Audit & Accounting

Louisiana accounting firms LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand CPAs and the Gautreau Group plan to merge on October 1.

A federal judge has dropped the charges against 13 defendants in the KPMG tax shelter case.Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan blamed prosecutors for forcing the Big Four accounting firm to stop paying the legal fees of the 13 defendants and said their constitutional rights had been violated.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is forging closer ties with Australian regulators.The PCAOB has signed a statement of protocol with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to improve cooperation in their oversight of auditors and public accounting firms that practice in the United States and Australia.

The Internal Revenue Service said it has begun mailing educational letters this month to more than 650,000 small tax-exempt organizations to let them know they need to start submitting a new annual electronic notice known as an e-Postcard.Form 990-N, the electronic notice they have to send, is intended for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts of $25,000 or less. Until the passage of the Pension Protection Act of 2006, charities of that size weren't required to submit either the Form 990 or 990-EZ.

The European Union has released a report praising the ongoing convergence of accounting standards in Europe, the United States and other parts of the world, but says there's still work to do.EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McGreevy welcomed the progress made so far to bring accounting standards in the U.S., Canada, Japan, China and India more in line with International Financial Reporting Standards. The European Commission report also lauded the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement that it would consider allowing companies to file IFRS financial statements without first reconciling them with GAAP.

Many people believe in collectibles as another track of asset allocation. In other words, buying and maintaining certain pieces of collectibles is seen as an additional brick in their financial planning foundation. It’s all part of establishing a net worth. For many of my age group, we had a great collection of comic books until we went away to college and returned home to find that our mother had cleaned out the garage and tossed all those dust-carrying original copies of Superman. We all experienced that one. But, as I grew older, the penchant for comic books ceased and I gravitated to something with wheels. I have a car that is now 17 years old. Yes, you read that right. 17! It has a mere 110,000 miles on it and is in mint condition. It was also, when it was unveiled in 1990, rated by most of the motor trend magazines as the car of the year. It certainly, over its lifetime, has lived up to that accolade. I noticed that before it hit the 15-year mark, its valued had certainly dropped. But, as soon as it passed the 15-year threshold, I saw an immediate rise in value as it entered the “classic” stage, which it is today. So, this to me is like money in the bank. As long as I keep it in such great condition with constant mechanic supervision, I have developed a pretty good asset. Some people don’t gravitate toward cars but more toward, let’s say, art. A few weeks ago, I visited the Raymond James Financial center, its corporate headquarters in St. Petersburg, Florida, to talk with various executives to find out where they are heading with the financial planning explosion upwards because of the Baby Boomers. Talk about asset allocation. I was opened up to the Tom and Mary James/Raymond James Financial Arty Collection, one of the country’s largest private collections. It consists of more than 1,850 pieces including original paintings, sculptures, and graphics in both prints and posters. Tom James, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Raymond James Financial, and his wife Mary, own more than 95 percent of the collection. It is on display at the firm’s corporate headquarters. The art is placed on different floors of each campus building according to style and theme. Mr. James has selected almost every piece of artwork himself. While some of the artists in the collection are now deceased, he believes buying works from living artists helps to sustain them in their profession. Although the collection began in the late 1950s with predominately American artists, primarily from Florida, it has grown to include works by such artists as Alfredo Arreguin, Alexander Calder, Mihail Chemiakin, Salvador Dali, Jacob Lawrence, Roy Lichtenstein, Joan Miro, Leonardo Nierman, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Andy Warhol, Jamie Wyeth and Victor Vasarely, among others. In the mid 1980s, while on trips to Colorado and New Mexico, Mr. James began to collect Western and Southwestern art. At the present time, more than half of the collection consists of Western/Southwestern styles of art, including works by Roy Anderson, Earl Biss, J. D. Challenger, Glenna Goodacre, The James family, as well as Raymond James Financial, has long been a supporter of the arts. This year, for the fifth consecutive year, Raymond James Financial will be the major sponsor for the renowned Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of Arts. In addition, Mr. James is currently president of the Salvador Dali Museum Board of Directors. Hmmm. Is he interested in trading a piece of art for my car? Probably not. And I probably wouldn’t, either.

Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton may find themselves fending off legal claims of professional negligence and fraud from Refco shareholders in the wake of a report from the defunct financial company's bankruptcy examiner.

Grant Thornton has merged its Irish subsidiary with RSM Robson Rhodes in Ireland, after merging the two firms in the United Kingdom.The combined firm, Grant Thornton Ireland, builds GT's presence on the Emerald Isle and creates the sixth largest firm in the country, based on fee income.

The Securities and Exchange Commission won't require amended filings to correct misclassifications of a new Financial Accounting Standards Board standard for defined-benefit pension plans, says a recent alert from the AICPA's Center for Audit Quality.The new standard, SFAS 158, requires that employers move any surpluses or deficits in their retirement benefit plan funding off the footnotes and onto the face of the balance sheet, while making an adjustment in the ending balance of "accumulated other comprehensive income."

The Institute of Internal Auditors has appointed Gerald D. Cox as chairman of the board and elected a slate of other board members.Cox heads the internal audit partnership at South West Audit Partnership in Yeovil, U.K. Joining him on the board is Patricia K. Miller, a partner at Deloitte & Touche in Pleasant Hill, Calif., who was elected as senior vice chairwoman.