Subject Root Tag

Being a CPA for a small business is harder now than ever. I hear plenty of stories from CPAs about how small business owners are suddenly turning to them for business advice, rather than just financial help.

A variety of tax breaks are due to expire at the end of 2012 (or have already expired at the end of 2011) unless Congress and the Obama administration manage to agree on a deal to extend the current tax rates and avert the fiscal cliff. Here's a sampling of some of the most notable tax breaks before they're going, going, gone.

The Internal Revenue Service has finalized its regulations regarding how tax preparers can use and disclose the information on their clients’ tax returns.

A new Web site aims to help small business owners and their accountants deal with the increased burdens of Form 1099 filing by preparing and filing the forms online.

New hires, promotions and more

Fiscal Cliff Estimator, community service, new studies, Web sites and more

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released its latest inspection reports on Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young and Grant Thornton, and identified deficiencies with several of the audits it inspected.

A new Web site aims to establish a competitive bidding system where tax preparers can compete for clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an Investor Bulletin to help purchasers of municipal bonds better assess the bonds’ credit risks.

Small businesses may be facing a variety of regulatory changes after January 1.

Congress is scheduled to return Thursday, with one of its top priorities a deal to avert the December 31 “fiscal cliff” deadline of looming tax increases and automatic spending cuts, but it will need to work quickly or reach some type of interim agreement.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader who has stayed largely outside the U.S. budget fight this year, will be thrust into prominence just five days before the deadline for tax increases and spending cuts.

The IRS has modified its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, which lets employers change the tax treatment of their employees.

Jill Martin has been named partner in the tax services group at ParenteBeard LLC.

Time is running out for U.S. lawmakers and President Barack Obama to agree on a budget deal by year end to avoid triggering more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts, Sen. Joseph Lieberman said on Sunday.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released the 2013 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy.

Grant Thornton reported global revenue growth of 10.4 percent in U.S. dollars, to a record $4.2 billion, for the year ended Sept. 20, 2012. Growth in local currency terms was even higher, at 13.2 percent.

In the face of major uncertainty regarding the upcoming tax season, Jeff Gramlich, president of tax software developer CCH Small Firm Services, is urging tax preparers to get in touch and stay in touch with their clients.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has appointed Charles Cox, John Dugan and Teri List-Stoll to its Board of Trustees, and accepted the resignation of Mary Stone, who earlier this month was accused of improprieties by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

IT managers still have some mixed feelings about the cloud, according to a recent survey from Lieberman Software Corporation 51 percent of respondents indicated they don’t trust the cloud for any of their personal data while 91 percent believe the move to cloud services has been more convenient for their organization’s in-house IT team.