Practice Management

Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra LLP announced a merger with Orlando’s Silver & Associates PA.

In an effort to explain by example, or at least by handpicked scenario, the Treasury Department has released more details outlining the possible application of President Bush’s plan for a standard health insurance deduction.

The odds are looking better for Senate approval of legislation to increase the minimum wage. But reconciling that bill with a House version -- containing no tax breaks for businesses -- figures to take some negotiating.Senate debate on the bill ended Tuesday with an 87-10 vote, and final Senate passage of the bill is expected this week.

To each his own. And all’s fair in love, war and “Behind Closed Doors Wednesdays.”Robert Flach, a Jersey City, N.J., accountant who holds a masters in taxation, has been in the business for 36 years since inheriting the tax prep business of his mentor. He already had a couple of returns completed when I talked to him earlier in the week, and expects to complete around 400 by the time the season is over.

Fannie Mae’s chief executive received a compensation bump of about 25 percent in 2006 -- including salary, stock and bonuses.

There are only two conferences for accountants that my colleague, Jeff Stimpson, and I never miss attending. Winning Is Everything, presented by the Advisory Board, is one of them.The Advisory Board’s members are four of the leading consultants to accounting firms -- Jay Nisberg, president, Jay Nisberg & Associates; Allan Koltin, president and CEO, PDI Global.; Gary Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting; and Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G Financial Services and co-founder of the Leading Edge Alliance.

The Internal Revenue Service has updated both its Form 940, “Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return,” as well as online tools to help taxpayers determine whether they should deduct their state and local general sales taxes, or whether they might owe the alternative minimum tax.The IRS has redesigned Form 940 to be more user-friendly for the more than 1 million payroll professionals and business owners who file the form.

A new Web site from Link2Gov allows taxpayers to make federal balance-due tax payments via debit card, paying a fixed convenience fee of $2.95.

Successful filing of electronic tax returns, as well as meeting the accounting requirements of FIN 48, are the biggest challenges facing corporate tax professionals in 2007, according to an informal survey by Thomson Tax & Accounting.

Fueled by the combination of aging partners who are sliding closer to retirement and the ongoing hunt for qualified staff, the accounting profession stands on the precipice of a major surge in mergers and acquisitions.According to Marc Rosenberg, CPA and president of The Rosenberg Associates, a consultancy in Wilmette, Ill., there has been a 30 percent reduction in accounting graduates from 1996 to 2000. "Although this has reversed somewhat, it has not improved to anywhere near the level that many think," he said. "In fact, statistics from the American Institute of CPAs' annual study of accounting firm graduates from 2001 through 2004 show that accounting graduates nationwide increased 8.9 percent. That's only 3 percent a year."