Nearly every industry has had to deal with dizzying changes in business models over the past couple of decades because of the technological revolution that is the internet. The hospitality industry is no exception. Hotels, for instance, once counted on having to pay travel agents a 10% commission for bookings.
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New rules for providing written tax advice are finalized
The IRS issued final regulations under Circular 230, Regulations Governing Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service (31 C.F.R. Part 10), on the rules for practitioners to provide written tax advice and certain other related provisions (T.D. 9668), adopting the proposed regulations (REG-138367-06) issued in September 2012 with some modifications. The
PCAOB approves new related-party auditing requirements
New PCAOB rules approved Tuesday are designed to strengthen auditors’ scrutiny of related-party transactions and significant unusual transactions. Auditing Standard No. 18, Related Parties, requires the auditor to perform specific procedures to evaluate a company’s identification of, accounting for, and disclosure of the transactions and relationships between a company and
FASB adds narrow-scope projects; aims to simplify GAAP
FASB will attempt to simplify measurement of inventory and eliminate extraordinary items from income statement presentation as part of its ongoing initiative to reduce complexity in accounting standards. The board has added two narrow-scope projects to its agenda in hopes of quickly simplifying U.S. GAAP and reducing cost and complexity
IRS adopts “Taxpayer Bill of Rights”
The IRS on Tuesday released a “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” intended to better communicate to taxpayers their existing statutory and administrative protections. Modeled after the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights and a document of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the 10 broad provisions were announced at a news
FASB relaxes rules for development-stage entities
FASB on Tuesday issued a new accounting standard that relaxes financial reporting requirements for development-stage entities. A development-stage entity devotes substantially all its efforts to establishing a new business and either: Has not commenced planned principal operations; or Has commenced planned principal operations, but has not produced significant revenue. The
Regs. tighten Form 5472 filing requirements
The IRS issued final (T.D. 9667) and proposed (REG-114942-14) regulations amending the rules for filing Form 5472, Information Return of a 25% Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in a U.S. Trade or Business. The final regulations adopt without change temporary and proposed regulations issued in 2011 eliminating
Finance professionals are upbeat, but they have staffing concerns
U.S. finance professionals are feeling good on a number of fronts. They are optimistic about the U.S. economy and their own businesses. Most expect to make a higher profit than they did a year ago, and an increasing number say they’d like to hire additional staff. That last part is,
PCAOB to consider new rules for auditing related-party transactions
The PCAOB will meet Tuesday to consider adopting rules that would create new audit procedures that an auditor should perform when examining a company’s transactions with related parties or significant unusual transactions. Board members have sought comment twice on related-party proposals and are considering a standard and amendments to PCAOB
Revenue recognition transition issues to be tackled by new group
A new group devoted to dealing with transition issues related to the new, converged revenue recognition standard will meet twice in 2014 and four times in 2015. The Joint Transition Resource Group for Revenue Recognition will hold its first meeting on July 18 and will consist of financial statement preparers,
How preparers can make revenue recognition implementation smooth
Financial statement preparers are embarking on a daunting task as they begin to ramp up for implementation of the new, comprehensive, converged standard on revenue recognition. Reading and understanding the standard, which was released on Wednesday, is the first item of business for preparers, according to Brian Marshall, CPA, a
Regulations permit election of alternative simplified research credit on amended returns
On Monday, the IRS issued temporary regulations permitting taxpayers to elect the Sec. 41(c)(5) alternative simplified credit (ASC) on an amended return, as long as the taxpayer (or a member of its controlled group) did not make an election to use any other method of calculating the research credit on
How to reduce fraud risk at not-for-profits
Relying on fundraising, gift giving, and donations makes not-for-profits (NFPs) vulnerable to fraud in ways that other organizations are not. Click here to download our free report, which has practical tips to manage this risk. Sponsored by Abila.
GASB pension reporting: How to obtain and audit key numbers
State and local government employers who participate in multiple-employer defined benefit pension plans—and the governments’ auditors—may have difficulty obtaining data required by GASB’s new pension standards to prepare employer financial statements and auditing such information. GASB Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans, provides revised guidance for the financial
Accounting may need help in revenue recognition implementation
Many companies are going to find that the attention of finance and accounting will not be enough to ensure successful implementation of the new revenue recognition standard.
FASB, IASB release historic revenue recognition standard
FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) released a standard on the recognition of revenue from contracts with customers that is designed to create greater comparability for financial statement users across industries and jurisdictions.
New revenue guidance: Six things to consider
The release Wednesday of a long-awaited new revenue recognition standard had financial statement preparers settling in to read hundreds of pages of text, as standard setters celebrated the achievement of producing that text.
GASB proposals would address post-employment health care liabilities
New accounting rules proposals approved Wednesday by GASB would require more transparency in financial reporting about state and local government obligations for post-employment benefits (OPEB). GASB approved two exposure drafts related to OPEB and an additional exposure draft that would establish requirements for state and local government pensions and pension
Mandatory audit firm rotation rules published in EU
A mandatory audit firm rotation requirement and other audit market reforms have formally became part of European Union law. Rules published Tuesday in the Official Journal of the European Union—the authoritative source of EU law—include: A requirement that public interest entities—which include listed companies, banks, and insurance companies—change auditors after
Proposed peer review change would remove inconsistencies for engagement reviews
Changes to peer review standards proposed last week by the AICPA Peer Review Board (PRB) are designed to remove inconsistencies and improve the transparency of reports for engagement reviews. The proposal, outlined in an exposure draft, would change the impact to an engagement review report when all of the following
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