Audit & Accounting

New proposed Internal Revenue Service regulations to determine the value of a taxable estate may create a series of traps for unwary executors and tax preparers, according to the American Institute of CPAs.Moreover, the regulations lead to the situation where an estate must be held open for a number of years to determine the amount of the deduction for a contingent obligation.

Things change. Even assumptions. When assumptions change - assumptions about interest rates, discount rates, actuarial projections, and the like - other things change as a result.It was the war in Iraq that indirectly brought the issue to light. To the surprise of the U.S. Treasury, the extent of the U.S. military's costs for pensions, other post-employment benefits, and health care costs associated with the Veterans Administration appeared to be lower in 2006 than in 2005, despite an ongoing war.

Japanese electronics giant NEC said it was unable to file its annual report from last year and would not be able to restate prior financial results going back to 2000 because of difficulties reconciling Japanese GAAP standards with U.S. GAAP standards.

Accountants are garnering more power and seats on corporate board audit committees, but their numbers still remain relatively low, according to a newly released report.

CPA firm Alpern Rosenthal said it is merging with Cass, Levy & Leone in an effort to expand from its Pittsburgh base to Florida.

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Okay, how many know who said this? Will Rogers? Nope. Don Imus? No, again! It was Mark Twain (yeah, you knew that) in a newspaper editorial back on August 27, 1897. As quoted by Charles Warner, his actual words were, “A well-known U.S. writer once said that while everyone talked about the weather, nobody seemed to do anything about it.” The remark is generally ascribed to Twain, with whom Warner collaborated on the novel, The Gilded Age (1873). So, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, how does it relate to the following? Because everybody talks about getting nominations in, but many wait until after the issue closes before waking up. Here then is another crack at it. In the event you haven’t seen all the ads, promos, and press releases, nominations are open for CPA Wealth Provider’s 5th Annual Financial Planning Awards in the following categories: CPA/Financial Planning Firms, Broker/Dealers, and Financial Planning Software Vendors. Winners are those firms or companies that have taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative, or growth in the professional planning area. The winners will be profiled in the January 2008 issue of CPA Wealth Provider and copies of the issue will be included with the January issues of Accounting Today, Accounting Technology, and Practical Accountant, as well as being featured on WebCPA.com and at applicable conferences and conventions including the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Conference in January in Las Vegas. The judges are Bill Carlino, editor-in-chief of Accounting Today, Stuart Kahan, executive editor of CPA Wealth Provider, and Howard Wolosky, editor-in-chief of Practical Accountant. No forms are needed to nominate. Simply send information about what company or firm is being nominated and in what category. Explain briefly how this firm or company has taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative, or growth in the financial planning area. CPA Wealth Provider must receive nominations no later than November 5, 2007. The issue goes to press on December 7, 2007. Send nominations by e-mail, regular mail, or fax to: Stuart Kahan, Executive Editor CPA Wealth Provider, SourceMedia 1 State Street Plaza, 27th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel: (212) 803-8852 Fax: (646) 264-6828 e-mail: stuart.kahan@sourcemedia.com

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to implement the bank broker provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.

Bradley B. Rush, former CFO of Sunrise Senior Living, has sued the company for breach of contract and defamation for terminating him in May and claiming he destroyed documents.

Sanders Morris Harris Group, a financial services holding company, has acquired a 25 percent ownership interest in iPro One, a company that provides CPA practices with investment systems and products.

Kayla Gillan, one of the founding board members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, plans to leave the PCAOB by the end of January 2008 when her five-year term expires.