Firm News: March 27, 2015

CALIFORNIA

Tax Review Productions, the musical parody LOOPHOLES A Pain In The I.R.S,. by Stan Rich, will be directed by Kiff Scholl, and opens with a gala on Wednesday, April 15th, 2015 at The Hudson MainStage Theatre (6539 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, 90038) and runs through May 17th. There will be three previews, Friday, April 10th, Saturday, April 11th at 8 PM and Sunday, April 12th at 3 PM. Loopholes is a musical comedy about taxpayers and the IRS. The show, which is based on a true story, provides an uplifting, inspirational look at the struggle and victory in clever song and dance. The ordeal takes place over a fifteen year period with twists and turns that keeps the audience rooting for the taxpayer. How the taxpayer develops emotional strength and the use of loopholes to deal with this problem, provides an interesting humorous prospective on problem solving.

CONNECTICUT

Registration is open for an upcoming Financial Accounting Standards Board webcast that looks at the 2015 GAAP Taxonomy. IN FOCUS: 2015 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy Changes and Beyond, Taxonomy Implementation Guides, and SEC Update will take place on Thursday, April 2, 2015, from 1:00 to 2:15 p.m. EDT. Participants in the live broadcast (which is offered free of charge to those who register) will be eligible for up to 1.5 hours of Continuing Professional Education credit. (Please note that CPE credit is not available for group viewing of the live broadcast.) … Citrin Cooperman’s Norwalk office was ranked 6th on the “Best Places to Work in Connecticut” list for 2015. Best Places to Work in Connecticut is sponsored by the Hartford Business Journal and managed by Best Companies Group.

FLORIDA

A new Global Technology Audit Guide from The Institute of Internal Auditors offers an updated look at continuous auditing, providing guidance to chief audit executives on what technologies are available for continuous auditing, and how continuous auditing relates to management’s risk management, risk assessment, and monitoring activities. GTAG 3: Continuous Auditing: Coordinating Continuous Auditing and Monitoring to Provide Continuous Assurance, Second Edition, offers a comprehensive look at the process of establishing and optimizing an ongoing assurance framework, practical applications, and implementation. A copy of the publication is available here

GEORGIA

Moore Colson has been named one of Atlanta’s 2015 Top Workplaces by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. It is the fifth consecutive Top Workplaces award for the firm. Moore Colson was featured in a special section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “Top Workplaces 2015” published on March 22.

MISSOURI

RubinBrown formed a new Cyber Security Advisory Services group, where Rob Rudloff will lead the group.

NEW JERSEY

National Financial Literacy Month extends beyond April with Mercadien Foundation’s Smart Workplace Initiative. In 2003, the National Endowment for Financial Education introduced Youth Financial Literacy Day, and, in 2004, the U.S. Senate passed Resolution 316, recognizing April as National Financial Literacy Month, in an attempt to improve personal financial health and reduce the stigma associated with focusing on it.

NEW YORK

WeiserMazars LLP and Mazars Group released their third annual Media Barometer Study. This year’s analysis covered the 100 largest North American and European media companies in Advertising & Communications, Broadcasting and Press & Publishing. Revenue of the media industry as a whole continued to thrive, with an increase of 5% from the previous year. In spite of those encouraging results, our survey reveals a widening performance gap between the European and North American markets, even with a slight increase in profit margins across the board. In the context of this new wave of digitalization and new business models, new risks are growing in prominence, including: breaches in technology security and privacy (cited by 64 percent of companies), dependence on third parties (cited by 80 percent of companies) and predicting customer demand and developing new products (cited by 81 percent of companies). Access to big data is also significantly impacting all sectors and increased digital exposure is causing new operational risks. See the Media Barometer 2014 – 3rd Edition at http://weisermazars.com ... Insero & Company CPAs has been selected as one of Rochester’s Top Workplaces for the second year in a row, and was ranked first in the small business category.

NORTH CAROLINA

The AICPAs has announced that the application period for the 2015 Leadership Academy is now open. The Leadership Academy, which is now in its seventh year, will be held in Chapel Hill, NC from October 4 -8, 2015.

TENNESSEE

Randolph Accounting Resources has expanded its services into new industries in the 1st Quarter of 2015. Randolph Accounting Resources offers on-site accounting services to small to medium sized companies for whom full-time personnel doesn’t make financial sense. His staff accountants and CFO’s partner with businesses by taking care of the client’s accounting functions either onsite or remotely, whichever the client chooses.

TEXAS

Deloitte LLP will be recognized, alongside four other leading organizations, as a 5 Star Award recipient at the 2015 America's Future Series 5 Star Award Ceremony and Military Symposium. The award honors organizations that provide extraordinary support to our military and veterans, and Cathy Engelbert, CEO of Deloitte LLP, will be accepting the recognition on behalf of the professional services organization. The event will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2015 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Dallas.

VIRGINIA

Cherry Bekaert has created THInc, a new specialty practice focused on middle market innovation and its impact on clients in the Technology, Health and Industrial sectors. In addition, Cherry Bekaert paired with The National Center for the Middle Market to form a strategic alliance to provide ongoing insights into innovation and growth strategies for Middle Market companies.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The AICPA submitted a letter on March 19 to the IRS and the Department of the Treasury recommending relief for surviving spouses who would like to elect portability of their deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption. The portability election must be made by a decedent’s executor on a timely filed Form 706, United States Estate Tax Return. However, executors of estates for decedents who died on January 1, 2014 or later may be unaware that a Form 706 is required to be filed within nine months of the date of death in order for the surviving spouse to make the portability election. The AICPA requested that Treasury and IRS: Permanently allow estates below the filing threshold 15 months after the death to file Form 706 in order to elect portability; Provide a short Form 706-EZ to make the portability election; and Allow the surviving spouse to file Form 706 for portability, if the executor chooses not to file the form because the estate is not otherwise required to do so. … The AICPA submitted eight recommendations to the Senate Committee on Finance Tax Reform Working Group on Savings and Investment that would simplify employer-sponsored retirement plans and individual retirement accounts. In the letter to the working group, Troy Lewis, chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee, wrote, “Because qualified retirement plans are such a large source of retirement savings for many Americans, it is important that the tax rules governing the plans are as simple as possible.” Lewis noted that the Internal Revenue Code “provides for more than a dozen tax-favored employer-sponsored retirement planning vehicles, each subject to different rules pertaining to plan documents, eligibility, contribution limits, tax treatment of contributions and distributions, availability of loans, portability, nondiscrimination, reporting and disclosure.” The eight recommendations are: Create a uniform employee contributory deferral plan; Eliminate certain nondiscrimination tests on employee pre-tax and Roth deferrals for 401(k) plans and matching contributions; Eliminate the top-heavy rules; Create a uniform rule regarding the determination of basis in distributions; Create a uniform attribution rule; Create a uniform definition of owners; Change the required minimum distribution rules during life and remove half-year age references, and Create uniform rules for early withdrawal penalties.

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