Tax, accounting, auditing news - Journal of Accountancy

June 13, 2017

Centralized partnership audit rules are reissued in proposed form

The IRS reissued proposed regulations governing the centralized audit rules, which assess and collect tax at the partnership level.

June 12, 2017

How to improve audit planning effectiveness and efficiency

Attention to the right details during planning can save time and enhance audit quality.

June 12, 2017

Companies spending more time on SOX compliance

US public companies spent more time in 2016 than in the previous year complying with Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulations, according to a new survey report.

June 12, 2017

Cognitive impairment does not necessarily have to derail your clients’ planning

Clients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia may still be able to take part in financial planning. Learn what precautions CPAs need to take when working with these clients.

June 12, 2017

Stop behavioral biases from sabotaging your clients’ long-term objectives

Here are some ways CPAs can help prevent their clients from making emotionally driven investing mistakes.

June 9, 2017

IRS provides simplified method to request an extension of time to make a portability election

In a taxpayer-friendly development, the IRS issued guidance permitting certain estates to make a late portability election if they did not make a timely election.

June 8, 2017

News quiz: Keeping workers on the job

See how much you know about recent accounting and tax news.

June 7, 2017

Finance staff general accounting duties level off

After two years of decline, the percentage of company financial staff devoted to general accounting leveled off in 2017.

June 7, 2017

Hedging may get easier under new FASB accounting standard

Accounting obstacles that prevented some organizations from using hedging to manage risks may be eliminated by a standard that received preliminary approval from FASB.

June 7, 2017

IASB interpretation addresses uncertainty in accounting for income taxes

A new interpretation issued by the IASB specifies requirements for how organizations should reflect uncertainty in their accounting for income taxes.

June 5, 2017

Federal court strikes down PTIN fees, upholds PTINs

The D.C. District Court held that the IRS has the authority to require preparers to use preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs) but that it cannot charge fees for issuing PTINs.

June 1, 2017

PCAOB expands auditors’ reporting duties

Auditor’s reports will provide more information to financial statement users under new rules.

June 1, 2017

FinREC issues a dozen revenue recognition working drafts

The AICPA’s FinREC issued 12 working drafts of industry-specific accounting issues.

June 1, 2017

CPAs are positive but keeping an eye on training, wage pressure

The outlook for U.S. finance decision-makers’ businesses remains positive, according to a quarterly survey, which shows some concern about employee costs and availability of workers.

May 30, 2017

FASB performs maintenance on Accounting Standards Codification

FASB made the first of several scheduled maintenance updates to its Accounting Standards Codification as part of an effort to simplify the codification’s structure.

May 25, 2017

Want your voice heard in Washington? Start here

Hundreds of CPAs visited with lawmakers and congressional staff this week to advocate on four key issues for the profession. Here are tips on how to schedule a similar visit or get your voice heard from back home.

May 25, 2017

Quiz: Learn to choose between ‘who’ and ‘whom’

In everyday speech, we don’t need to sweat the whom. Here is a short quiz that gives you practice in choosing who/whom and whoever/whomever in more complex sentences.

May 24, 2017

PCAOB to consider adopting new auditor’s reporting standard

The board has proposed requiring auditors to provide information on the most challenging, subjective, or complex aspects of an audit.

May 24, 2017

President’s budget includes tax proposals and regulation of return preparers

President Donald Trump’s proposed FY 2018 budget includes a new proposal to give the IRS authority to regulate paid tax return preparers.

May 23, 2017

ASB addresses engagements performed under 2 sets of attestation standards

The AICPA ASB issued an interpretation that describes conditions for practitioners who wish to perform and report on an attestation engagement in accordance with AICPA attestation standards in addition to another set of attestation standards.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

4 ways solo practitioners can stand out

Five years ago, a grieving Angel Zhen started his own CPA firm with no clients and no revenue. Today, he has 300 clients, $600,000 in revenue and 12 weeks of annual vacation. In this JofA article, he shares how he set up his firm and how you could do the same.