The AICPA and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) announced the final approval of proposed revisions to the Statement on Standards for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Programs. The standards are the framework for developing, presenting, measuring and reporting CPE programs. More information is available at tinyurl.com/7rvpbkj. These
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Secure your laptop
Q: I use a Windows password to protect my laptop computer (which runs Windows 7 Professional), but my colleague has advised me to set up a BIOS password, too. Is a BIOS password warranted? A: The use of BIOS and Windows passwords will prevent others from turning on your
Award recognizes significant contributions to PFP discipline
Karen Goodfriend, a principal founding member of KK Wealth Advisors LLC in Los Altos, Calif., received the 2011 Personal Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award. The award, which was presented in January at the Institute’s Advanced Personal Financial Planning Conference in Las Vegas, recognizes an AICPA volunteer who contributes significantly to
Keep the best and brightest
The AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) recently completed a national survey about the attitudes and aspirations of the most promising young accounting professionals. The 2011 PCPS Top Talent Study (available at tinyurl.com/6tygubv) suggests how firms of all sizes can hang on to top talent. —By Yasmine El-Ramly, CPA/CITP, (yelramly@aicpa.org),
News highlights for April 2012
FASB issued a Proposed Accounting Standards Update that it said would reduce costs and simplify the guidance for testing for impairment indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill. The amendments in the Proposed ASU, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, would allow an organization to assess
Financial reporting
In a move that will be closely scrutinized in the United States, the IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board and trustees announced joint plans for improving the governance and financing of the International Accounting Standards Board’s parent organization and setting its strategy. The monitoring board, a group of public authorities, will
Uncertain tax position documents not protected
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims held that a taxpayer had to produce documents requested by the IRS containing information about its tax reserve for uncertain tax positions reported in its financial statements and other information concerning tax advice. According to the court, since the taxpayer had relied on the
Prop. regs., rulings facilitate “longevity annuities”
The IRS issued proposed rules (REG-115809-11) that would permit IRA participants to enter into contracts for annuities that begin at an advanced age (often called longevity annuities), using a certain amount of their account balances without having these amounts count for calculating required minimum distributions from the IRAs under Regs.
FYI
Jeanette Franzel, a managing director of the Government Accountability Office, was appointed to the PCAOB. Franzel has been a longtime participant in the PCAOB’s standing advisory group through the GAO’s role as an observer. She replaces Daniel Goelzer, a founding Board member who helped launch the PCAOB in 2002
Authors contributing to the March 2012 issue
John W. Briggs, Ph.D., is an associate professor of accounting at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. He teaches financial accounting courses, including accounting theory. His research focuses on financial accounting and tax topics.
Temporary regs distinguish capital improvements from repairs
Late in 2011, the IRS issued long-awaited temporary and identical proposed regulations (T.D. 9564; REG-168745-03) regarding the treatment of expenditures incurred in acquiring, producing or improving tangible assets, including rules on determining whether costs related to tangible property are deductible repairs or capital improvements. The temporary regulations clarify and expand
Internal control, revisited
For about 20 years, the popular internal control framework of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) has been like a favorite tool in a craftsman’s shop. Its guidance has held up over time with original components that have been so sound that a large majority of
Whistleblower allowed anonymity in Tax Court
While denying a tax whistleblower’s appeal of an IRS award rejection, the Tax Court agreed to grant the whistleblower anonymity in court proceedings and to redact identifying information from the case record. The court said the requested relief was reasonably necessary to protect the petitioner’s privacy interests as a confidential
Students show fraud and forensics smarts to win 2011 accounting competition
A team of students from North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., won the 2011 AICPA National Accounting Competition, which focused on fraud and forensics. The case competition featured a fictional Texas company looking to expand its business into Nigerian oil fields. Ninety-eight student teams from around the country entered
Built-in gains tax issues
Millions of corporations have found S corporation status to be beneficial for both federal and state income tax purposes. When a corporation makes an election to be taxed as an S corporation, its shareholders generally are taxed on their allocable shares of income and may—subject to limitations—deduct their allocable shares
Prop. regs clarify basis reporting for debt, options
In late November, the IRS released proposed regulations (REG-102988-11) clarifying how debt instruments and options will be treated under the new securities basis information reporting regime of Sec. 6045. The IRS had previously addressed treatment of stock under the reporting requirement, which was instituted by the Energy Improvement and Extension
Institute awards Carey scholarships
Ten students were awarded the John L. Carey Scholarship, which is presented annually to students with little or no previous accounting education and who intend to pursue graduate accounting degrees and become CPAs. Each winner receives $5,000 to cover tuition and other educational expenses, funded by an endowment of the
A strategic approach to IT budgeting
Organizations of all types struggle with information technology (IT) budgeting. This often happens because the IT team doesn’t understand the budgeting process and the finance team doesn’t understand IT. CPAs, whether in public practice, business and industry, the not-for-profit sector or government, can remedy this disconnect by changing their organization’s
Institute names new director of media relations
Diane Helyne Zyats was named director–Media Relations for the Institute. Zyats has held a number of senior-level positions, including vice president for communications at the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, and earlier at the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association, where she built ELFA’s visibility among the media and policymakers. She also served
AICPA participates in international accounting sustainability forum
The AICPA was among the international accounting bodies represented at the recent Accounting Sustainability Forum in London. His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales addressed the forum with remarks on the economic invisibility of nature, asking attendees to consider how the value of natural resources can be taken into account
Features
FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
Flip out with the latest Tech Q&A
The September Technology Q&A column shows how to create dynamic to-do lists with Excel's checkboxes and also how to set up multifactor authentication texts that don't rely on phones. Flip through both items and view a video walkthrough in our digital format.
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