AT Think

Companies often turn to their accountants when they need to cut expenses, and a good place to start is with the travel budget.

AICPA vice president of taxation Edward Karl stated, “Taxpayers will be in one of three situations – they will have had health insurance that met the requirements for minimum essential coverage under the Affordable Care Act, will have qualified for an exemption or will owe the penalty for not having qualified health insurance. In order to meet the information reporting requirements, taxpayers will have to gather new records and become familiar with new forms, instructions and terms.”

The School of Accountancy at Georgia Southern University announced today that they will host a one-week seminar from Aug. 3-7 entitled, Essentials of Fraud and Forensic Accounting.The seminar is open to potential graduate students interested in pursuing a Master of Accounting with a concentration in Forensic Accounting, along with accountants, attorneys, and law enforcement professionals seeking continuing professional education (CPE) credit.

Fifty-five percent of Americans expect to receive a refund on their taxes this year and nearly 37 percent will use their refund to pay off debt, according to a new poll.

Of the more than 1,700 professionals interviewed, sixty-five percent believe their organization is improving in the representation of senior women within their company, citing both flexible working programs and gender diversity targets as examples.

On Wednesday, expense management solutions and services provider Concur released the findings of its ‘SMB Financial Decision Makers’ survey, which found that small and medium businesses’ expense management solutions relied heavily on manual methods that contradicted employee needs and policies, while also compromising overall profitability.

The accounting profession has long grappled with the question of how to diversify its ranks to provide better representation of women and minorities, particularly in the upper echelons of firms.

North Carolina accounting firm DMJ & Co., PLLC (DMJ) recently participated in the 15th annual Polar Plunge for Special Olympics North Carolina on Saturday, February 28. Organized by the Guilford County Sheriff's Department, the event was held at Wet N' Wild Emerald Pointe and raised more than $18,000 for the Special Olympics.

While the major international accounting firms no longer do business in Iran, the country’s own accounting firms have been faring well, according to a new report.

Last Thursday, the AICPA held their webcast on recent marijuana developments in the United States, Understanding the Impact of Legalized Marijuana on the CPA Profession. The general consensus from the panel of experts indicated that CPA's interested in pursuing business opportunities in the emerging marketplace should show caution and best judgment during this emerging period of business.