AT Think

The National Cannabis Industry Association, the only national trade association representing the businesses of the legal marijuana industry, announced on Thursday the second annual national Cannabis Business Summit and Expo, from June 29 through July 1 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado.

The owner of a brothel in Salzburg, Austria has found an innovative way to protest what he sees as punitive taxation and regulation of his industry: offering free sex and drinks to patrons all summer.

CohnReznick, one of the largest accounting, tax, and advisory firms in the U.S., announced on Wednesday that through its CohnReznick Foundation and CohnReznick CARES initiative, donated a total of $150,000 to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) and the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation at its 24th Annual Charity Golf Invitational held on June 15. Over the past nine years, CohnReznick’s golf outing has raised a combined total of more than $1.45 million for these two organizations.

Companies that plan to sell or spin off part of their business should be aware of some recent changes in accounting standards for “discontinued operations” that are taking effect this year.

On Wednesday, the AICPA announced the agenda for the 2015 E.D.G.E. Conference. Now in its fifth year, the conference serves as the official conference for young CPAs. This year’s conference will be held in San Antonio from August 5 – 7.

The Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) and Hinge Research Institute have again released their research study examining marketing spending for accounting firms, the two announced on Monday. The second "Marketing Budget Benchmark Study" compared marketing spending against organic growth in 67 firms. Researchers focused on contrasting the marketing strategies of High-Growth firms (the fastest growing 20% among the sample) and Low-Growth firms (the slowest growing 20%).

Thirteen community organizations have written a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen asking the IRS to investigate whether the Walmart Foundation qualifies as exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Tax Code.

WeiserMazars, the accounting, tax and advisory services firm, recently completed its first "Days of Service" – a volunteer initiative that encourages employees to devote a full work day to assisting local service agencies. The Days of Service initiative is part of the firm’s We Are WeiserMazars program that looks to build employees’ personal and professional growth through the "tenants of association, respect and excellence."

The Illinois CPA Society announced on Monday that they have awarded $60,000 in scholarships to 31 accounting students as part of the Society’s Accounting Scholarship Program funded by the CPA Endowment Fund of Illinois.

On Monday, the National Society of Accountants (NSA) announced a total of 39 students earning scholarships from the Society's Scholarship Foundation. Together, they will receive $45,875 in scholarship awards.