AT Think

The Florida Institute of CPAs announced this year’s “26 Under 36” honorees, recognizing FICPA members under the age of 36 that have made notable accomplishments in service to the organization, profession and community.

Teenagers are more optimistic about their financial futures than last year, according to Junior Achievement USA and the Allstate Foundation’s 2013 Teens and Personal Finance Poll, which tracked a 20 percent increase in teens believing they will be financially better off than their parents.

Cleveland-based Cohen & Company/Cohen Fund Audit Services entered two teams in the annual Junior Achievement Bowl-a-thon March 2, raising an all-time high of $3,400.

One of the drawbacks of having International Financial Reporting Standards could be that they might mean different things in different languages.

I’m not sure who’s with me on this, but as a progressive accountant who wants to operate within a high-tech environment, I often feel isolated in my desire to transition to a cloud/mobile/social workspace

Ellie Baker, managing principal of New England accounting and consulting firm Baker Newman Noyes, was recently honored, along with husband Tom Saturley, with the American Heart Association’s 2013 Crystal Heart Award.

Kenneth Ames, tax advisory partner with Irvine, Calif.-based accounting firm White Nelson Diehl Evans, recently received a 2012 Super Star Award/“Hustle Award” from the California State Assembly for his work at the California Boys & Girls Club of Carlsbad.

The Ernst & Young Americas Corporate Responsibility (CR) Fellows program recently afforded me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel to Chile for seven weeks to work with Latin American entrepreneurs.

Tax lawyer David Hryck, who services high net worth individuals and billionaire business owners, sees some positives in the fiscal cliff deal. Even though it raised taxes on some of his clients, there are still some tax breaks that can be used to advantage, particularly on capital gains, dividend and gift taxes. Plus it could have been much worse if there had been no deal between congressional Republicans and the Obama administration.

The American Institute of CPAs crowned a team from Batavia High School in Batavia, Ill., winners of the AICPA’s Project Innovation: The Start Here, Go Places Competition of Creative Excellence for their CPA TV show pitch.