Audit & Accounting

TVIA INC. DISMISSES PWC: Tvia, a designer and marketer of semiconductor systems, has dismissed auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and engaged BDO Seidman as its replacement.According to a federal filing, Santa Clara, Calif.-based Tvia had no disagreements with its former auditor on accounting issues, and no reason was given for the change in independent accountants.

TREASURY, IRS FINALIZE ROTH 401(K) RULES: The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued final regulations regarding Sections 401(k) and 401(m) related to designated Roth IRA contributions.Roth contributions were added to the code by the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, and are effective for taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2005.

Over the next decade, the majority of the 79 million Americans girding for retirement will begin to withdraw from their savings. This group is more likely to live longer, control their investment decisions, and be more active than any generation in history. These facts lead to the conclusion that setting up retirement spending plans is likely to become a service demanded of every financial advisor.The number of variables complicates the task.

Personal financial records are a necessary part of our lives, but it's easy for clients to get overwhelmed by the volume of papers.According to the New York State Society of CPAs, the beginning of the year is an excellent time to get financial records in order. Here is some advice to help clients determine what they should keep and what they should purge.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has outlined a productive year that includes a host of projects coordinated with the International Accounting Standards Board, an exploration into the fundamental concepts of accounting, four substantive standards projects and a half-dozen implementation documents.Arguably, FASB's most far-reaching project is its work on the Conceptual Framework. Any decisions reached on this project - which is being developed in conjunction with the IASB - would impact virtually every accounting standard that will be set in the United States and around the world.

Practitioners and industry observers concur with the call by Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson for tax simplification.Although legislation calls for the Taxpayer Advocate to list at least 20 of the most serious problems facing taxpayers, Olson went a step further and included a major section on tax simplification.

The Internal Revenue Service has come out of the gate in 2006 with a shiny new employment tax form for small employers.Effective January 1, employers who expect to owe no more than $1,000 in federal employment taxes for the 2006 calendar year will be required to file Form 944, Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return, replacing the quarterly Form 941.

Twenty-five different sets of contract law - one for each of the EU's individual member countries - looked recently as if they might soon be joined by a "26th Regime" applicable for certain areas in financial services.However, that proposal has now been put on the back burner by the European Commission's Internal Market Division, which oversees the EU's financial legislation.

Many of the 19 former tax professionals facing trial over the sale of KPMG tax shelters, whose legality has been questioned by the federal government, have asked for the dismissal of the charges in a variety of joint motions.More than 25 motions were filed in Manhattan's U.S. District Court, several requesting that the charges against the professionals be dropped entirely, as no court has ever actually ruled the shelters to be illegal. Many additional motions asked for the dismissal of charges because the defendants said that they were being unfairly singled out from other KPMG officials who sold similar shelters.

The overriding objective of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to strengthen the public securities market by holding management accountable for material information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and released to investors. To help achieve this overall goal, Sarbanes-Oxley includes several underlying objectives, specifically improving corporate governance, promoting ethical business practices, enhancing the transparency of financial statements and disclosures, and ensuring that company executives are aware of material information emanating from their business.Sarbanes-Oxley is not law for nonprofit organizations, but its guidelines for achieving its underlying objectives can be applied to all organizations, including nonprofits. By adopting the principles and best practices promoted by Sarbanes-Oxley - customized to meet an organization's unique nature and needs - a nonprofit organization can better realize its mission and meet the expectations of its key stakeholders.