Practice Management

After serving as a regional managing partner with a national firm for several years, in the late 1970s Len Miller decided to find a new home for his technical expertise in accounting and consulting, as well as his firm administration skills. He co-founded his own firm in Phoenix, Miller Wagner & Co. Ltd., and ran the business for more than two decades before consolidating with CBiz Inc. in early 1999. Today, Miller serves as the president of CBiz Accounting, Tax & Advisory Services LLC.With over 40 years of experience, Miller is a recognized expert in the fields of finance, real estate, general business consulting and various litigation support matters -- but he still places an emphasis on the programs his firm has in place to retain and develop its own employees.

One of New England's largest independent CPA firms, Carlin, Charron & Rosen LLP, has announced a pending merger with UHY Advisors. Terms of the merger, which should close May 1, were not disclosed. In May 2006, UHY acquired the Boston-based accounting firm Brown & Brown LLP, absorbing the firm's 80 employees.CCR employs more than 280 professionals in its Boston and Westborough, Mass., offices, as well as locations in Glastonbury, Conn., and Providence, R.I. Founded in 1918, the firm provides assurance, tax and advisory services to a range of clients.

In a series of deals effective Jan. 1, LarsonAllen LLP acquired four firms, expanding its presence in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arizona. Terms were not disclosed.The firms that will be joining LarsonAllen include: Wisconsin-based Tracey & Thole SC; Ahern Montag Vogler Ltd. and Peterson & Co. PA, both based in Mankato, Minn.; and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based The O'Connor Group PC.

The latest American Institute of CPAs' Statement on Standards for Tax Services has some practitioners upset that it could hurt smaller firms that are primarily engaged in tax preparation.SSTS 9, available on the AICPA Tax Center Web site, was released a year ago in proposed form and is slated to go into effect on June 30, 2007. It "sets forth the applicable standards for members concerning the obligation to have a system of quality control for their tax practice (public practice) or function (nonpublic practice)."

Liberty Tax Service announced the acquisition of eSmartTax, the income tax preparation business of San Jose, Calif.-based C&S Technologies. Financial terms of the deal, which does not include C&S's payroll-tax-related filing services, were not disclosed.The eSmartTax acquisition will allow Liberty customers to prepare and file individual tax returns on the Internet through the company's Web site, or through the Internal Revenue Service's Free File Alliance site.

Partnership taxpayers can now use the modernized e-File platform when filing Form 1065, "U.S. Return of Partnership Income," and Form 1065-B, "U.S. Return of Income for Electing Large Partnerships."The modernized platform makes use of Extensible Markup Language, and allows users the additional benefits of transactional processing instead of batch processing, allowance for binary file attachments, elimination of the duplicate filing of international returns, and a federal/state partnership program.

KPMG LLP has announced the establishment of the Tax Governance Institute, an open forum for board members, management, stakeholders and government representatives to debate various aspects of tax oversight and management.Through video and audio Webcasts, roundtables, other events and its Web site, the institute's goal is to regularly bring together interested parties to discuss tax matters of common concern relating to the day-to-day and long-term management of corporate tax risk. The institute will soon announce regularly scheduled events. Other online features will include a library of thought leadership and relevant business news, and interactive polling to help gauge the marketplace's awareness of emerging topics.

Donor-advised funds have grown steadily over the past several years, in large part as a result of the benefits these funds bestow upon their donors, and the increased marketing of these funds by sponsoring organizations as a way of capturing donations from an expanding upper class. Some of their recent popularity, however, has been for the wrong reasons - a development that has not gone unnoticed by Congress.The Pension Protection Act of 2006 has tried to reign in some perceived abuses. As with most enforcement measures, however, the pendulum can now swing too far the other way and trap some well-meaning donors by surprise. The PPA has several dates that practitioners should watch in advising clients on donor-advised funds: Aug. 17, 2006; Feb. 13, 2007; and Aug. 17, 2007, as well as certain transition dates.

The House Ways & Means Committee will begin marking up a small business tax package today, according to committee chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

Companies don’t believe broad-based tax reform is coming anytime soon, though they do think that the change of control in Congress will have a significant impact on tax policy, according to a survey conducted by a Washington law firm.