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June 18, 2013 |  BY Neil Amato |  Article

The Federal Reserve chairman holds considerable influence over the U.S. economy, which is why many business leaders are keeping a close eye on whether Ben Bernanke, whose term as Fed chairman expires Jan. 31, will step down or whether President Barack Obama will even reappoint him to another term as chairman.

June 12, 2013 |  BY Kim Nilsen |  Article

FASB on Wednesday voted to indefinitely defer certain disclosures about investments held by a nonpublic employee benefit plan (EBP) in the plan sponsor’s own equity securities. Stakeholders have expressed concerns to FASB that certain disclosure requirements for nonpublic EBPs would reveal sensitive proprietary information of private companies. FASB in the next few weeks will issue an Accounting Standards Update, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Deferral of the Effective Date of Certain Disclosures for Nonpublic Employee Benefit Plans in Update No.

June 12, 2013 |  BY Sally P. Schreiber, J.D. |  Article

The Tax Court upheld IRS-assessed deficiencies caused by the disallowance of a number of travel expenses an oral surgeon deducted on his Schedules C, Profit or Loss From Business, for 2008 and 2009, and its imposition of a negligence penalty under Sec. 6662(a) (Bigdeli, T.C. Memo. 2013-148). Javad Bigdeli lived in Gladwyne, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia, but his dental office was in Elmsford, N.Y., which is north of New York City.

June 11, 2013 |  BY Chris Baysden |  Article

The AICPA released an exposure draft of a Proposed Statement on Standards in Personal Financial Planning Services on Tuesday as part of an initiative that’s expected to help boost the profile of CPA personal financial planning (PFP) practitioners. The proposal outlines members’ responsibilities in PFP engagements. These responsibilities include: General professional responsibilities; Responsibilities of members in PFP engagements; Planning the PFP engagement; Obtaining and analyzing information; Developing and communicating recommendations; Monitoring and updating engagements; Working with other service providers; and Using advice provided by other service providers

June 11, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

An auditor of an SEC issuer’s financial statements is not precluded from performing an independent private-sector audit of that client’s conflict minerals report, according to nonauthoritative guidance prepared by an AICPA task force. Seven new questions and answers the AICPA has issued on its Conflict Minerals Resources webpage provide nonauthoritative guidance on independence issues related to performing—or considering whether to accept an engagement to perform—an independent private-sector audit of a client’s conflict minerals report.

June 11, 2013 |  BY Jeff Drew |  Article

Succession planning and staffing joined new client acquisition and dealing with the complexities of rapidly changing tax regulations as the top issues facing U.S. accounting firms, according to an AICPA survey released Tuesday. The 2013 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues survey found evidence that CPA firms are moving out of survival mode and into a mindset focused on growth.

June 10, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The AICPA on Monday launched the Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (FRF for SMEs), a new option for small business financial reporting. Designed to help smaller, privately held, owner-managed businesses, the FRF for SMEs accounting option is intended for businesses that do not need to prepare GAAP-compliant financial statements.

June 10, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

The march toward possible exceptions and modifications to U.S. GAAP for private companies continued Monday when FASB voted to issue three Private Company Council (PCC) initiatives for public exposure. FASB expects to issue the exposure drafts later this month. After the exposure period, the PCC will review comments of stakeholders before redeliberating on the possible changes for private companies.

June 10, 2013 |  BY Sally P. Schreiber |  Article

On Monday, the IRS issued final regulations on the 10% excise tax that has been in effect for amounts paid for indoor tanning services since July 1, 2010 (T.D. 9621). The regulations, which apply to amounts paid on or after June 11, 2013, finalize proposed rules issued in 2010 when the tax first became effective and withdraw the temporary regulations issued at the same time (T.D.

June 7, 2013 |  BY Ken Tysiac |  Article

A FASB standard released Friday identifies characteristics a company must assess to determine whether it is considered an investment company for financial reporting purposes. Accounting Standards Update No. 2013-08, Financial Services—Investment Companies (Topic 946): Amendments to the Scope, Measurement, and Disclosure Requirements, takes effect for fiscal years beginning after Dec.