Technology hurdles are forcing the Internal Revenue Service to again delay the effective date of a revenue ruling that gave employers guidance on the use of smart cards, debit cards and credit cards to provide transportation fringe benefits to employees.

Generation X millionaires give nearly twice as much to charity on average compared to older generations, according to a new survey.

Joseph P. "Bo" Fitzpatrick has left his position running AuditWatch to join CPA firm Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Co. as director of business development and strategic planning.

Investment research firm Glass Lewis has named former Comptroller General Charles A. Bowsher as chairman of its advisory council.

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation has published a guide to the Extensible Business Reporting Language version of International Financial Reporting Standards.

For months, leaders in the accounting profession have been demanding that the Securities and Exchange Commission give them a "date certain" for the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards, and now they have it, though the date looks more than a little uncertain.

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to the Labor Department supporting a proposal to require retirement plan sponsors and administrators to annually disclose fees and expenses to participants.

Corporate tax executives need to closely watch other countries' transition to International Financial Reporting Standards as it could affect their global tax planning, warns a report issued by Deloitte.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proposed transferring guidance from the American Institute of CPAs' auditing literature into its own literature for state and local government accountants.

Sage Software has signed a deal with CompuPay to provide outsourced payroll services for Sage customers, including those using Peachtree Managed Payroll.

Howard Hook, CPA, CFP, is a retirement distribution planning expert with Access Wealth Planning. the wealth management firm with offices in Roseland and Princeton, New Jersey. He maintains that with the coming shift from employment to retirement, many Baby Boomers will be on their own when it comes to making decisions that could have a major effect on their retirement lifestyles. He points out that in talking to a goodly number of clients who are happily retired as well as counseling those who are thinking about packing it in, he has found that those who have worked through three specific issues prior to departing their full-time jobs have achieved the most post-retirement satisfaction. So, what are the three things to think about before you hand in your retirement paper? First of all, do you know how you are going to pay your bills when you are no longer receiving a salary? It seems rather obvious on the surface, but Hook says that many people kind of ignore the matter of how much income will actually be needed without that salary. In other words, it’s not as obvious as it sounds. He suggests that people should prepare a detailed list of exactly the expenses that are being paid and then a separate column on how much income is being received. He cautions that all expenses should be included. For example, consider income taxes. That’s going to come out of your revenue base; the employer is no longer paying or deducting it from your paycheck. And consider medical insurance. Who’s paying for that and what’s it cost? Hook points out that all income must be listed. For instance, consider Social Security. He says that many people don’t realize that a portion of Social Security is subject to federal income tax and that a spouse who is still working can cause up to 85 percent of the retired spouse’s Social Security income to be subject to income tax. Next, go back to those medical expenses. How you going to pay for them? Upon retirement, decisions and responsibilities will fall on the retiree. A break in coverage could result in extended waiting periods for those with certain pre-existing conditions. You don’t want coverage to lapse even for a moment. One has to consider when Medicare comes into play or if not, what are the options? Also, what about COBRA which requires most employers who offer group health plans to provide temporary continuation of such coverage to employees who do qualify? And what about a spouse’s medical plan at their place of employment for the retiring spouse? Each medical plan has unique advantages and disadvantages. In fact, some plans require a supplemental drug plan to be purchased to cover prescription medication, while other plans include drug coverage. And again, watch those waiting periods carefully! Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how are you going to spend your free time? All this free time certainly changes the parameters of your life. With people living longer, the average retiree could live upwards of 25 years or longer. Do you have a game plan? Keep in mind that in many instances more free time can also lead to increased spending. Having a plan for keeping busy, says Hook, can help ensure a smooth transition and ease the difficulty of managing large blocks of free time. He says that the idea is not to take out a calendar and full out each day with a different planned activity but rather to make a list of the things you would like to do and an approximate time frame for doing them. Naturally, Hook says that answers to these questions may differ because people are different. The key, he concludes, is to make appropriate decisions now that will allow you the flexibility to adjust those decisions in the future without compromising your lifestyle. Howard Hook can be reached at hhook@awplan.com.

The Center for Audit Quality has sent a letter to the Treasury Department's Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession warning that it has not taken sufficient steps to safeguard against the risk of "catastrophic litigation" to auditors.

Bookkeeping Express, a franchisor focused on providing outsourced bookkeeping services to small businesses, plans to expand nationally with 400 new territories.

The American Institute of CPAs and other organizatons expressed their support for the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed roadmap for moving to international accounting standards.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a new rule and amendment to an existing rule from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board related to ethics, independence and the provision of tax services.

Intuit has added mobile access to its QuickBooks Online service via the Apple iPhone and RIM BlackBerry.

Members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board may be breathing a sigh of relief that their organization has been ruled constitutional, but their opponents could decide to take their case to the Supreme Court.

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed setting a roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards by 2014.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has scheduled a meeting for this Wednesday to discuss setting a roadmap for the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards.

Chinese accounting standards are converging with International Financial Reporting Standards, but there are still differences in practice, according to a new study by the Institute of Management Accountants.