October 1999 - Journal of Accountancy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE IRS ISSUED NEW DISCLOSURE RULES TO INCREASE the extent to which exempt organizations must distribute information to the public. Effective June 8, 1999, the rules put a greater burden on organizations to make copies of documents available upon request or to make them widely accessible through other

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A GROWING NUMBER OF FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS are seeking temporary rather than permanent positions. Executives and professionals now make up 7% of the temporary workforce. Financial temps can earn between $200 and $1,500 a day, depending on local business conditions and the temp’s skills. A TEMP CAN FILL A

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX (AMT) HAS BECOME an increasing concern for middle-income taxpayers. The AMT is not just a problem for wealthy taxpayers who engage in activities that result in tax preferences. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions are subjecting a growing number of taxpayers to the AMT. FOR

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE CASH GAP IS a simple concept that helps operating people understand how their actions affect a company’s cash flow. It is easy to illustrate with a simple diagram. FOUR BARS ON A TIME LINE are all it takes to get the point across. The first represents days

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs WORKING IN INDUSTRY have a unique perspective on the client–CPA firm relationship and many ideas about what they need from their companies’ CPA firms. Many industry CPAs want their accounting firms to be a primary business resource—a strategic ally. CPAs IN BUSINESS WANT VALUE-ADDED SERVICE from their

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE INTERNET IS CHANGING the way businesses do business, and that means business managers must rethink what they expect from their accounting software. Your software should be able to Publish Web catalogs directly from, and make links to, the software’s inventory module, which means customers can see, among

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PUBLIC COMPANIES that fail to report quarterly earnings which meet or exceed analysts’ expectations often experience a drop in their stock prices. This can lead to practices that sometimes include fraudulent overstatement of quarterly revenue. ONE OF THE MOST COMMON schemes is the bill-and-hold sales transaction. While it’s

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SINCE SPREADSHEETS ARE tools that not only describe a company’s financial history but also tell its future, even tiny errors in one cell can be disastrous. Yet, as CPAs know, spreadsheets usually do contain errors. WHILE THERE ARE WAYS to ferret out and correct most errors, CPAs should

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FORMULATING A successful exit strategy requires figuring out what your client really wants and devising a plan to get there. CPAs in public practice and in industry are uniquely positioned as trusted advisers to develop a sound exit strategy. FINDING OUT WHAT YOUR CLIENT WANTS is the first