Technology Has Automated Many Accounting Tasks and Lowered Margins on Traditional Core Services. Here’s How to Stay Ahead Dustin Lubertazzi opines at AccountingWeb on what accountants must do to stay competitive in the future, and how technology will change the future role of the accountant. An excerpt:
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US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is Aggressively Policing Fund Valuation Practices in the Hedge Fund Industry Kris Devasabai at Risk.net reports that hedge funds, under pressure from regulators and investors, are establishing robust pricing policies for hard-to-value assets. They are also hiring independent experts to price complex and illiquid assets as investors and regulators intensify their scrutiny of valuation practices. Here’s more:
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On the Horizon Offers Two Examples of Appropriate Ways to Apply FASB Guidance. Plus: New Guidance on Reporting Discontinued Operations and Not-for-Profit Entities Grant Thornton recently published a useful article on applying the equity method in its On the Horizon web-based publication, which also notes that the Fair Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has suggested new guidelines for reporting discontinued operations and that the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has released its guide on not-for-profit entities.
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It’s Responsible and Efficient to Begin Appraisals by Granting Certain Assumptions and Respecting Precedent. Here’s Why. All kinds of news, findings, and rulings come out that might affect the work of financial consultants and appraisers every day. When can you know when a precedent is important or something you can ignore? Or, put another way: what information is most important to pay attention to? Rand Curtiss explains.
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Tricky Problems Must be Shaped Before they Can be Solved. To Start That Process, and Stimulate Novel Thinking, Leaders Should Look Through Multiple Lenses In the April 2013 edition of McKinsey Quarterly, Olivier Leclerc and Mihnea Moldoveanu outline an approach for taking a number of different approaches simultaneously to solving difficult problems. These involve flexible approaches using team expertise. Find out what “flexons” are, and how they offer a uniquely helpful approach to problem solving in today’s organizations.
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Held at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC, the Annual Consultants’ Conference Will Feature 57 Sessions Covering the Highest-Demand Specialty Areas in Financial Consulting The National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) and the Consultants’ Training Institute (CTI) will collaborate to host the 2013 Annual Consultants’ Conference, June 5–8, 2013, in Washington, DC. Themed “Innovate. Collaborate. Succeed.,” the four-day conference will serve as a forum where ideas, marketplaces, and professionals from around the globe intersect to expand their networks, explore concepts, and share ideas on how to meet the demands of the dynamic and unpredictable world economy. Find out…
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Key Concern is that FASB and IASB Continue Work Towards Common Standard Frank Byrt at Accounting Web reports that The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted March 28 to extend the comment deadline for its proposal to improve financial reporting on expected credit losses on loans and other financial assets held by banks, financial institutions, and other public and private organizations, as FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) continue to work toward a common standard. The new comment deadline on Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Subtopic 825-15) is May 31, 2013.
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A Quick Initial Assessment of an Appraisal Assignment Can Help Determine Which Approach and Which Tools to Use. Here’s Why That Matters. Appraisers have a large toolkit. When we pursue certifications, the tests we have to pass and our demonstration reports show that we know how to use tools properly, and certifications demonstrate our competency. In the real world, we are also in this profession to make a profit. Profits reward us for both competency and efficiency. Rand Curtiss explains how to be both effective and efficient.
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70 Percent of the Work Appraisers Did at Landsafe, Bank of America’s Appraisal Division, Was Related to Soured Home Loans Bank of America Corp.’s appraisal division LandSafe reduced about 5% of its work force, beginning Feb. 22, Bloomberg News, The Appraisal Institute, and Housing Wire reported. LandSafe had more than 1,000 employees, the report said. Hugh Son at Bloomberg explains a bit about the move:
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Tax Crackdown Comes as Use of Contract Workers Grows; Companies Find Rules Unclear Angus Loten and Emily Maltby at the Wall Street Journal report that some studies have shown that local businesses misclassify anywhere from 10% to more than 60% of their workers as independent contractors, and regulators are beginning to crack down in pursuit of more revenue. An excerpt:
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Top 100 Firms in 2012 Also See Big Jump in Demand for Attest Services, Cash-Flow Forecasting and Management Accounting Today reports in its latest iteration of Top 100 Accounting Firms that the top two fastest-growing niches in accounting services are now international tax services and state and local tax services, edging out business valuation, last year’s fastest-growing niche. Danielle Lee reports (free registration required):
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Case Studies, Strategies for Detecting Fraud, and a Framework for Prevention Corporate governance legislation has become increasingly concerned with the ongoing resilience of organizations, and, particularly, with their ability to resist corporate fraud from the lowest levels to the upper echelons of corporate management. These titles offer both case studies on recent fraud cases as well as guidance for strategies on fraud detection and prevention.
