On June 1, 2017 the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) adopted a new auditing standard to provide additional information to investors.  The new standard received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 23, 2017.  In this post, Rohan Bose, financial analyst with Mercer Capital, summarizes several of the major changes coming to audit reports in the near future. To read t ...

In October 2015, the SEC adopted final rules governing the crowdfunding of startups and Regulation Crowdfunding was issued in May 2016.  The new rules allow non-accredited investors to invest directly in startup (and other) companies that can raise up to one million dollars every twelve months through crowdfunding.  Now, a year after Regulation Crowdfunding came into effect, Samantha Albert, senior financia ...

  Back in 2007, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) were hot on the heels of Switzerland-based mega financial institutions like UBS, Credit Suisse, and Wegelin for assisting wealthy Americans in hiding billions of dollars in foreign accounts. Part of the fallout included the enactment of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in 2010, which requires all foreign banks to file reports wi ...

According to Accounting Today, performance for private companies increased for the third straight quarter. Based on a report by Sageworks, sales for private companies grew an average of 8.6 percent in the past year, yielding an increase in net profit margins of nearly 7 percent. Among the industries seeing the highest increases were law firms and medical practices. The report also identified the 10 industri ...

A Fitch Ratings report has shared serious doubts that the practice principles of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) would be fully implemented in the U.S. anytime in the near future, as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) turns colder on the idea. Three sticking points to the merger of the methods remain financial instruments, insurance and leasing. Financial products with U. ...

  More than a decade in the making, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have released a converged standard on revenue recognition. Titled, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers”, the standard is designed to enhance the process of revenue reporting and improve comparability in financial statements among corporations using IFRS and U.S. ...

The Thought of Every Employee Working Together with a Shared Vision of Business Success is a Dream Situation for Companies.  Here's How to Make it Happen.  Gary Davie Friday at Management Today weighs in on how in 2012 the U.K. government (Management Today is UK-based) announced its support for employee ownership, recognizing its ability to promote long-term thinking and growth.  Since then, a number of leg ...

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 a ...

Estate of Elkins Included Works by Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Paul Cezanne, and Jasper Johns Roger Russell at Accounting Today reports that in the case, Estate of Elkins, 140 TC No. 5, the court applied Section 2703(a)(2) of the Tax Code in valuing the art, which included works by Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Henry Moore, Paul Cezanne, and Jasper Johns.  Section 2703(a)(2) of the Tax Code provides ...

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 (fre ...

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 an ...

Still Fighting for its RTRP Program;  More Case Analysis and Industry Reaction Frank Byrt at Accounting Web reports what's happened in last two weeks since the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found the IRS lacked authority to regulate independent tax preparers.  Here's more: ...

You Can Now Follow the IRS on Twitter, Like it on Facebook, View Updates on YouTube, and Connect on LinkedIn Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports at the Internal Revenue Service has joined the popular microblogging service Tumblr, expanding the IRS’s array of social media networks. ...

Sweet Tax Deductions for Individuals That Often Get Forgotten  With October 15 behind us and April 15 still comfortably far away, it’s a good time to start boning up on ways to save your clients money once things start getting serious. With that in mind, Bankrate.com identified 10 great deductions that individual taxpayers should use – but often forget.  Accounting Today passes on the good news.  Here's the ...

Ahead of the new health-care law, small firms worry about crossing the crucial 50-person threshold — and about rising premium rates  Emily Maltby at the WSJ Law blog reports on increasing concerns about the forthcoming healthcare laws among small business owners.  This seems to be a prominent issue and concern among small business owners, and has been noted in most every major media outlet in recent weeks, ...

Qualifying Offices Can Deduct Up to $1,500 Per Year Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports that The Internal Revenue Service plans to introduce a simplified way for small business owners and home-based employees to claim the home office tax deduction. ...

Solid revenue growth last year following strong performance in 2010 and 2011 after a severe revenue decline in 2009 Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports this growth according to a newly published analysis.  The report, from the social networking forum Big4.com, analyzed the 2012 financial performance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It found that after a strong 2011, fisc ...

Ambitious plans to overhaul the individual tax code, tackle corporate rates, revamp the Medicare program and consider changes in Social Security appear to have given way mainly to a tax increases for big earners Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times reports that "doing business in pieces" seems to be :the nature of what constitutes progress in such a sharply divided political world."  More: ...

Although 2013 Rates Are Still Unclear, Smart Planners Are Making These Moves Today Laura Sanders at the Wall Street Journal reports that the annual scramble to make smart tax moves before December 31 is proving especially vexing this year, since Congress still hasn’t settled 2013 tax rates on income, investments, large gifts, and estates. Deductions and other breaks are in doubt.  And some questions—such as ...

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: ...