Accounting education

The International Federation of Accountants' education standards board has proposed new guidance outlining the skills accountants need to perform competently in a variety of information technology roles.

NAPFA LAUNCHES PSA CAMPAIGN: The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, a 1,300-member association of fee-only financial advisors, has launched a consumer-oriented public service campaign aimed at educating Americans about the need for financial professionals to hold themselves to a fiduciary standard. The campaign is titled "Focus on Fiduciary."NAPFA said that the strategy behind the campaign is to highlight the issues surrounding fiduciary standards in the financial industry while helping consumers ask the right questions of their financial advisors. To support the campaign, NAPFA has developed a number of resources available to the industry and consumers alike, including:

Some 50 percent of Baby Boomers ages 50 to 59, with anywhere from six to 15 years before retirement, indicated in a recent survey that they don't know how much money they'll need when they finally stop working.Furthering their financial dilemma, 60 percent of those polled said that they intend to save more than they do, but don't always get around to it.

Most people who work for a living, either as employees or as self-employed persons, are covered by Social Security's old age, survivors and disability insurance program.As a retirement program, Social Security pays a monthly cash benefit to workers who have the equivalent of at least 40 months of work under Social Security, and who are at least 62 years old. The amount of the benefit is based on the worker's primary insurance amount. The PIA depends on how long he worked under Social Security and the amount of his Social Security wages. Social Security benefits may also be paid to a retired worker's qualifying dependents, such as a spouse, a widow or widower, and certain children. The benefits of a worker's dependents also are based on the worker's PIA.

Members of the military serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones can now put money into individual retirement accounts, even if they received tax-free combat pay, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

DePaul University's College of Commerce has launched the Center for Global Accountancy Education, Benchmarking and Research Center, which will work to improve financial accounting in the developing world by policing three specific areas: international auditing standards, financial reporting and accounting education.

An old colleague of mine from Melbourne, Australia, sent me some information that his country's financial planners have just implemented new guidelines to help prevent conflicts of interest and to improve confidence in the financial planning sector.

The International Accounting Education Standards Board, an independent standard-setting group within the International Federation of Accountants, has released a paper, "Approaches to the Development and Maintenance of Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes in Accounting Education Programs."

LexisNexis and BNA announced an agreement to bring BNA's content to accounting firm and corporate tax department subscribers on the LexisNexis Tax Center platform.

Yep, it's that time of the year again! CPA Wealth Provider is calling for nominations for its Fourth Annual Financial Planning Awards in any of the following categories: CPA/Financial Planning Firms, Broker/Dealers, and Financial Planning Software Vendors.

Nine of the 18 insurance firms that provide variable annuities through financial advisors affiliated with Raymond James Financial Inc. will begin offering new, less expensive investment products this week, meeting a deadline set by the financial services firm.

The Professional Accountants in Business Committee of the International Federation of Accountants has released its 2006 "Articles of Merit."

Facing a radical shortfall of CPAs in China, where the Chinese Institute of CPAs has just 140,000 members and needs roughly 300,000 to serve the needs of global capital markets, Britain's largest domestic institute of chartered accountants is implementing a radical training plan.The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales will send some 50 "elite" professionals - but the number could increase later - for intensive training that will focus on accountancy and keeping China competitive in the global market environment.

Following the old saw that "What goes up must come down" - and vice versa - advisors who employ a strategy of buying cheap like it when market sectors decline.By the same token, some economic-minded advisors are continually on the lookout for market laggards in the expectation that the next swing might trend upward. Top performers over the recent past are the likely suspects for future price declines, say experts.

In an effort to increase charitable giving across the U.S., the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, an independent public charity within the donor-advised fund program of financial services conglomerate Fidelity, has rolled out the Charitable Investment Advisor Program.Fidelity's new offering allows independent investment advisors to provide discretionary investment management to the Gift Fund for contributions made by the advisors' clients.

An individual who is an active participant in a qualified retirement plan cannot make deductible contributions to a traditional IRA unless her modified adjusted gross income is below certain specified levels.The level depends on the type of income tax return the individual files. For single taxpayers and heads of household, the otherwise allowable deduction is phased out ratably in 2006 and later years, when the taxpayer's MAGI is between $50,000 and $60,000.

A federal labor board has sided with the Internal Revenue Service in a case over the agency's desire to raise the educational requirements for revenue agents.

Brand-new exchange-traded funds are coming onto the market faster than most advisors can keep up with them.Issuers such as PowerShares and Barclay's Global Investors file for groups of new offerings in the double digits, and the total number has topped 216 funds with aggregate holdings of $334 billion. The flood of new products means advisors' mailboxes are stuffed with offering memoranda. Most end up in the circular file, but a few have made their way into clients' portfolios alongside some of the older issues.

Using cash in a like-kind exchange is similar to passing around the proverbial "hot potato" - you don't want to be the one holding the potato, i.e., the cash, at the end of the transaction. If you do so in a like-kind exchange, you are probably holding "boot" (non-qualifying property), which is taxable to the extent of any gain otherwise locked up in the relinquished property (i.e., the difference between its fair market value and basis).Sometimes, strategies that involve the use of cash to facilitate like-kind exchanges under Code Section 1031 begin to seem like shell games, in which labels matter a great deal. In the end, however, the only labels that have been successfully applied are those that have made sense within the basic framework of Section 1031.

Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news, but small business owners should be aware that the Internal Revenue Service is stepping up its examinations of companies' retirement plans this year, hoping to catch those that are cheating their workers or the government, or both, as well as to ensure that the plans meet federal regulations.Traditional pensions, 401(k) plans and profit-sharing plans are all on the agenda.