Accounting education

Just saw a demo of a rather interesting idea. Of course, it is not unique, but the demo is rather good. Now what is this all about?

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, announced that its 2007 User Conference for tax and accounting professionals will be held Nov. 4-7 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.

On the heels of News Corp.’s bid for The Wall Street Journal, electronic publisher Thomson Corp. confirmed that it will offer $17.5 billion for the Reuters Group news service.

Among 47 industries, MBA candidates ranked accounting as the lowest-paying field in a recent survey.The average expected starting salary for MBAs working in auditing, accounting and taxation was about $64,000, according to the poll of 5,000 current MBA students. Five years after graduation, the MBA candidates expected accounting-related work to pay just over $111,000.

The Treasury Department issued rules last week aimed at dismissing some of the uncertainties around Roth 401(k) plans.

Effective immediately, newly credentialed New Jersey CPAs will have to attend an orientation program within six months of qualifying as a CPA.Thanks to a bill signed last week by acting New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey, the state Board of Accountancy will now get to work determining what exactly that program curriculum will include. Ralph Albert Thomas, executive director of the New Jersey Society of CPAs, which supported the bill, told a local newspaper that at minimum, the program will contain a course on New Jersey law and ethics.

Would you give investment or insurance advice to a client without knowing their tax situation?

If life insurance professionals picture the accounting profession as it was a decade or two ago, they may be forfeiting an opportunity to build a mutually beneficial alliance.

Financial planners reported mean gross earnings of $283,079 in 2006, an increase of more than $50,000 from a year ago, according to a recently released survey.

Two major accounting associations have announced the recipients of research grants for the 2007-08 year.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board concluded its first International Auditor Regulatory Institute last week.

Appointed to serve as the first executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, Cindy Fornelli is guiding the new organization in its mission to bolster confidence in the audit process, and to aid investors by promoting constructive suggestions for change.Still affiliated with the American Institute of CPAs, the center is the revamped version of the AICPA’s former Center for Public Company Audit Firms. The CAQ Governing Board consists of representatives from the AICPA, the major public company auditing firms and independent public members.

The New York State Society of CPAs will host the 28th Annual New York CPA Business & Technology Show & Conference on May 16 and 17 at the Hilton New York Hotel.

"Boomers have both unrivaled influence and rich networks of peer advisors,” says Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist at Weber Shandwick, one of the world’s leading public relations firms.

Thomson Tax & Accounting has released "PPC's Guide to Audits of Nonpublic Companies," which helps integrate the requirements of the newly released risk assessment standards that go into effect for financial statement audits beginning on or after Dec. 15, 2006. The new tome fuses two existing products -- "PPC's Guide to Audits of Small Businesses" and "PPC's Guide to Risk-Based Audits" - into a single guide for all nonpublic, non-industry-specific audit engagements. The manual includes checklists, forms and audit programs to help firms transition their audit approach to reflect the new standards. The guide is available in a variety of formats including TTA's proprietary Checkpoint platform. The risk-assessment guide also contains in-depth coverage of new requirements for communicating internal control deficiencies under SAS No. 112 and communicating with those charged with governance under SAS No. 114.

Don’t know whether you saw this, but Schwab Institutional has released the findings of the “Independent Advisor Outlook Study,” a new semi-annual survey of independent investment advisors that measures their views on the geopolitical landscape, economy and investments. By the end of last year, there were more than 15,000 RIAs across the country, managing some $1.8 trillion of U.S. wealth, says Cerulli, and that nearly 1400 independent investment advisors with some $347 billion in assets under management participated in the study.So, what did they have to say?

A report by the Government Accountability Office has raised questions regarding the value of consumer-mandated credit counseling as required by the 2005 Bankruptcy Protection Act. The auditor general's study, which examined the BPA's requirement for consumers to undergo credit counseling and debtor education courses before having debts discharged, said that by the time most clients receive the counseling, their financial situations are dire, leaving them with no viable alternative to bankruptcy. The counseling was intended to help consumers make informed choices about bankruptcy and its alternatives. The auditor general's report was intended to address growing concerns over potential abuses by credit counseling agencies in the wake of the counseling/education requirement. Among other things, the GAO report examined: * The process of approving counseling and education providers; * The content and results of the counseling and education sessions, * The fees charged, and; * The availability of and challenges to accessing services. The GAO has recommended that the Justice Department's U.S. Trustee Program analyze the outcomes of pre-filing credit counseling and issue formal guidance on what constitutes "ability to pay." As of October 2006, the Trustee Program had approved 153 credit counseling and 268 debtor education providers. For the report, go to: www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-203.

As expected, H&R Block Inc. announced that it has signed an agreement to sell its struggling Option One Mortgage Corp. lending arm, though unit subsidiary H&R Block Mortgage Corp. is not part of the deal.

I come from a family of pretty good athletes. Well, let me amend that. Of the four males in the household, my youngest brother was terrible -- always falling over his feet, my middle brother and I were pretty decent athletes, having played in high school and college. My father was a duffer and even though he had the most expensive golf clubs on the market, his handicap practically equaled the national debt.

A year after the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 became law, government statistics show that the number of bankruptcy filings nationwide dropped nearly 70 percent last year.The total number of filings last year dropped to 618,000, down from a record of 2.1 million in 2005, when people were rushing to file before the new laws were enacted, according to statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The American Bankruptcy Institute said that the 2006 number was the lowest level since 1988.