Paul Bonner is a senior editor for tax-related articles and items for the JofA and The Tax Adviser. He also is an adjunct instructor teaching news writing in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Matthew G. Lamoreaux is a
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A new system for recognizing revenue
FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in November released a revised proposal that would create a single revenue recognition standard for both U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The standard is designed to streamline accounting for revenue across industries and correct inconsistencies in existing standards and practices. The new standard
Board of education: CPA firms, businesses can profit from clients’ advice
It’s no secret that CPAs take pride in their standing as trusted advisers to their clients. What’s not so well known is that CPAs can gain—and in many cases, literally profit—from the advice of those same clients. Client advisory boards offer CPA firms and other businesses the opportunity to
U.S. CPA exam to be administered in Brazil
Starting this February, the Uniform CPA Examination will be offered in Brazil. The U.S. CPA exam is administered internationally as a service to foreign nationals, as well as in response to increasing international demand for U.S. CPA licensure. The international exam, which will be offered in English, is the same
Government
GASB issued an exposure draft, Technical Corrections—an amendment of GASB Statements No. 10 and No. 62, that it said would resolve “conflicting guidance” that resulted from two recent pronouncements. The pronouncements are Statement no. 54, Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions, and Statement no. 62, Codification of
Line items
PORTABILITY ELECTION REQUIRES AN ESTATE RETURN In Notice 2011-82, the IRS alerted executors of the estates of decedents dying after Dec. 31, 2010, of the need to file a Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, to elect a portability exclusion, even if the executor is not
IRS audits of small business software files
Tax practitioners have always been cautious with the records they provide to the IRS in an audit to control the depth of an IRS inquiry. But IRS agents are starting to request client backup files from small business accounting software such as QuickBooks and Peachtree, and many practitioners are concerned
A super footnote reference
Q: We’d like to print our financial statements from Excel, but we can’t get the footnote references to appear the way we would like. We want to display the footnote references in the superscript format, but to do this we have to enter the footnote reference in a different column,
The basics of S corporation stock basis
The concept of basis is simple, but calculating basis for S corporation stock takes much of many CPA tax practitioners’ time and energy. Why is this the case? Basis measures the amount that the property’s owner is treated as having invested in the property. At the start of the investment,
Investing
Investors’ confidence in U.S. capital markets continued a five-year trend of declines in 2011, according to the fifth annual Main Street Investor Survey conducted by the AICPA-affiliated Center for Audit Quality (CAQ). Also, confidence in investing in U.S. public companies declined for the first time since the survey started asking
Tax relief and health care acts shape 2011 returns
As CPAs gear up for tax season, they’ll find the Form 1040 series for 2011 looking much the same as that of the previous year, but only because of Congress’ 11th-hour compromise late in 2010 to keep it so. Nonetheless, a number of new features affecting individuals and businesses, such
Accounting education awards recognize innovative teaching practices
The Institute honored college educators with three awards for their accounting curricula. Annual awards are given to educators who demonstrate innovative teaching practices in one of three distinct education levels: in the first sequence of accounting; junior- and senior-level accounting courses; and at the graduate level. The winners’ curricula, along
Members noted for AICPA volunteer service
Fifty-one CPAs received the Institute’s inaugural Sustained Contribution Award, which recognizes members who have measurably to the AICPA and CPA profession through their volunteer service. The recipients have served on an Institute volunteer group for 20 or more years and have served at least once as a chair of an
Home office deduction
With unemployment still near the highest rate in decades, it is not surprising to find many people working out of their homes. Now may be a good time to review the criteria for claiming a deduction for the business use of part of a person’s residence. You do not have
CPA2Biz offering “cpa.com” email services
CPA2Biz, the technology subsidiary of the Institute, is now offering CPA-branded email accounts for AICPA members at cpa.com, a new firm-services hub. Eligible members can visit cpa.com to set up an email address that attaches their name to the cpa.com domain, such as john.smith@cpa.com. Members can also order basic email
Qui tam award held taxable
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a Tax Court determination that a qui tam whistleblower award to a taxpayer under the federal False Claims Act (FCA) was taxable. Under the FCA, a person may bring a civil action, in which the U.S. government may intervene, against a party that
One size does not fit all
The U.S. stakeholders—issuers, preparers, users, auditors, standard setters and others—have expressed concern over “the goodness of fit” of current FASB standards to public companies as well as approximately 28 million private companies and businesses. The “one size fits all” school of thought has dominated the FASB mentality. Private companies’ financial
Kess and Voynich receive Gold Medal for contributions to the profession
Sidney Kess and S. Scott Voynich received the Institute’s 2011 Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service, which is given to individuals who have made major contributions to the CPA profession and is the highest award granted to a CPA by the Institute. Kess, who is of counsel to Kostelanetz &
An aggregate answer to two Excel questions
Q: Two reader questions: 1. Is there a way to subtotal large volumes of numbers in Excel 2010, while ignoring the values contained in hidden rows? 2. What is the best way to subtotal data in Excel 2010 that contain divide-by-zero errors? A: The answer to both questions is to
Bridging compensation gaps in a merger
Accounting-firm mergers must overcome numerous obstacles. One of the most common—and challenging—involves compensation and benefits for partners and staff. Merging firms usually have differences in compensation levels, compensation methods and benefits packages. It’s crucial for staff and partner retention that the merging firms combine the varying systems into one without
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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
August 30, 2025
2025 tax software survey
July 31, 2025
