Audit & Accounting

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an interpretation that clarifies the way companies account for uncertainty in income taxes.

Natural gas distribution company Nicor Inc. will reportedly pay a $10 million fine to settle charges of deceptive accounting practices brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New guidance, stressing efficient application of effective internal control over financial reporting, was released this week by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Following a judge's suggestion, 16 former KPMG partners facing charges over their role in selling questionable tax shelters are suing the Big Four firm for legal fees.

Last week, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board each published for public comment a consultative document setting out their preliminary views on the first two chapters of an enhanced conceptual framework. The draft chapters define the objective of financial reporting, and the qualitative characteristics of decision-useful financial information.

STUDY SAYS FEE-ONLY ADVISORS BOOSTING CLIENT REVENUEFee-only financial advisors are increasing client numbers, revenue and profits at impressive rates, according to a new benchmarking study issued by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors and produced by CPA and business advisory firm Moss Adams LLP.

Did you know that your clients could be held liable for their employees' missed investment opportunities? Through a number of recent class-action lawsuits over the mismanagement of pension plans, corporate fiduciary responsibility has been brought to center stage.The fallout from these cases has put employers across the nation at risk by exposing their fiduciary responsibility.

If a company's plan permits, pension annuity payments may be provided for a certain period of time - as long as it is not longer than the period under the Uniform Lifetime Table for the participant's age as of his birthday in the same year in which the annuity starting date occurs.The period does not change upon the death of the employee, even if the remaining period certain is longer or shorter than the beneficiary's single life expectancy. The same is true if the annuity also includes a life annuity or a joint and last survivor annuity.

CPA advisors continue to debate what pricing and compensation strategies best fit their culture. Advisory firms seek to find the specific method that charges clients fairly and allows them to pay simply, and in which the firm receives adequate compensation for all its services, combined with the perfect compensation structure to incentivize the best employees. In today's world, advisors speak of improvements, but not perfection.At the core of the issue is the balance between individual performance and success, and that of the overall firm. "Overly rewarding individual performance sometimes encourages hoarding of clients that limits the firm's ability to grow," says Rebecca Pomering, CPA and principal at Moss Adams Consulting Services, in Seattle, who leads the firm's compensation consulting practice. "To achieve a long-term strategy of institutionalizing the client relationship, most firms have to make dramatic changes to their compensation plans."

If you're like most Baby Boomers, you're used to being in control. When situations turn sour, you assess the situation and take action. Laid off from your job? You take the bull by the horns and find another one - or maybe even start your own business. Child's grades dropping? You meet with his teachers and maybe hire a tutor.So it's more than difficult for most Boomers to imagine a day when they may not control their destiny. That day happens when they experience a dramatic decline in health, and they run short of money to pay for the care that they desire.