Marcum & Kliegman LLP has launched a new Women’s Leadership Development Program with neighboring law firm Farrell Fritz PC.The program, which is open to employees of both firms but not open to the public –yet -- was developed to provide a supportive venue for female professionals to explore issues that affect them in the workplace and develop skills to enrich their careers, said Marcum manager of training and development, Nancy Chen.

It has come to my attention that the advisor-client relationship may be sinking and that you need to do something about it.My friends at SEI, a leading global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing, and investment operations solutions, has done us all a big favor with its latest survey of some 100 clients of the SEI Advisor Network because it reveals that 28 percent of advisors attribute client relationship failures to a lack of understanding. The result is that advisors need to communicate more clearly to avoid straining or losing clients.

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a small Nevada audit firm challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The main council that provides guidance to the Financial Accounting Standards Board doesn’t agree that the accounting profession’s rulemaking structure is in need of reshaping.

Business-information provider D&B Corp. has acquired First Research for $22.5 million in cash.

A local accounting firm has alerted its 4,000 clients that their private financial records -- including Social Security numbers, addresses, credit card information and signature documents -- have been stolen.Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Tax Service Plus told authorities that thieves stole the business’s back-up computer on March 7, which contained data on thousands of tax returns filed over the past three years.

Retailers and other businesses that sell prepaid phone cards for long-distance service can usually qualify for the telephone tax refund, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The latest compilations of international auditing, ethics and public sector accounting standards are available in print and electronic formats from the International Federation of Accountants.The 2007 “Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance and Ethics Pronouncements” contains all pronouncements of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board as of Dec. 31, including the first four standards on auditing, which were redrafted under the board’s new clarity drafting rules. The handbook also contains an updated, “Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants,” which was issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants in July.

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.

A New Orleans court has overturned the class-certification of a group of shareholders looking to sue major investment banks for more than $40 billion to cover the banks’ alleged role in Enron Corp.’s accounting fraud.

One year down, three more to go.KPMG has approved San Diego’s financial statements for the city’s 2003 fiscal year, issuing a clean audit opinion letter last week. In the culmination of a three-year audit process, the Big Four firm issued 66 restatements -- covering wrongly recorded debt, property and investments -- that totaled nearly $1.8 billion.

Financial services conglomerate JPMorgan is expanding JPMorgan E-Tax — its Internet-based tax service providing institutional investors with global tax intelligence, rates and breaking news.

In 2007, financial reporting is at a crossroads - with far-reaching implications for businesses, investors and the capital markets.Appropriately, the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have held public discussions with stakeholders and leading experts in Hong Kong, London, and Norwalk, Conn., discussing the creation of a new conceptual framework for financial reporting.

PWC EXITS AS BEARINGPOINT AUDITORBig Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as independent accountant to troubled global consulting firm BearingPoint Inc., declining to stand for re-election.

Not long ago, one of us noted an inspirational quotation on the editorial page of the hometown paper. It captured our full attention because its insight applies to a major issue facing the financial reporting community and profession:"The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority."

Individuals typically transfer assets to family partnerships hoping to achieve large estate tax discounts for the assets that would not otherwise be available if the assets were retained in outright ownership. The discounts, in turn, could result in substantial tax savings. However, in order to achieve the desired results, a number of hurdles must be overcome.The Internal Revenue Service has issued Appeals Settlement Guidelines for family limited partnerships and family limited liability companies. These guidelines can help practitioners overcome some of the hurdles. By carefully examining this document and the pro- and anti-taxpayer cases examined in it, a practitioner should be in a position to craft an FLP or FLLC that will achieve a desired level of discounts for a client's estate.

FIDELITY GIFT FUND HAS RECORD YEARThe Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund reported its largest grant-making year in history, as overall grants to charity surpassed $950 million in 2006, up 13 percent from 2005. Since its inception in 1991, the Gift Fund has granted more than $6.5 billion to over 103,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide, as of Dec. 31, 2006.

The term "financial planning" covers a lot of area. On the high end, it can mean managing millions of dollars in assets, and continuously analyzing the results, yields and needs to determine the best allocation of capital.Financial planning also refers to the accountant or tax preparer who sees or hears from a client once a year, and uses the annual tax preparation appointment as a way of offering planning advice as well.

The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance identifying dozens of frivolous positions that taxpayers should avoid when filing their tax returns.The guidance lists 40 positions which have no basis for validity in existing law or which have been deemed frivolous by the U.S. Tax Court, or another federal court. If these or other frivolous positions are contained in a tax return, taxpayers could face a $5,000 penalty -- 10 times the previous maximum.

At least one in five workers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit will leave that money on the table this tax season, and Congress is looking to accountants and other tax professionals to help address the problem.During hearings before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, congressional leaders said that while 22 million low-income families and individuals claimed EITC wage subsidies last year, millions more who are eligible for the tax credits don't receive them.