Accounting Today

Inside Views

• Maximizing Customer Reviews to Grow Your Accounting Practice

  February 9, 2012

  For most accounting firms, the Internet is game changing.

• IRS Fraud Detection System Leads to Refund Delays

  February 8, 2012

  The tax refund delays this tax season could be tied not only to new identity theft detection filters, but also to overly tight business rules written into the IRS’s Electronic Fraud Detection System.

• Projecting the Intuit QuickBooks World of Tomorrow

  February 7, 2012

  The technology world is moving aggressively and consistently to the cloud, leveraging the accessibility and scalability of the Web.

• An Official Definition of "Fair Share"

  February 6, 2012

  During his recent State of the Contradiction address before a joint session of Congress, the President in typically impressive oratory tried his carnival barker best not to allow anyone to examine the fine print.

• Tax Extenders Become Regular Fixtures of the Tax Code

  February 3, 2012

  Sometimes it’s possible to predict a legislative outcome by comparing opening statements and testimonies of committee witnesses.

• What Does the Peco Foods Tax Case Mean for Cost Segregation?

  February 2, 2012

  The Tax Court’s decision last month in the case of Peco Foods, Inc. & Subsidiaries, v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (T.C. Memo 2012-18) caused waves of angst amongst tax practitioners and cost segregation professionals alike.

• IRS Refund Delay and Real-Time Tax System

  February 1, 2012

  The Internal Revenue Service needed to put the brakes on its tax refunds this tax season when newly installed filters to prevent tax fraud and identity theft held up processing for a week or more.

• Create a Separate Board for Private Company GAAP

  January 31, 2012

  The Blue Ribbon Panel on Private Company Financial Reporting has recognized that there are many issues in the way private companies and small businesses use GAAP.

• Kids These Days Say the Darnedest Things (Online)

  January 30, 2012

  The younger generation was a popular talking point during the recent Winning Is Everything conference in Las Vegas.

• State of the Union Tax Proposals Offer Peek into Re-election Campaign

  January 27, 2012

  The President’s annual State of the Union speech is traditionally more than just a memo of the past or a blueprint for the future.

• Foreign Earnings Repatriation Study Underscores Need for Improved Investment Climate, Not Tax Gimmicks

  January 26, 2012

  The impact of the financial crisis and resultant recession, even if now officially ended, continues to be felt.

• Obama and the Outsourcing Backlash

  January 25, 2012

  President Obama’s State of the Union address gave a preview of several of the administration’s tax policies over the coming year, including tax incentives to encourage more U.S.-based multinational corporations to bring jobs back home.

• What Fast-Growing Services Firms Need to Know

  January 24, 2012

  You are a partner at a midsized audit services firm. As you speak with your current clients and prospects to project your bookings over the next two quarters, you realize that you will need to recruit additional consultants to deliver the projected business.

• Because That's Where the Money Is

  January 23, 2012

  Recently we ran a news item announcing that retail behemoth Wal-Mart would be offering free 1040 EZ filing kiosks in about 3,000 of its units, via a partnership with national tax-prep firms H&R Block and Jackson-Hewitt.

• IRS Triple Play on Offshore Voluntary Disclosures

  January 20, 2012

  They say the third time’s a charm. And the third iteration of the IRS Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program is likewise a good thing, according to Kevin Packman, a tax partner at Holland & Knight and chair of the offshore compliance team.

• IT Cost Savings in 2012 through Continuous Monitoring

  January 19, 2012

  What if someone told you that your firm could replace much of the work performed by its audit staff with an affordable, automated system?

• Taxpayer Uncertainty Prompts Citizenship Renunciations

  January 18, 2012

  The Internal Revenue Service’s newest version of the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program is designed to give some reassurance to taxpayers who have been hesitating to come forward and disclose their foreign bank accounts, but the increasing complexities of U.S. tax law are leading more people to renounce their citizenship.

• Credit Recovery for a Better-Looking Bottom Line

  January 17, 2012

  Large accounts payable organizations manage millions of payments to thousands of vendors each year.

• IRS Mission Creep is Becoming Unmanageable

  January 13, 2012

  The Internal Revenue Code requires National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson to submit a report to Congress each year identifying, among other things, 20 of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers, and to make administrative and legislative recommendations to mitigate those problems.

• Online Small Businesses Should Be Protected in Sales Tax Legislation

  January 12, 2012

  A new bill making its way through Congress has the potential to change the world of e-commerce quite drastically and hurt the viability of small businesses across the country to compete in a growing sector of our economy.