Audit & Accounting

Life insurance agents and companies have always tried to find ways of making costs paid by business owners tax deductible.The situation became ridiculous a few years ago with outrageous claims about how Sections 419A(f)(5) and (6) of the Internal Revenue Code exempted employers from any tax-deduction limitations. Finally, the Internal Revenue Service put a stop to such egregious misrepresentations in 2002 by issuing regulations and naming such plans as "potentially abusive tax shelters" (or "listed transactions") that needed to be registered and disclosed to the IRS.

Radon Stancil and Rick Parkes own Diversified Estate Services, a financial planning firm, based in Cary, NC. They have been in practice for more than 30 years. They also co-founded the N.C. Educational Institute that was formed to teach continued education to other professionals as well as the public. In short, they are pretty knowledgeable fellows. They have come up with 10 smart financial ideas to help ensure that an individual’s retirement nest egg lasts a lifetime. And, here they are:

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group met to discuss reports addressing the audit implications of International Financial Reporting Standards in SEC filings, as well as changes in market responses to financial restatements post-Sarbanes-Oxley.

Gerrit Zalm, the former deputy prime minister and finance minister of the Netherlands, has been selected as the new chairman of the trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, in a sign of the growing influence of the European Union on the standards-setting process.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued staff guidance on auditing internal controls in smaller public companies, allowing less complex companies to adjust more easily to a recently issued auditing standard for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.

Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting has signed an agreement to buy TeamMate from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Grant Thornton, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International, posted a 12 percent rise in fiscal 2007 revenues to reach $1.036 billion.

A majority of U.S. companies are being victimized by economic crime, with losses totaling $223 million, according to a new study.

The Social Security Administration said monthly benefits would increase 2.3 percent for more than 54 million Americans in 2008.

Deloitte Touche Tomatsu said its aggregate member firm revenue increased by a record 15.5 percent to $23.1 billion for the fiscal year ended May 31.