Audit & Accounting

Do you have clients who complain that their life insurance was supposed to be paid up by now, but it isn't? Notices from their insurance companies may even indicate that their suggested premium payment has increased, or that their policies are about to lapse.Do you have clients whose investment-type life insurance policy is not performing as projected? Ever have clients cancel their life insurance and get a taxable statement of gain? This can even happen if their policy lapses and they get nothing back (they had a paper gain).

"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase."These are the words of Benjamin Graham, a stock market investor and economist who was famous for remarkable returns from investing in stocks, value investing and influencing Warren Buffet.

When my oldest daughter was about to celebrate her second birthday, I had heard and read ad infinitum about the woes that awaited me upon the arrival of the “terrible twos.”

Moss Adams LLP announced plans to acquire Phoenix-area firm Epstein Weber & Conover PLC, in a deal that will be effective Jan. 1, 2007. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Clifton Gunderson LLP has acquired the Colorado firm of Levine, Hughes & Mithuen in a merger effective Nov. 1.

A Senate panel’s review of interactions between imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a number of tax-exempt organizations had lead the committee to question the groups’ tax status and a portion of the federal Tax Code dealing with unrelated business income taxes.

Statistics show that more than 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce.The process of a divorce can create tremendous animosity between the parties, and this can lead to difficult financial issues for those affected by the split. There are many complex federal tax issues that need to be planned for, or they will create tremendous pitfalls. The Internal Revenue Code also contains several provisions that provide specific guidance for divorce-related transactions.

Year-end tax planning opportunities abound this year. They do so not only because it has been a particularly active year for tax legislation, but also because of other significant tax developments taking place in 2006, as well as changes from pre-2006 tax legislation that have a particular impact this year and next.Traditional year-end tax strategies should not be abandoned. Income should either be accelerated or postponed between 2006 and 2007, depending upon the anticipated tax brackets for each client. Similarly, deductions and credits should be manipulated to lower income either in the more favorable year or, in some cases, in both years, before midnight, Dec. 31, 2006, has come and gone.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has set a new standard that establishes a long-needed framework on fair value measurement and expands related information in financial reports - and the investor community, according to FASB board member Leslie F. Seidman, is going to love it.Though Statement 157, Fair Value Measurements, does not require any new or additional fair value measurements, it applies to over 40 existing standards that require or permit the measurement of assets and liabilities at fair value.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's top accountant has added his thoughts on how to properly account for stock options in the historical financial statements of public companies.In a letter sent from his office, SEC Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt discusses the consequences offered under Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 25, Accounting for Stock Issued to Employees. The letter, sent to committee chairmen at Financial Executives International and the American Institute of CPAs, discusses dating an option award to predate the actual award date, option grants with administrative delays, the uncertainty as to the validity of prior grants, and other related circumstances.