Exchange Would Make it Easier for Companies to Go Public in the U.S. But Would be Limited to Experienced Investors Dave Michaels at Bloomberg reports that a Securities and Exchange Commission panel suggested that an exchange limited to small businesses should be created. The exchange would make it easier for companies to go public in the U.S. but would be limited to experienced investors better able to asse ...

Obama's New Vision: No Further Increases in Tax Rates; Instead Focus on Eliminating Loopholes and Deductions  And just last week all the pundits were saying any sort of serious budget deal was dead.   Now, The New York Times, CBS News, and Washington Post/Associated Press report that president Barack Obama said future deals with Congress on the U.S. budget could set aside the option of raising tax rates and ...

Stakeholders Discuss Greater Institutional Investor Makeup, Governance Structures, Greater Regulatory Scrutiny Deloitte Insights contributes a piece to the CFO Journal on the Wall Street Journal site, part of a series designed to provide financial executives a customized resource to help them address the strategic, operational and regulatory issues they face in managing their finance organizations and caree ...

Firms Need to Update Technology, Use Social Media, and Hire Younger Advisors, Says Tom Nally of TD Ameritrade Institutional Rachel F. Elson at reports at Financial Planning:  Advisory firms need to start hiring young financial advisers to attract and keep the business of Generation X and Y investors, who will have accumulated $28 trillion of personal wealth by 2018, up from $2 trillion in 2011, said Tom Nal ...

External Attacks, Data Loss are Top Concerns Jeffrey Roman at Government Industry Security interviews Forensics expert Rob Lee  who says its not new types of attacks that concern him. It's the old ones that continue to impact organizations. How can organizations learn from past incidents and respond in 2013? The bulk of the cases he investigates are external breaches, not insider cases, says Lee, a seasoned ...

Cash Flow is the Most Important Financial Item for a Small Business Owners to Pay Attention To. Here's How to Speed it Up.   Cash flow--how cash flows through your organization from sale to invoice to receipt--is the lifeblood of a small company, writes Eric V. Holtzclaw at Inc.com.  And speeding up your cash flow allows you to do more and gives your company more stability.  Here are seven tips:   ...

Accounting Isn't Just a Necessary Evil; Sometimes the Methods Can be Used as a Key Part of Your Business Strategy   Jeff Haden at Inc. answers a question from a reader who wonders if it matters what inventory accounting method she uses.   It does!  Here's some explanation, and specific advice:  ...

Tighter Regulations Leave Less Room for Error When Computing and Disclosing How Much Mortgages Cost.  John Adams at American Banker reports that Ernst Publishing, not related to the accounting company, sells technology and closing cost data to mortgage market players. Its clients include nine of the largest ten originators and servicers and the largest five title insurance companies.  And it has now receive ...

Many Business Buyers Probably Have Some Boilerplate Questions Ready to Ask Business Sellers — But May be Missing the Most Important Ones.   Mike Handelsman, group general manager for BizBuySell.com and BizQuest.com, the Internet's largest and most heavily trafficked business-for-sale marketplaces, recently advised readers at Inc.com that if they're thinking about buying a business, they should put extra eff ...

Details Found in IRS Explanation Issued Wednesday; $20,000 Figure Based on a Family of Four.   In a final regulation issued Wednesday, January 30, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year.   Under Obamacare, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the I ...

“You’re The Boss” Author Josh Patrick Suggests Business Owners Use Credentialed Advisers Who Work Only for You, Employing Intermediaries, Developing a Personal Financial Plan, More.  Josh Patrick is a founder and principal at Stage 2 Planning Partners, where he works with private business owners on creating personal and business value.  Recently he offered some recommendations about selling a business at th ...

On Marketing Mistakes Generally, Bad Marketing Messages in Particular, Social Networking, and More Geoffrey James at Inc.com writes: "A few months ago, I traded emails with best-selling author Seth Godin on the subject of marketing inside small businesses. The more I read over the interview, the more I realize that his advice is priceless."  Here's an excerpt of the interview.  Read the whole piece for the ...

MidasFund Will Not Acquire Distressed Companies; However, it Will Buy Stable Divisions of Bankrupt Companies.  Here's Why.   "Last week’s announcement that MidasFund had started acquiring zombie companies caused a flurry of emails," writes Rob Slee on the MidasMoments blog of the MidasNation site.  "Many of you asked about the differences between acquiring distressed, zombie and healthy companies. Let’s dig ...

Jewels from Seth Godin, Harvey Mackay, Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and Others on Success, Vision, Health, and More  This set of inspirational thoughts for the new year will galvanize you into action.  "At the start of every year," writes Geoffrey James, Sales Source columnist at Inc.com, "I create a list of quotes to guide and inspire me for the next 12 months. Here are the quotes I've selec ...

Pay-for-Performance Provisions are a "Triumph of Theory Over Experience," Writes Bill Keller in "Carrots for Doctors."    "Pay for performance, or P4P in the jargon, is embraced by right and left. It has long been the favorite egghead prescription for our absurdly overpriced, underperforming health care system. The logic  . . .  If only it worked," writes former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller, ...

Six Out of 10 Small-Business Owners Buy Business Benefits of Social Media; 41% Prefer LinkedIn; Only 3% Vouch for Twitter  Not that that stopped Twitter from getting a $9B valuation this last week.   Emily Maltby and Shira Ovide report that the Wall Street Journal and Vistage International recently surveyed 835 small business owners.  Here are the results. ...

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: ...

Learn Best Practices, Changes in Schedule Cs and 1120s, How to Overcome Client Price-Sensitivity, Ways to Enhance Health and Energy, & More CPA Trendlines publishes its Top 10 most-read articles on tax season so far this year.  More: ...

There Are Different Standards. They Have Different Places in Various Appraisals. Here’s Why. Jim Hitchner considers various responses to the query:  “When valuing an operating company, is it necessary to mention USPAP in addition to SSVS 1 when talking about the standards adhered to?”  Good question. There were lots of answers from various valuators in a recent discussion.  Here’s Jim’s take on it all. ...

A Growing Willingness to Adopt a Largely Untested Payment Model Amid Increased Pressure to Curb Spending Melanie Evans at Modern Physician reports that two large Texas health systems with Medicare accountable care contracts are among the latest to enter into commercial ACOs in deals that suggest a growing willingness to adopt the largely untested payment model amid increasing pressure on providers and payer ...