'Tis the season for holiday cheer and especially gifts, so herewith are some presents that accountants might like to find coming down the chimney this year in the company of a chubby bearded man.
1. A reprieve from the alternative minimum tax so their clients won't start yelling at them if they suddenly find themselves owing the IRS half their bank balance in taxes.
2. Free lessons from Berlitz in speaking a new foreign language: International Financial Reporting Standards.
3. Straight A's on their firm's report card from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
4. An iPod Nano with a complete collection of Alvin and the Chipmunks albums and all the GAAP rules in XBRL.
5. A 50-year reprieve on having their company subject to Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 requirements.
6. A succession plan that puts them at the top of the list of people groomed to take over at the firm.
7. A Nintendo Wii with a wireless controller that can play a game of virtual golf while adding up a column of numbers in Excel.
8. A group of elves who need help figuring out transfer pricing between the North Pole and the U.S.
9. Fair value measurements that favor regifting.
10. A Tickle Me Elmo doll that laughs at accounting jokes.
