and complexities of discounting lost profits that were discussed in the Schulman article and advances and additional methodology for discounti ...

Marketplace Platform for Aspiring and Experienced Litigation Support Professionals There is no disputing the influence that expert witnesses have on litigation outcomes—this much we know for sure. Their expertise is often relied upon by the court in rendering decisions, weighing the opinions, methodology, and, indeed, the credibility of the competing expert witnesses involved for each party to the legal dis ...

The IRS issued a draft version of the 2019 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and instructions for the form, in an attempt to further simplify the task of determining income tax withholding for individual taxpayers after the passage of P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). The TCJA eliminated personal exemptions, increased the standard deduction, increased the ...

The SEC has charged an advisor and his wholly-owned RIA firm with operating a nearly $5-million Ponzi scheme that defrauded scores of investors over almost a decade, according to the regulator’s complaint filed in federal court. To read the full article in Financial Planning, click: SEC Accuses Advisor of $5M Ponzi Scheme. ...

Like many members of the CPA profession, single audit practitioners will be managing a change process while maintaining an intense focus on quality. To read the full article in Journal of Accountancy, click: Strategies for Quality Work in Single Audits. ...

Technology This article provides a peek at one of the six-part healthcare installments and provides an overview of the due diligence imperative for valuation professionals, in the context of the Four Pillars of Healthcare Value, i.e., Reimbursement, Regulatory, Technology, and Competition. The second, third, and fourth installments, already published, reviewed the due diligence process related to the reimbu ...

Often the Link Between Damages and Causation Even with established liability, a plaintiff seeking damages must be able to calculate damages with reasonable certainty and demonstrate a causal link between the defendant’s acts and the plaintiff’s injury. The concept of causation is simple—did a defendant’s wrongful act cause the plaintiff’s damages? Proving causation, however, is not always as simple. Many ti ...

Writing on behalf of BIAC, Will Morris said that many MNEs that have centralized intra-group services centers expend significant sums supporting audits for intra-group payments. He said the goal for this project should be to create clear, simplified, rules and safe harbors, where possible. Existing guidance should be clarified, not expanded, he said. To read the full article in MNE Tax, click: OECD Publishe ...

One purpose of artificial intelligence (AI) is to capture, manage, and analyze amounts of data too large for less advanced technology to handle, and to produce insights faster and more accurately than people can. While AI promises to help businesses prepare better for potential opportunities and risks, the technology presents a challenge for management accountants in financial planning and analysis (FP& ...

Accounting services are rapidly becoming commoditized, and when clients don’t perceive a clear difference between service providers, they may choose the least expensive option. This is especially true for audit services, where clients—as well as auditors themselves—may see little difference between the work of competing firms. To read the full article in Journal of Accountancy, click: Add Value to Audits wi ...

Industry Experience and Value-Added Tips In this article, the author discusses how one may go about distinguishing his or her firm from other competitors. ...

Referral Marketing Strategy The author discusses how professionals should go about creating a customized referral marketing strategy. It begins by choosing a focus. Next, it involves the creation and posting of educational content that creates a clear connection between prospects’ challenges and your firm’s expertise. The key is creating the funnel content. The author describes the steps to create such funn ...

People planning to expatriate can do a number of things to avoid this result.  German citizen's failure to establish that he was a resident of Germany meant that he was a "covered expatriate" for Sec. 877A purposes and therefore liable for tax on stock sale gains that would otherwise have been exempt under the United States–Germany tax treaty. To read the full article in The Tax Advisor, click: Failure to A ...

Assertiveness can help improve your productivity and career opportunities.  No one can hear your idea if you're only thinking it.  Many people are content to stay in a comfortably passive nest in the workplace, rather than assert themselves.  But even reserved people have good reason to speak up, for both themselves and the companies they work for. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, cli ...

“One of the greatest powers is to be able to take one person’s idea [and] another person’s idea and make [them] more powerful by bringing them together.” To read the full article in Heleo, click: Know Thyself, Know Thy Company: Microsoft’s CEO on Seeking Purpose at Work. ...

When Values Collide—Redux Valuing a business that owns real estate presents the business appraiser with a number of conundrums. In this article, the author discusses the concept of a fair investment return and how that may impact the value of the business being sold with the real estate. ...

Highlighting Recent Delaware Court Cases In this Case Law Update, three recent Delaware Court cases are reviewed. Two cases focus on whether the deal value is fair value and the third focuses on matters discovered following approval of a merger and who has standing to sue and what remedy, if any, is available to the disgruntled plaintiffs. The first two cases also delve into the role of experts, inputs that ...