How CPAs can prepare for accelerating tech changes
Openness to change and lifelong learning can help CPAs thrive amid accelerating tech development, says AICPA fall Council speaker Jeffrey Rogers.
NEWS
TIGTA outlines IRS challenges for 2020
The memorandum lists 10 challenges in order of importance, ranging from data security to achieving operational efficiencies.
FASB votes to delay effective dates for 3 major standards
Effective dates will be delayed for private companies and certain other entities for FASB’s standards on accounting for leases, credit losses, and hedging after a unanimous vote by FASB.
Opinion: FASB proposal jeopardizes health care entity financing
A FASB proposal could render obsolete a valuable financing option for health care entities known as variable-rate debt obligations (VRDOs).
Taxpayers may deduct casualty losses in prior years
The IRS finalized regulations permitting taxpayers to deduct disaster losses in the prior tax year and removed the related temporary regulations that were issued in 2016.
Sustainability assurance’s link to reporting quality
The steady growth in assurance of sustainability reports suggests that companies increasingly perceive that there are net benefits of having their sustainability reports assured.
IRS clarifies the tax treatment of cryptocurrency ‘hard forks’ and ‘airdrops’
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer does not have gross income as a result of a hard fork of a cryptocurrency if the taxpayer does not receive units of a new cryptocurrency, but does have gross income as a result of an airdrop of new cryptocurrency after a hard fork if the taxpayer receives units of the new cryptocurrency.
Critical audit matters: What firms are reporting
The first auditor’s reports containing the PCAOB’s newly required critical audit matters are available in public company annual reports.
CFC downward attributions get safe harbors
U.S. shareholders who own stock in foreign corporations were given a safe harbor by the IRS, making it easier for them to establish that they are not shareholders in a controlled foreign corporation, or CFC.
Children’s average allowance in 2019: $120 a month
An overwhelming 92% of American parents say it is very important that children understand how to effectively manage their money, according to a new poll conducted for the AICPA by The Harris Poll.
FASAB addresses multiple issues in omnibus amendments
A new accounting standard for federal government agencies eliminates the required stewardship information category and updates references to lease accounting.
IASB, GASB address interbank-offered rate phaseout
The IASB and GASB acted to help financial statement preparers with the phaseout of interbank-offered rates that are used as interest rate benchmarks.
AICPA seeks guidance on adjustments for conversions from S corp. to C corp.
In comments submitted to the IRS, the AICPA requested expeditious guidance concerning adjustments attributable to conversions from an S corporation to a C corporation.
SEC addresses IPOs, ETFs, and retail investor protections
The SEC issued new rules for testing the waters on IPOs and modernizing regulation of ETFs. It also proposed amendments to enhance protections for investors.
News quiz: Scanning the economy and CPA hiring
Reports on surveys gauged finance professionals’ thinking on the economy and the hiring and supply of accounting graduates. See how much you know (or catch up on the latest news) with this short quiz.
IRS issues 2019 to 2020 per-diem rates for traveling away from home
The IRS issued its annual notice specifying the special per-diem rates, including the transportation industry meal and incidental expenses rates, the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction, and the rates and list of high-cost localities for purposes of the high-low substantiation method.
Safe harbor allows QBI deduction for rental real estate businesses
The IRS issued a revenue procedure describing the requirements taxpayers have to meet to be a rental real estate business that qualifies for the safe harbor to be treated as a trade or business in order to qualify for the Sec. 199A qualified business income deduction.
New TQAs discuss 2019 Compliance Supplement’s guidance for performing single audits
New guidance for performing single audits is contained in the Office of Management and Budget’s 2019 Compliance Supplement.
Final regs. loosen 401(k) hardship distribution requirements
The IRS issued final regulations governing hardship distributions from Sec. 401(k) plans, eliminating the requirements that participants obtain a loan from the plan if available and that suspend participants’ ability to make contributions to the plans for six months after taking a hardship distribution.
Hidden in plain sight: Accounting for embedded leases
Locating and reporting on lease arrangements hidden in contracts that are not labeled as leases can be a challenge under FASB’s new rules.