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Difficulties Sometimes Complicate a Valuation Engagement. Here’s How to Anticipate and Derail Potential Disasters With Solid Upfront Client Conversations Conversations with clients are critical to ensure both owner and appraiser are in agreement about standards in a final report, the length of time the process will take, what the final report will look like, and how much it costs. In this second installment in a two-part series, Rand Curtiss takes us through common objections prospects challenge appraisers with and suggests savvy responses to each. Be sure to read part one HERE.
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Difficulties Sometimes Complicate a Valuation Engagement. Here’s How to Anticipate and Derail Potential Disasters With Solid, Upfront Client Conversations Conversations with clients, both current and prospective, are critically important to ensure both owner and appraiser are in agreement about what standards will be used to produce the final report, how long the process will take, and what it will ultimately look like and cost. In the first of a two-part series, Rand Curtiss takes us through a set of questions valuators should ask of clients, as well as some they should expect to be asked themselves.
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Watch Out, Wall Street! The Federal Reserve, a Primary Banking Regulator, is Trying Harder to Spot Speculative Excesses Peter Eavis at The New York Times Dealbook reports: In a speech on Thursday, governor Jeremy C. Stein, who joined the Fed last year, focused on parts of the financial markets that show signs of overheating. He went into considerable detail, citing metrics that appear designed to spot bubbles. Specifically, Mr. Stein raised a red flag about junk bonds and mortgage-backed securities, and how investors are financing their purchases of such assets.
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Troopers Knocked on the Door. Say They Were Greeted by a Stoned Man Named Clarence Stone. Everyone knows tax season can be an especially stressful time.
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Want to Develop and Publish a Mobile App? Demand is Real and Growing. A Compelling Idea, Solid Plan, and Choice of App Marketplace are Key. Jeffrey Drew at The Journal of Accountancy reports that with the digital delivery of products and services emerging as a top technology trend, CPAs are beginning to explore the development of mobile apps. What they have found so far is that the path to the Apple App Store can be riddled with pitfalls. Find out how you can create and distribute a mobile app that boosts your business or career.
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Appraisers Should Focus on Objectivity and Competence and Be Ready and Flexible to Deal with Unanticipated Challenges—From Vague Case Law to New Evidence to Erupting Personalities. Rand Curtiss expounds on his philosophy that business appraisal is about boundaries: limits on what we can do. Every work challenge is filled with a large number of people, each of whom have different boundaries. Business sellers want emotionally high prices. Plaintiffs want to destroy defendants. Taxpayers want to minimize taxes. Scenarios are complicated by the fact that a central problem in business appraisal is balancing the purely scientific with a bit of the…
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Six Days of Package Delivery and Five Days of Mail. Does This Mean Stamp Prices Will Go Down by 16¢? Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports that the U.S. Postal Service said Wednesday that it will end Saturday delivery of letters starting in August, but will continue to deliver packages, in an effort to cut costs. More: The Postal Service expects to generate cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually once the plan for five-day mail delivery and six-day package delivery is fully implemented. The move could have an impact on accountants and their clients who need to receive…
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The IRS Has a Nationwide Organization of Approximately 2,000 Taxpayer Advocates to Help U.S. Individual and Business Taxpayers Resolve Problems. Here’s How It Can Help Advisors and Your Clients. Nina E. Olson is the IRS’s National Taxpayer Advocate. Since 2001, she has led the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), a nationwide organization of approximately 2,000 taxpayer advocates who help U.S. individual and business taxpayers resolve problems and work with the IRS to correct systemic and procedural problems. In this capacity, she reports to Congress annually on the most serious problems taxpayers face in dealing with the IRS and proposes solutions.…