Tax, accounting, auditing news - Journal of Accountancy

January 30, 2020

6 tips for not-for-profit board members to improve volunteer retention

Board members can help retain volunteers by making sure they are onboarded effectively, recognized and given a chance to advance.

January 28, 2020

ASB issues guidance on Global Investment Performance Standards

The AICPA Auditing Standards Board has issued guidance for practitioners performing verification or performance examination engagements pursuant to the Global Investment Performance Standards.

January 24, 2020

Why audit firm leaders need to practice what they preach

Audit quality is improved when firm leaders personally model the exemplary behaviors that they say they value, according to a new study backed by the AICPA Assurance Research Advisory Group.

January 23, 2020

Americans’ financial satisfaction at all-time high

Americans’ financial satisfaction hit an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2019. Stock market gains coupled with declines in underemployment and loan delinquencies helped lift the index to new heights.

January 21, 2020

How firms are delivering value with audit data analytics

Here’s how auditors can prepare themselves for this work, and what they need to explain to audit committees as they incorporate analytics into engagements.

January 17, 2020

Women’s initiatives: How the pilot programs worked

Three women CPAs explain how a pilot program that aimed for diversity and inclusion helped transform their midsize accounting firms.

January 16, 2020

FASB clarifies interaction between standards

FASB took action to clarify the interaction between accounting standards related to equity securities, equity method investments, and certain derivatives.

January 16, 2020

More taxpayers qualify for student loan COD relief

The IRS is expanding its relief from cancellation-of-debt income to students whose federal loans were discharged for certain legal reasons.

January 14, 2020

BlackRock CEO declares ‘fundamental reshaping of finance’

Powerful institutional investor BlackRock will hold companies accountable for their disclosures of sustainability risks and for the policies that underpin them, Chairman and CEO Larry Fink wrote in an open letter to CEOs.

January 10, 2020

Confronting tariffs: Trade war tips for CPAs

U.S. businesses can use a number of strategies to soften the impact of tariffs on their operations.

January 7, 2020

GASB selects Mauldin & Jenkins’s Black as next chair

GASB has selected Joel Black, CPA, partner-in-charge of the audit practice at accounting firm Mauldin & Jenkins LLC in Atlanta, as its next chair.

January 6, 2020

Accounting for cloud computing: What you need to know

Get insight on implementing the updated accounting rules related to cloud computing implementation costs associated with a service arrangement, which are in effect for public companies now and will be required for all other entities later this year.

January 2, 2020

SEC proposes updating auditor independence rules

An SEC proposal is designed to amend rules that indicate auditor independence breaches in situations when no substantial threat to independence exists.

January 2, 2020

IRS issues 2020 standard mileage rates

On the last day of 2019, the IRS issued the standard mileage rates for 2020 for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes, as well as other deduction amounts.

December 23, 2019

AICPA proposes updates to material tested on CPA Exam

Changes the AICPA is proposing to the CPA Exam Blueprints are designed to update the material tested on the CPA Exam to make sure it continues to represent the core knowledge and skills that newly licensed CPAs need to possess.

December 20, 2019

Qualified opportunity zone regs. finalized

The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on tax-favored investments in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs).

December 20, 2019

Adaptive learning self-study enabled in new CPE provider rules

Adaptive learning self-study programs are accommodated in new standards for continuing professional education providers that have been issued by NASBA and the AICPA.

December 19, 2019

Year-end government spending bill contains many tax provisions

The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.

December 19, 2019

EY’s Jones to succeed Golden as FASB chair

Richard Jones, a 32-year veteran at EY, will succeed Russell Golden as the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s chair beginning in July.

December 19, 2019

5th Circuit invalidates health care law’s individual mandate

The Fifth Circuit held that the “individual mandate” under Sec. 5000A, which imposes a “shared responsibility payment” on taxpayers who do not obtain health insurance that provides at least minimum essential coverage, is unconstitutional now that the payment amount has been reduced to zero.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Build reusable Skills in Anthropic’s Claude AI

Instead of rewriting prompts each time, CPAs can turn routine tasks into reusable AI Skills. This Technology Q&A walks through how to build Claude Skills that process files, ask setup questions, and export clean Excel outputs.