Twenty large U.S. companies have formed an alliance in an effort to rebalance relationships between corporate America and the health supply chain. Andrew Kenney, contributing editor for CGMA, explains. To read the full article in CGMA Magazine, click: U.S. Companies Align to Control Health Care Costs.
-
-
Hitchner, Pratt, and Fishman Answer the Call In the past month, business valuation professionals have read reviews from a number of practitioners serving as reviewers for the Q&A Guide. All of them are positive. In this book review, we go into a little more detail and discuss what these established and accomplished business valuation professionals and leaders answer in the Q&A Guide. So, what does this book cover? What is not covered? These questions are answered in this review.
-
Benchmarking Your Reports and Examining What Hypothetical Conditions and/or Extraordinary Assumptions You Have Made! However, thanks to WikiLeaks, “The Interview”, and Sony Pictures, a rather sizeable repository of sample reports exist free of charge. These reports, as you might expect, are from the transaction arms of Big Four firms as well as leading national shops. Anyone who has been doing this for a while has seen valuation reports from almost every large firm out there. But for those new to the profession, or people helping others along, these now public documents are of educational value, in my opinion.
-
The IRS is Challenging the Appropriateness of Discounts when Preparing a Valuation The current regulations, Revenue-Ruling 93-12, allow for discounts when valuing a Family Limited Partnership (FLP). The proposal is expected to potentially limit the allowed discount and consequently raise the taxable portion of the trust or estate structures. This article reviews the current requirements for FLPs, their history, and the potential exposure to FLP’s in the near future.
-
Improving Organizational Well-Being Why have an employee hotline? What are the benefits, if any, of an employee hotline? In this article, Ray Dunkle shares his views and the results of implementation. While many forward-thinking organizations are increasingly implementing hotlines, the best practice of such a hotline is so new to most, that few know how to successfully do so. The remainder of this article provides practical insights, including how to gain support from those who are resistant to change.
-
The AICPA’s Center for Plain English Accounting conducted an investigation into the applicability of the disclosure requirement of open tax years associated with the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes. Robert Durak, Director- Center for Plain English Accounting, American Institute of CPAs, discusses a CPEA investigation into the matter. To find out more on AICPA’s article, click: AICPA Insights.
-
The AICPA’s Accounting Inclusion Maturity Model helps organizations assess their current diversity and inclusion practices in four core areas: workforce, workplace, marketplace, and community and supplier relations. To find out more on AICPA’s tools, click: Where does your firm stand on Diversity and Inclusion?
-
Do you and your employees know how to get the most tax savings when choosing a benefit election? Sujan Rajbhandary, senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, discusses an IRC Section 83(b) election and what’s considered in making this choice. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: Look Before You Leap: Evaluating a Section 83(b) Election. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit: http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.
-
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has sent a letter urging Rep. Paul Ryan (R–Wis.), the new chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to follow the AICPA’s principles of good tax policy to guide tax reform. The letter comes in response to the Tax Reform Act of 2014, a draft proposal put forth by the former Ways and Means chair Dave Camp (R–Mich.). The AICPA’s letter addresses 22 major items pertaining to the proposal, including income tax rate reform, employment tax modification, the repeal of the alternative minimum tax, plus taxpayer protections. To learn more about…
-
Opinions are like viewpoints; everyone has one Opinions are often provided in connection with calculation values and a conclusion of value. SSVS No. 1 does not prohibit or explicitly endorse either. In this article, Jim Hitchner shares his views on whether the term “opinion”―offered in a litigation or non-litigation engagement—should be used as part of the engagement or offered in connection with a calculated value.
-
In spite of the current economic climate, a recent survey from the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) showed that 54 percent of valuation professionals expected a 10 to 50 percent increase in the demand for their services over the next two to five years. These results are part of the 2014 AICPA Survey on International Trends in Forensic and Valuation Services. Forensic experts were even more optimistic about their future as 76 percent expected a healthy increase in business, mostly due to a rise in litigation and regulatory oversight. Electronic data analysis was voted the number one issue facing…
-
Reconciling compliance with multi-agency valuation standards While standards exist to uphold the integrity of business valuation, multi-credentialed professionals can face a daunting task when trying to compare and comply with all guidelines across the spectrum of issuing agencies. This article seeks to root out possible conflicts and create clarity among standards so valuators may perform with less effort and more accuracy.
