Tax, accounting, auditing news - Journal of Accountancy

June 28, 2016

How audit committees can evaluate non-GAAP measures

SEC Chair Mary Jo White said in a speech Monday that reporting of non-GAAP measures can provide a clearer picture of a company’s results.

June 23, 2016

E-file PIN program shut down in response to cyberattacks

The IRS announced that the electronic filing personal identification number (e-file PIN) tool is “no longer available” after it detected additional attacks on the system.

June 23, 2016

FASB proposes amending consolidation guidance

FASB would amend consolidation guidance under a proposal issued with the intent of providing more useful information to users of financial statements.

June 21, 2016

Compliance costs, complexity rising in finance

CFOs feel barraged by new compliance mandates, and they don’t expect complexity associated with such regulation to subside any time soon.

June 20, 2016

CPA firms finding benefits in casual dress trend

Professionals at Armanino LLP and Crowe Horwath LLP have reacted enthusiastically to their firms’ recent implementation of casual dress codes for the office.

June 18, 2016

AICPA and CIMA members approve ballot initiatives by wide measure

Members of the AICPA and The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants voted in separate ballot measures to approve a proposal to create a new international accounting association that will integrate operations and represent the entire accounting profession, while preserving the membership bodies of both organizations.

June 16, 2016

FAQs explain the wrongful incarceration exclusion

A new law allows taxpayers to exclude from income money they receive to compensate them for being wrongfully incarcerated and to claim refunds for earlier tax years if they included such damages in income.

June 16, 2016

New FASB standard requires earlier reporting of credit losses

Credit losses on loans and other financial instruments will be required to be reported in a more timely fashion under a standard the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued.

June 14, 2016

COSO proposes update to enterprise risk management framework

The proposal would update the definition of ERM and emphasize the link between risk and value.

June 9, 2016

Proposal would clear path to CPA for foreign credential holders

Holders of qualified foreign accounting designations would have an easier path to licensure as U.S. CPAs under changes proposed to the Uniform Accountancy Act.

June 8, 2016

IRS did not discover or help all Get Transcript data breach victims

The TIGTA criticized the IRS’s failure to identify and assist all taxpayers whose tax return and other data may have been accessed by cybercriminals in last year’s Get Transcript breach.

June 7, 2016

Taxpayers can get tax return transcripts online once again

Announcing increased security and authentication procedures, the IRS said that it had re-instated its Get Transcript Online service, which had been breached by cybercriminals last year.

June 7, 2016

Tax-free REIT spinoffs are curtailed

The IRS issued regulations restricting the ability of C corporations to use this method.

June 6, 2016

FASB proposes clarifying scope of nonfinancial asset derecognition guidance

FASB wants to clarify the scope of its nonfinancial asset derecognition guidance and address accounting for partial sales of nonfinancial assets.

June 6, 2016

Lease accounting implementation a challenge for preparers

Companies are encountering challenges with new lease accounting standards in a process few expect to be easy, according to a recent Deloitte survey.

June 3, 2016

FASAB seeks transparency on tax expenditures

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board proposed a standard with the intention of providing the public more information about the U.S. government’s tax expenditures.

June 3, 2016

Revenue standard causes concern about compensation arrangements

The new revenue recognition standard is causing companies to review compensation arrangements and bonus structures that are based on revenue metrics, said Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Eric Knachel, CPA.

June 2, 2016

A steadier outlook for the economy

Finance executives in business and industry reversed several trends in a quarterly AICPA survey, showing a more positive outlook.

May 26, 2016

AICPA members weigh in on IRS service levels

Problems included trouble getting through on the phone and trouble reaching IRS representatives who could answer their questions. Written communications with the agency were another source of frustrations.

May 25, 2016

Mary Kay sales consultant’s retirement payments subject to self-employment tax

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that payments a retired Mary Kay sales consultant received from the cosmetics company were subject to self-employment taxes because they were payments of deferred compensation.

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