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New York — The American Institute of CPAs has ramped up its mobility efforts to allow CPAs to practice in other states, with mobility bills enacted now in 12 states and legislation pending in 22 other states.

Most likely you’re aware that Software as a Service is fast becoming a viable alternative to traditional, on-premise applications.What you may not know is that users and providers alike are praising the platform because of its flexibility, strong security backing and, since its Web-based technology is supplied by a third party, its ability to tap into a broader labor pool.

The Senate has confirmed Douglas H. Shulman as the new commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Shulman, formerly vice chair of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, was nominated in November to replace Acting Commissioner Linda Stiff.“For the majority of Americans who pay their taxes willingly and on time, there must be clear guidance, accessible education and outstanding service,” Shulman said in a statement. “Our aim should be to make it as easy as possible for citizens to pay the correct amount of taxes in the most efficient and least burdensome manner possible. For taxpayers who intentionally evade paying taxes, there must be rigorous enforcement programs.”

SAGE APPOINTS NORTH AMERICA CEOIrvine, Calif. — The Sage Group has appointed telecommunications industry veteran Sue Swenson as the new president and CEO of the British software company’s North American business.

In the classic tale of corporate greed, Wall Street, the ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko’s young protégé, Bud Fox, asks how much money is too much. “How many yachts can you water ski behind?” asks Fox. Gekko calmly replies, “It’s all about bucks, kid. Everything else is conversation.”The subject of exorbitant executive compensation was an uncomfortable issue long before the current credit and housing crises wrested the majority of economic headlines. From the outcry over former New York Stock Exchange chair Dick Grasso’s $140 million contract, to the inexplicable $100 million severance package given to former Walt Disney Co. president Michael Ovitz, it’s almost unfathomable to most Americans how someone can justify such figures, regardless of a company’s performance.

In virtually every type of business, data is received, processed, stored, transported and otherwise disseminated in digital form via electronic media.In the accounting profession, digital data is ubiquitous. As a result, laptops and hand-held PDAs are essential tools of the trade. Due to advances in digitized memory, storage capacity is nearly beyond the realm of consideration; that is to say, the data that CPAs use and decipher occupy, as a practical matter, virtually no space. The entire contents of a laptop can be stored on a device the size of a finger. Taking your practice with you wherever you may go is easy and convenient.

An increasing number of taxpayers filed or intended to file their tax returns online this tax season, according to recent data supplied by both the Internal Revenue Service and global researcher The Conference Board.As of early March, IRS statistics showed that the 2008 e-filing level was up 5 percent over the same period last year. And in a survey undertaken just prior to tax season, The Conference Board found that 40 percent of taxpayers planned to file online, up from 34 percent three years ago. More than two thirds of consumers said that they have filed online for three years or more, up from less than 55 percent in 2005.

IRS REHIRES PRIVATE COLLECTORSWashington, D.C. — The Internal Revenue Service has decided to renew the contracts of two companies involved in its controversial private debt collection program.

MOODY'S ENGAGES KPMG

In mid-February, we received an e-mail about our off-balance-sheet financing column (“Off-balance-sheet financing: Holy Grail or holey pail?” Accounting Today, Feb. 11-24, 2008, page 13) from Craig Bruya, currently chief financial officer of a Microsoft division, a former Andersen auditor and an erstwhile accounting instructor.We don’t mind getting under readers’ skins if it jars them loose from complacency. In this case, it appears we did the former, but not the latter. We think others would learn from seeing his challenges (which appear in italics but have been edited for prolixity) and our replies.