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 maintains an illegal policy of refusing to pay hospitals for Medicare outpatient services in cases where auditors retroactively conclude that inpatient care should have been delivered outside the hospital. “What the federal government is doing is wrong, unfair and a clear violation…
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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:
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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.
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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.
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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:
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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 Court in Connecticut, claims that Apple’s Quick Look violates Patent No. 7,921,139, a system for “sequentially opening and displaying files in a directory.”Introduced in 2007 with Mac OS X Leopard, Apple’s Quick Look allows users…
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Federal Agency Identifies Valuation Risk Factors and Best Practices Could the Securities Exchange Commission’s informal inquiry regarding valuation be an opening salvo to allow more formal investigation, or even regulatory action? The McLean Group shares an in-depth analysis of the SEC’s findings.
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What Can be Won by Avoiding Litigation? By using the litigation-derived adversarial process as a template to educate and a resource for better decision-making, writes Paul Leiman, owners may well find that litigation itself can be avoided. Find out how.
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A Balance of Valuation and Litigation Work; Secrets to Enhanced Productivity Marcie Bour, Founder and President of the Florida Business Valuation Group, offers tips and strategies on time management, favorite appraisal tools, marketing strategies, the benefits of client diversification, and the value of networking and seeking out mentors.
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How to Maintain Independence and Professionalism in a Complex and Changing Niche As divorce laws change, attorneys increasingly rely on financial experts such as business appraisers and forensic accountants. In this article, Robert D. Feder discusses the role of a financial analyst in the context of matrimonial law. He also covers some of the potential pitfalls of the trade.
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Valuators Must be More Than “Lucky Punks” How can appraisers best figure the cost of equity capital? Rand M. Curtiss argues that using standard tools including Ibbottson, Duff & Phelps, CAPM, or the Butler-Pinkerton model aren’t enough. What to use instead? Curtiss suggests starting with a look at the rate of return on mezzanine money and the rate of return on later-stage VC investments. Find out why.
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Forensic Accounting Revenue in the U.S. is Expected to Grow 6.8% Annually A recent market research report noted in The CPA Insider reports that demand for forensic accounting services will remain strong over the next five years in the United States as a result of increased financial regulations and continued demand for investigative services in the wake of the recession:
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“It Got a Bit Ugly” Sarah E. Needleman at the WSJ Small Business Blog reports: Ten months after co-founding a communications firm in 2008, Tami Hausman asked her business partner to meet at a local Starbucks. Things weren’t working out, Ms. Hausman says, and she wanted to run the New York company on her own.
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A Credit Card Debt is Settled, But Tax on DOI Income Still Due Judge Ruwe at the Tax Court finds petitioners owe tax on income from a settled credit card debt in Shepherd v. Commissioner, and a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania rules on the valuation of a mortgagee’s creditor’s secured claim in Buena Vista Oceanside, LLC., v. Optimum Bank
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Avoiding the “Why Me’s”: Easy-to-Implement Steps to Mitigate Fraud Risk Financial fraud can be devastating and fiscal, legal, and developmental repercussions can impede the operations of a business for years after an incident. Paul E. Zikmund takes us through his four-step process to actively deter fraud within an organization.
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Understand the Critical Distinction Between a “Testifying Expert” and a “Consulting Expert.” Brad Eldridge and Rebekah Smith explain how the requirements for a “testifying expert” in litigation work vary considerably from those for a “consulting expert.” Learn more about this distinction and find out how consultants can develop a checklist of best practices for courtroom preparation.
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Critically Assess Underlying Data and an Appropriate Method for Value Determination Richard Claywell regularly reviews business valuations that seem to consider the asset, market, and income approaches in forming an opinion, but that never explain or justify a weighting methodology used to arrive at a final value conclusion. Here’s why that’s a mistake.
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Appeals Courts in Iowa and Mississippi Settle Divorce Disputes The Mississippi Court of Appeals reverses a trial court’s ruling in Marter v. Marter because of a valuation without sufficient evidence, and the Iowa Court of Appeals affirms the value of a wife’s intangible contributions to a business in re Marriage of Kinser.
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Enumerate Specific Assets, and a Specific Methodology for Those Assets If a fair market value is determined by multiple appraisers, it’s likely to be too high—and lead to a rush for the door, where the first doctor out wins. Here’s why.
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Owners Can Improve Cash Flow, Reduce Risk, and Generate Growth Successful exit plans require building long-term value, and Ron Stacey explains how business owners can begin to do that today by improving cash flow, reducing risk, and accelerating growth.