The Tax Court held that a taxpayer could claim a first-time homebuyer credit for a house he didn’t occupy or hold legal title to during the tax year. The taxpayer bore the benefits and burdens of ownership under state law, making him its equitable owner, and his intention to live
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Help for people with dating problems
Q: I have a problem copying dates to a certain spreadsheet. After pasting a date from another Excel spreadsheet, the new spreadsheet changes the date to one day and four years later! However, if I enter a current-year date (such as 9/15) and hit enter, the date correctly defaults to
Pricing, billing and collecting fees
CPA firms provide invaluable advice to business clients but often struggle to run their own businesses effectively, particularly in the areas of pricing, billing and collections. Failure to set appropriate fees, deliver bills in a timely fashion and collect payment promptly—or even in full—cuts into a firm’s profitability, hurting the
When a client leaves or loses a job
Given the continued weakness in the economy and an unemployment rate still above historic norms, now is a good time to review the financial planning issues clients face when they leave a job or are laid off. A CPA’s timely and proactive advice can have a lasting effect. Here are
New CPE offerings target specific areas of practice
The Institute is now offering targeted continuing professional education study programs through its online learning library, CPExpress. CPAs who want to concentrate on specific areas of expertise can visit specialty libraries in accounting and auditing, business and industry, government and not-for-profit, and taxation. The collections range from 65 to 175
David E. (Bo) Jackson Jr., CPA
As my 3-year-old son, David, struts around the house with a recorder to his lips, blowing his one-note songs and directing me on my trombone or my wife, Carla, on her alto sax, I have little doubt that his eventual career choice will be music. Musicians run in the family,
Heads in the cloud: Part 1
Cloud computing creates unprecedented opportunities for CPA firms to do more chargeable work faster and with better client communications. But transitioning to the cloud and having confidential information accessible over the Internet raises implementation and security concerns that CPA firms must address. To help CPAs better understand the benefits and
Pensions
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.’s (PBGC) annual report for fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2011, reported a record deficit, and the agency further warned of a nearly one-in-three chance that its multiemployer fund could become insolvent by 2030. The PBGC’s deficit increased to $26 billion, a $3 billion increase from
AICPA and SHRM present first awards for workplace financial education
Nine organizations received the first WLIFE (Workplace Leader in Financial Education) Award. Inspired by suggestions from a working group of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, the AICPA and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) established the award in 2011 to highlight the importance of financial wellness in
The reach of Circular 230
While discussions about Circular 230 usually focus on the standards it imposes relating to tax returns and opinions, the breadth and scope of Circular 230 also affects day-to-day business operations of tax practitioners relating to fees, client solicitations, marketing and advertising, and the management of client files and records. A
The paperless business card
Q: I use Outlook 2010. What is the easiest way to send my updated address and telephone information to my contacts so they don’t have to manually re-enter the data into their contact management system? A: Microsoft Outlook provides the ability to create a paperless business card, which you can
Financial Reporting
The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), the parent organization of the U.S. standard setter FASB, outlined its preferred path for incorporating IFRS into U.S. GAAP. In a letter to the SEC in November, available at tinyurl.com/7crlk54, FAF Chairman John Brennan described a number of recommended changes to the approach called
Auditing
The AICPA’s Auditing Standards Board (ASB) issued Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), The Auditor’s Consideration of an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern (Redrafted), resulting from its Clarity Project, to supersede SAS no. 59, The Auditor’s Consideration of an Entity’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern,
An appreciation for regulation
After reading the item about an attempted tax-free rollover to a Roth IRA (“Tax Matters: Roth Restructure ‘Too Good to Be True,’ ” Oct. 2011, page 68), I am more understanding of the constant barrage of income tax and ethical regulations. I am hopeful that the CPA who dreamed up
What’s your fraud IQ?
Fraud in the form of corruption compromises the integrity of the world economy, stunting economic growth and causing political and social upheaval. To help combat corruption, Congress passed, and President Jimmy Carter signed, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in 1977. Recent, more rigorous enforcement of the FCPA, combined with
Starkman receives Institute’s highest award for tax
Jay Starkman received the 2011 Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award, the highest award given by the accounting profession in the area of taxation. The annual award, given by the AICPA’s Tax Division, honors Arthur J. Dixon, a CPA known for his outstanding record of service to the tax profession and
CPA Outlook Index improves
The CPA Outlook Index increased by six points in the fourth quarter after dropping eight points in the third quarter. While all of the components of the index showed improvement, the largest contributor to the increase was the outlook for the U.S. economy. The index is a broad-based indicator of
Three common currency-adjustment pitfalls
Although the rules on accounting for foreign-currency translations have not changed in many years, mistakes in this area persist. Such mistakes can result in misstatements in financial reporting, hurting the bottom line, creating false understandings of business results, and exposing companies to possible regulatory scrutiny. A key factor raising the
The Thomas database
Q: Is there a good source for following proposed tax law changes pending in Congress? A: Since January 1995, the Library of Congress has posted virtually every word uttered in Congress to the thomas.gov website; this information is usually posted by the following morning. Named for Thomas Jefferson, the Thomas
PTIN procedures detailed
Update: Since this item was published, the IRS started accepting renewals after the Dec. 31 deadline. See “IRS PTIN system continues to accept 2011 renewals,” Jan. 10, 2012. Return preparers who needed to renew their preparer tax identification number (PTIN) for the 2012 tax preparation season should have done so
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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.
From The Tax Adviser
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2025 tax software survey
July 31, 2025
