Accounting Today

Accounting Newswire

• CFOs Lower Hiring Projections

  May 22, 2013

  CFOs have lowered their projections for hiring and are increasingly concerned about health care reform and the fate of the Eurozone, according to a new survey.

• Community Reinvestment Act Boosted Housing Tax Credit Program

  May 22, 2013

  The largest single variable in housing tax credit pricing is a function of the Community Reinvestment Act’s investment test value of a given property’s location, according to a new report.

• IRS’s Lerner Will Invoke Her Constitutional Right to Silence

  May 22, 2013

  Lois Lerner, the mid-level Internal Revenue Service official at the center of a controversy over the agency’s scrutiny of small-government groups, will invoke her constitutional right not to testify before Congress, according to a letter from her lawyer.

• Shulman ‘Regrets’ Tea Party Targeting

  May 21, 2013

  Douglas Shulman, the former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said he was “dismayed” and “saddened” to learn that IRS employees had singled out small-government groups for tougher scrutiny.

• Relief in Wake of Oklahoma Tornadoes

  May 21, 2013

  Following the massive tornado in Oklahoma, the IRS has provided tax relief to individuals and businesses affected by this and other severe storms occurring in parts of that state.

• Supreme Court Says U.K. Windfall Tax Creditable

  May 21, 2013

  The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, has held that a one-time U.K. windfall tax paid by the subsidiary of a U.S. corporation is creditable against U.S. income tax.

• IRS Releases 2013 Tax Season Stats

  May 21, 2013

  Updated statistics from the IRS show continued growth in e-filing of returns.

• AICPA Spring Council Roundup

  May 21, 2013

  Highlights of our coverage of the American Institute of CPAs Spring Meeting of Governing Council in Washington, D.C., from May 19-21.

• KPMG Survey: Banking Execs Focused on Regulation, M&A Not So Much

  May 21, 2013

  It looks like banking executives have shifted their focus toward regulation and placed mergers and acquisitions on the back burner, according to recent survey by KPMG LLP.

• Santos, Postal and Thompson & Associates Merge

  May 21, 2013

  Santos, Postal & Co. adds Thompson & Associates PC to its roster. The merger is expected to close August 1, 2013.

• ACL Launches Analytics 10 with GRC Integration

  May 21, 2013

  Audit and risk management product maker ACL has released ACL Analytics version 10—formerly known as ACL Desktop—with enhancements to allow risk, compliance, audit, IT and financial control professionals to uncover business risk in organizational data and an integration with a forthcoming governance, risk and compliance management product.

• Intuit Undergoes Reorg Behind Global Initiatives

  May 21, 2013

  Intuit Inc. is reorganizing several of its executive staff around what it deems to be its global connected services strategy, mainly focused around serving U.S. and Canadian tax needs as well as expanding product offerings to small businesses around the world.

• Fitch Sees Slow Progress on GAAP—IFRS Convergence

  May 21, 2013

  Significant differences remain between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards, but cooperation and progress continues on some remaining joint projects, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

• SEC Adopts 2013 U.S. GAAP Taxonomy

  May 21, 2013

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted that latest update to the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy for filing financial statements using Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL.

• Congress Introduces Bill to Modify Definition of “Fiduciary” for ESOP Appraisers

  May 21, 2013

  A trio of lawmakers in Congress have introduced a bill in the House that would modify the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make clear that appraisers of employee stock ownership plans are not fiduciaries under ERISA.

• Apple Executives to Answer Lawmaker Claims on Tax Avoidance

  May 21, 2013

  Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook will face off against U.S. senators leveling accusations the iPhone maker has created a web of offshore entities to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes.

• Report from Council: AICPA in Good Financial Health

  May 20, 2013

  In a report to the Spring Meeting of its Governing Council, the American Institute of CPAs gave a review of its 2013 forecast and its proposed 2014 budget that indicated that the institute was in healthy financial condition.

• Report from Council: Melancon Keynote Highlights Transformation

  May 20, 2013

  In a wide-ranging keynote address at the Spring Meeting of the Governing Council of the American Institute of CPAs, president and CEO Barry Melancon described an accounting profession in the midst of a variety of transformations.

• AICPA Aims to Offer Credentials Overseas

  May 20, 2013

  In a vote at its Spring Meeting, the Governing Council of the American Institute of CPAs authorized the board to offer the institute’s credentials overseas.

• Abdo, Eick & Meyers and Francis & Associates Merge

  May 20, 2013

  Abdo, Eick & Meyers LLP has merged with Francis & Associates PA. The merger will take effect on Nov. 1. 2013.