As part of the ongoing effort to converge with U.S. GAAP, the International Accounting Standards Board developed IFRS 8, Operating Segments, which became effective Jan. 1. This standard closely resembles FASB Statement no. 131's "through the eyes of management" approach and supersedes IAS 14, from which it differs in many important aspects.

Real estate prices are declining, and some business tenants leasing their facilities may be considering purchasing the property instead. A recent tax case may also provide them encouragement in the form of a current deduction for the portion of the cost allocable to ending the lease.

Want a better way to deploy networked software to employees? An application server can host your firm’s shared programs and better protect data now stored on laptops. It’ll give employees an identical computing experience regardless of their location or device. And by connecting your application server to inexpensive, but effective, workstations known as diskless thin clients, you can recover faster when employees’ systems fail.

Following the recent publication of the SEC's proposed road map for the adoption of IFRS by U.S.-based public companies, American CPAs may soon be leading IFRS transition teams. An industry-based CPA with two major IFRS implementations under his belt shares best practices and tips for success.

Asset value meltdown, debt demands, cash squeeze–symptoms of the current recession might call for some relief from taxes. The JofA interviews the AICPA’s Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president–taxation, about provisions and planning in a down economy.

Besides extending a number of tax breaks, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 introduced a number of new ones. Here’s a quick guide to the act’s most salient tax features.