-
In case you missed it, Z. Christopher Mercer, ASA, CFA, ABAR, founder and CEO of Mercer Capital, was the keynote speaker at the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) 2014 bi-annual joint conference this year. His presentation concerned The Five Really Big Valuation Issues. They included: 1.) discount rates, 2.) control premiums and minority interest discounts, 3.) adjustments to the income statement, 4.) the Guideline Public Company Method and the Guideline Transaction Method, and 5.) fundamental adjustments. The presentation also touched on marketability discounts. You can visit Mercer Capital at the link…
-
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) recently sent a letter to the IRS calling a proposed “voluntary” certification program for unenrolled tax return preparers “unlawful and improper”. In a recent ruling, Loving, No. 13-5061 (D.C. Cir. 2/11/14), it was held that the IRS does not have the statutory authority to regulate tax return preparers. In the aftermath, IRS Commissioner, John Koskinen, stated that while the agency may look to Congress to grant the authority it seeks, it was considering implementing a “voluntary certification program” in the meantime, calling it “continuing education”. In a strongly-worded response to the IRS, the…
-
A view of the use and limits of option models (Part 2 of 2) Option pricing models (OPMs) are increasingly used to estimate the discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) in the business valuation profession. Some analysts disagree about whether OPMs are applicable for estimating the DLOM. Since OPMs were originally derived to determine option prices for publicly traded securities, many analysts question the merits of applying them to closely held securities. This discussion explores the controversies of applying OPMs to estimate the DLOM for nonmarketable securities.
-
A view of the use and limits of option models (Part 1 of 2) Option pricing models (OPMs) are increasingly used to estimate the discount for lack of marketability (DLOM) in the business valuation profession. Some analysts disagree about whether OPMs are applicable for estimating the DLOM. Since OPMs were originally derived to determine option prices for publicly traded securities, many analysts question the merits of applying them to closely held securities. This discussion explores the controversies of applying OPMs to estimate the DLOM for nonmarketable securities.
-
In a letter to the FASB and IASB, the AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) suggested that a dividing line be created between Type A and Type B leases that deviates from the rule the boards have proposed. While FinREC supported the objectives calling for transparency and recognition on-balance sheet for all leases, it disagreed with the test for how leases would be classified. For details on the discrepancies in the lease classification process, visit the full story at the Journal of Accountancy. View [button link=”p://journalofaccountancy.com/News/20138910.htm” color=”silver”] Read Full Article[/button]
-
Recently, the FASB issued exposure drafts of Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) which propose reductions in the cost and complexity of accounting for intangible assets acquired by private companies, as well as subsequent testing for goodwill impairment. The proposed changes in the drafts involve alterations to Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 85, Business Combinations, and Topic 350, Intanbigles—Goodwill and other. Among the suggested changes to Topic 85 is the proposal that a company involved in a business combination may elect (but would not be required) to recognize only the acquired intangible assets that are the direct result of contractual rights…
-
It is far broader than forensic accounting While financial forensics may share some common ground with forensic accounting, these professions are far from identical twins. D. Larry Crumbley, CPA, MAFF lays out the differences between these often misunderstood professions and explores the academic factors that may be contributing to the confusion.
-
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) reports that in less than five years, 75 percent of all CPAs will be at or very near retirement age. Naturally, there’s an undercurrent of panic in the profession. Small and midsize firm owners are reluctant to sell to large operations, not to mention the pain of watching what they’ve spent a lifetime to create simply disappear. There’s also the concern for long-time loyal employees and what such transactions might hold for their fate. For those looking to retire, the answer seems to be merging with firms of a similar size. Mergers…