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In today's economic climate, companies and accounting firms that give opinions on their clients' financial statements are sure to face new and significant challenges.Determining fair value, new policies regarding loan covenants and going-concern considerations are chief among them. This article takes a brief look at each of these challenges.
February 23 -
ACCOUNTING FIRM TARGETS MADOFF INVESTORSWestport, Conn.-Walter C. King Associates is offering tax recovery and forensic accounting services to investors who fell victim to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
February 23 -
IRS REVISES 529 PLAN RULESWashington, D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service has given Section 529 college savings plans the ability to change their investment strategies more frequently in response to the financial crisis.
February 23 -
When every dollar counts a bit more dearly, a greater number of taxpayers are taking a closer look at ways to improve cash flow. Increasing (or at least accelerating) tax refunds for past years while lowering estimated tax and withholding payments for this year are two areas of growing interest.On the refund side of the ledger, a variety of elections and decisions still to be made on 2008 returns can affect the size of a refund, either of 2008 tax payments or of prior years' under loss-carryback rules. Accelerating refunds, whether or not they are already set in stone, also can improve a taxpayer's immediate cash flow.
February 23 -
BROKER/DEALER AUDITORS MUST REGISTER WITH PCAOBWashington, D.C. - The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said that the financial statements of non-public broker/dealers now need to be certified by PCAOB-registered auditing firms.
February 23 -
A growing number of Baby Boomers, America's largest generation, are considering retirement in the midst of what many are calling the worst economic environment since the Great Depression. This year alone, Americans have seen the value of their 401(k) and other retirement plans decline by over $2 trillion.If Boomers are planning to use these assets to retire in the lifestyles they envision, advisors owe them some straight talk before they retire.
February 23 -
MILLIONAIRES' WORTH PLUNGES 30%U.S. households worth $1 million or more have seen their assets decline 30 percent during the financial crisis, according to a new report.
February 23 -
Economic recessions are no time to be plowing into software development unless the company either needs the cash flow from a new version to keep going, or the product is so outdated that an update is mandatory. Otherwise, the money is better spent in beefing up product support and planning for marketing when the economy recovers.That's a pretty basic rule, and one that holds true in particular for business-planning software. We have not seen many substantial changes in the software, and don't expect to see much other than patches and a change in version name for 2009.
February 23 -
SAGE UPGRADES CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT SOFTWARESage North America has released an upgraded version of its customer relationship management software for small and midsized businesses with new branding and e-mail campaign features.
February 23 -
Training budgets are tempting targets during tight times, but should firms really cut expenses in this area? According to Gartner Research, every hour of information technology training provides 5.75 hours of increased capacity.How did they reach this conclusion? According to Gartner's research, the savings are tabulated by adding:
February 23