The Internal Revenue Service is sending out free copies of its CD-ROM, the Small Business Resource Guide, to help small business owners comply with federal tax laws, and it's ready to ship them in bulk.

Small and midsized companies are facing increased scrutiny from tax authorities both in the U.S. and in foreign jurisdictions to ensure that the transfer pricing of transactions among their subsidiaries is treated as if they were at arm's length - or what two unrelated parties would pay."Transfer pricing is something that a lot of small and medium-sized companies need to be paying attention to and thought they were under the radar in the past," said Meril Markley, a principal at UHY Advisors in Houston. "But because of FIN 48, they're really going to have to take a close look for the first time."

When the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council met in September to discuss the use of International Financial Reporting Standards, they found themselves answering questions with questions.FASAC, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board on a variety of issues, had been given the task of providing perspectives on where accounting and financial reporting might be going over the next two or three decades - with special consideration of the role of IFRS.

After a summer of discussions, the Financial Accounting Standards Board is expected to release as many as 10 documents by the end of the year or early in 2008.Susan Bielstein, FASB director of major projects and technical activities, said that the board had shown strong progress this year, especially with the completion of a business combination standard that it wrote jointly with the International Accounting Standards Board. It was the first joint standard the boards have produced, and it's expected to be released in mid-October. "It was a real milestone in the convergence process," Bielstein said.

The Internal Revenue Service has softened its opposition to contingent fees charged by Circular 230 practitioners. Originally, the IRS proposed permitting a contingent fee only in connection with an IRS examination or the challenge of an original return, or an amended return filed before a notice of examination was received.Under the final rules, a tax practitioner will be allowed to charge a contingent fee for services rendered in connection with the IRS examination of, or challenge to, an original return, or an amended return or claim for refund or credit where it was filed within 120 days of the taxpayer receiving a written notice of the examination, or a written challenge to the original return.

You’ve undoubtedly heard the term “rebalancing.” It has nothing to do with a highwire act although some in the financial community might say that’s exactly what it is. Rebalancing your portfolio is rather critical and it should be done at least annually so that your financial goals remain intact. I do know that many investors don’t even consider this. In fact, friends and family alike tell me that it’s just too time-consuming and besides, they know little about what it takes to do so. To counter this, I like to offer an example. Here’s one courtesy of my friends at First Investors: Take my friend Fred who has a portfolio of 60 percent domestic stocks and 40 percent bonds. He’s had this for the past five years and now it has an allocation of 69 percent domestic stocks and 31 percent bonds. So, over the five year period, stocks went up by 13.4 percent while bonds increased by 4.5 percent. What does this mean? It means that the portfolio wandered or as they call it in financial circles, “drifted.” So, Fred’s portfolio changed rather dramatically even though he did nothing about it for five years. What this also means is that even what appears to be positive developments can easily toss your entire asset allocation out of balance. This translates to a potential for risk coupled with the fact that your return may not be what you had already envisioned. Therefore, if you’ve had a portfolio just sitting there, you might want to reassess the investment priorities, review the securities, and rebalance if necessary. First of all, conducting an annual review requires you to identify whether any of the changes may require a financial response such as a new investment strategy. This may be true because you may have set up certain financial goals or lifestyle considerations which have now changed. Next, if you knew that every investment in your portfolio would throw off the same return year after year, then what would you need to rebalance? That’s not reality. A portfolio drift such as outlined above, can affect your asset allocation…and all to the negative. Finally, suppose your portfolio does need rebalancing. What can you do? The most cost-efficient way to do this is to change the allocation of future investment contributions. What does that entail? Well, you could continue investing the same amount on a regular basis in an overweighed asset while increasing contributions to underweighted investments until you feel that your target has been reached. Or, you can choose to make a lump-sum investment into the asset class that is underweighted. And, you can always sell existing investments that have become overweighted and use those proceeds to buy shares of assets that are then underweighted. Keep in mind that for the last option, mutual fund investors can usually shift money from one fund to another within a fund group without incurring a sales charge. Of course, you still have to consider any tax consequences. But the bottom line is portfolio maintenance. Don’t be inactive!

