An economic downturn like the current one can cause fixed lease obligations to become burdensome and trigger a significant negative impact on leasing in many markets. Real property and other business assets may have been leased in a sale-leaseback transaction, or the lessee may have simply desired use but not
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Diamond Receives Personal Financial Planning Award
Irvin F. Diamond, CPA/PFS, of Albuquerque, N.M., received the AICPA’s 2008 Personal Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award. Presented at the 2009 Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference in San Diego, the award is given to an AICPA volunteer who significantly contributes to the advancement of personal financial planning as a practice
How to Recognize a Safe Program Update Invitation
When I boot up my Windows XP computer, I keep getting a pop-up above my system tray that says: Updates are ready for your computer. Click here to install these updates. How do I know this is not some kind of virus? There is no indication who is sending them.
Small Business
The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering free online training courses and other resources to assist small businesses in more effectively managing their firms in the current slow economy. Courses are available at www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses. The courses cover issues such as revising business plans to reposition with current conditions, winning
Democrats Keep Exemption
In the waning days of the Bush administration, the government ended its long-running effort to retroactively revoke the tax-exempt status of a Democratic Party-affiliated organization that it claimed had improperly promoted the party’s candidates. In 1985, prominent members of the Democratic Party including then-Gov. Bill Clinton formed the Democratic Leadership
Retired Professor and Researcher Honored for Lifetime Contribution to Management Accounting
Jacob G. Birnberg, Ph.D., was awarded the 2008 Lifetime Contribution Award from the Management Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association. The award, sponsored by the AICPA, recognizes individuals who have made an important mark on management accounting, education, research and practice. Birnberg was honored for his research and teachings
Researchers Win Award in Management Accounting
Janek Ratnatunga, Norman Gray and Bala K.R. (Kashi) Balachandran are the winners of the first Greatest Potential Impact on Practice Award for research in management accounting, an award given by the American Accounting Association’s Management Accounting Section and sponsored by the AICPA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the
Help for Solving CPAs’ Ethical Dilemmas
Company controller Plony, CPA, prepared his employer’s 2007 financial statements knowing that they misstated revenues. The company’s CEO, who could fire Plony at will, “strongly urged” Plony to record sales at full invoice prices despite customers’ rights to return merchandise long after a normal return period. Plony’s brother-in-law, a company
Banking
The FDIC’s board of directors, as required by the Government Performance and Results Act, released its FDIC Strategic Plan, 2008–2013. The latest release supersedes the FDIC Strategic Plan, 2005–2010, which was approved in 2005. The plan includes the FDIC’s longterm strategic goals and objectives for carrying out its core
A Path to Financial Stability
A sound business strategy is important no matter what the state of the economy. As you work with clients to determine the best methods of surviving the recession, be sure to discuss the following critical points for seizing opportunities to refocus, contain expenses and reassure customers. Take a fresh look
U.S. Pastures Not Looking as Green to Renewable Energy Investors
The economic downturn has caused the United States to lose its clear leadership position as the best country in which to invest in renewable energy, allowing Germany to tie it for first place, according to an Ernst & Young study. E&Y’s latest Renewable energy country attractiveness indices—which track and score
Inventory Your Keyboard Shortcuts and Clear Out the Useless Ones
Help! Something happened to my shortcut keys in Word. They got all botched up. I know how to reset them, so that’s not my question. But what I discovered when I started to reset them was that I have way more shortcuts than I thought I had— and for tasks
The Complete Guide for Investing During Retirement
by Thomas MaskellAdams Media, 2009, 256 pp. If you, or a client, have reached retirement age with only a modest savings for retirement, this book is for you. With no market experience, former engineer Thomas Maskell started his investing career during retirement and learned the business of buying and selling
IFRS: A Preparer’s Point of View
If you think IFRS is difficult for CPAs to comprehend, talk to non-CPAs. Historically, accounting professionals have insulated their colleagues from understanding the effort involved in implementing newly issued accounting standards. As a result, you cannot expect them to understand the challenge associated with adopting an entirely new framework. To
Double Accounting for Goodwill: A Problem Redefined
by Martin BloomRoutledge, 2008, 248 pp. This book traces the history of the goodwill accounting controversy in detail. The book explores the problem of recognizing the importance of goodwill as a whole and finding a way of presenting meaningful information regarding it in the context of financial statements. The author
The Other Other Side of Annuities
I just read the article “Annuities and the Other Side of the Retirement Savings Coin” (Jan. 09, page 36). The article discusses many of the benefits of annuities but does not seem to discuss in much detail the risks of purchasing an annuity, such as the risk of the insurance
Pensions
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) released the Pension Insurance Data Book 2007, which contains statistical trends related to defined benefit retirement plans in the private sector. The Data Book also contains a feature article examining standard terminations, the most common procedure used to end PBGC-insured single-employer defined benefit
Stimulus Act Eases Taxes for Individuals, Small Businesses
With the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Feb. 17, Congress delivered a smorgasbord of tax relief items to individual taxpayers and small businesses. While the specifics of those measures were the subject of whirlwind conference negotiations in Congress, the outcome reflects an attempt to
Representing Clients With Tax Delinquencies and Deficiencies
It’s not unusual for CPAs to encounter clients delinquent in filing individual, corporate or payroll returns. CPAs can establish a rewarding practice niche if they are prepared to offer a full range of tax resolution options and be a trusted ally to clients who need to atone for their lapses
Institute Seeks Volunteers to Provide Feedback on Revenue Recognition Model
The AICPA is looking for volunteers to provide feedback on the new revenue recognition model proposed by FASB and the IASB. The boards have developed a single, contract-based revenue recognition model to improve financial reporting by providing clearer guidance on when an entity should recognize revenue and by reducing the
Features
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
Create interactive dashboards with Excel PivotCharts and slicers
Leave the static spreadsheets behind. This JofA Technology Q&A article with video walkthrough provides a step-by-step guide for creating interactive dashboards in Excel that decision-makers can use.
From The Tax Adviser
January 31, 2026
Trust distributions in kind and the Sec. 643(e)(3) election
January 31, 2026
Effects of the OBBBA on higher education
December 31, 2025
