WebCPA Staff

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman defended the increased amount of information reporting that the agency will be expecting from businesses in the next few years.

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed changes in the standards for presenting items under other comprehensive income.

Small businesses created 25,000 new jobs in May, based on the latest figures from Intuit’s Online Payroll customers, which also indicate 240,000 new jobs created since October 2009.

MaloneBailey has merged in local firm John M. Thomas PC, building its presence in the Houston area.

A top Internal Revenue Service official outlined the agency’s plans for tax preparer registration and testing at the National Society of Accountants’ board of directors meeting.

Microsoft Corp. has introduced a corporate performance management system for its Dynamics ERP products that will provide real-time financial reporting for midsized businesses looking to achieve greater visibility across their organizations.

Small business owners are seeing signs of progress in the economy, according to a new survey, but remain concerned about winning new customers to grow their business.

President Barack hosted a group of award-winning small business owners from around the country in the White House Rose Garden and used the occasion to prod Congress to pass the administration’s Small Business Jobs Package.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an eagerly anticipated exposure draft of a proposed accounting standards update for financial instruments, a major sticking point in FASB’s efforts to converge U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Barry Melancon has been president and CEO of the American Institute of CPAs since 1995. Under his leadership, the AICPA has spearheaded a number of initiatives to benefit the profession and the general public, including private company reporting standards and 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy. He is a member of the AICPA’s delegation to the International Federation of Accountants, chairman of XBRL-US, vice chairman of the Center for Audit Quality, and a founding board member of the Global Accounting Alliance. He serves on the board of the U. S. Chamber Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Walt Disney employee and her boyfriend in a scheme to sell confidential information about Disney’s quarterly earnings to hedge funds.

A Florida prison inmate who allegedly ran a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service of approximately $115,000 in tax refunds has pleaded guilty.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he anticipates an exemption for small and midsized public companies from Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b) requirements for independent audits of their internal controls to remain in the final version of the financial regulatory reform bill.

Thirty-seven percent of U.S. CFOs and senior controllers believe that a balance sheet should display both the fair value (exit value) and amortized cost of assets, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton, consistent with a forthcoming proposal from the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding the presentation of financial instruments.

A new study from New York University finds that the stock market often harms investment incentives, especially for fast-growing companies.

Unrealistic deadlines, ineffective processes, an over-reliance on spreadsheets, and inaccurate reporting are major contributors to accountants’ stress level during a period close, according to a new survey.

Extending the 2001 and 2003 federal income tax cuts would sharply increase the national debt, even if the extensions were limited to individuals earning below $200,000, according to a new report by the Pew Economic Policy Group.

The Supreme Court declined to hear Textron’s appeal in a key tax case, letting stand a lower court decision that allows the Internal Revenue Service to demand legal and tax work papers from companies.

The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have introduced legislation to create job opportunities for veterans returning home from war by providing tax credits for businesses that hire them.

CCH has published a pair of special briefing papers on the financial reform bill that passed in the Senate last week and the tax extenders bill introduced last week in the House and Senate.