A survey of senior financial executives found that their companies are implementing ethics policies, but that the stewardship of those policies is often in doubt.

Dell filed its past-due financial reports from fiscal 2003 through 2006 and the first quarter of fiscal 2007, while shedding light on some of the accounting missteps that led to its financial restatements and delays.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has named a slate of new appointments and reappointments to its Standing Advisory Group for 2008.

Office Depot said it would delay the release of its third-quarter earnings because of an issue involving the recognition of vendor program funds.

Many firms conduct surveys and issue releases summarizing them hoping for the maximum press coverage. Grant Thornton is one of the “best” at it.

Fitch Ratings has released a report on the recent disruptions in the credit market and the effect of two new accounting standards.

"They'll isolate you, exclude you, encourage you to leave the company and to move," said Cynthia Cooper, former vice president of the internal audit department at WorldCom, talking about her experience as a whistleblower.

Nearly everyone can use lessons in financial literacy, and Dan Iannicola Jr., deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Treasury Department's financial education office, provided suggestions on how women accountants can educate their clients.

I just reviewed the results of a couples retirement study conducted by TNS Canadian Facts for Scotiabank and was surprised to learn that when it comes to retirement, Canadian couples aged 50 and above simply don’t agree with each other on such important topics as finances and lifestyle. Apparently, according to the study, this lack of consensus comes from too little conversation. (So, what else is new?) The study looked at Canadian couples with at least one partner aged 50 or over and still working. It examined attitudes and planning for post retirement as well as financial and lifestyle priorities. Examples of such priorities include travel, spending time with family and friends, practicing healthy aging, and accommodations. (That last one refers to place of abode.) It also reflects the fact that less than one quarter of respondents claim to have had a thorough discussion with their spouse or partner about all aspects of retirement while 55 percent say they have a rather rough idea of how each other feels. Some 23 percent haven’t discussed it all, or haven’t discussed it as much as they should. (I love that “rough” idea.) In short, the results found that Canadian couples are most out of touch with each other in the areas of financial planning, financial concerns, and their outlook toward retirement. In fact, some 60 percent disagree on the basic question of whether or not they are even looking forward to retirement. (Oh, my, that’s not what I hear from my train buddies who are much younger than me and would retire at the drop of a dime.) Moreover, couples apparently also disagree when it comes to the role that family and friends will play in retirement, with only half agreeing. Surprisingly, in only eight percent of couples are both people primarily interested in spending time with their partner rather than with other family/friends or by themselves. (Ouch!) This Couples Retirement Study was conducted for Scotiabank using TSN Canadian Facts online panel. Respondents for the survey were couples who are married or in a common-law relationship, with at least one partner aged 50 or over, and working full-time. Household investable assets were at least $50,000. Of course, couples do share the same level of concern in their ability to retire comfortably with 65 percent saying that they are very or fairly confident they can do so. A full 44 percent of respondents, however, still do not have a formal financial plan. (Hmmmmm!)

Truck maker Navistar International said it would strengthen its internal controls and financial reporting as it announced a $1.12 billion financial restatement.

A majority of CFOs and senior comptrollers do not agree with proposals to allow companies to file financial statements in International Financial Reporting Standards instead of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, according to a newly released survey by accounting firm Grant Thornton.

The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on allowing U.S. companies to use International Financial Reporting Standards.

SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins told U.S. business leaders in Japan that a recently issued auditing standard should have the effect of cutting audit fees.

A former Arthur Andersen audit partner has settled charges brought against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleging that he assisted in a $300 million fraud committed by an audit client in 2000.Without admitting or denying the charges, Fred Gold agreed to a $100,000 fine, a permanent anti-fraud injunction, and an administrative order barring him from appearing or practicing before the commission.The SEC alleged that Gold should have known that the 2000 financial statements of American Tissue -- the audit of which he supervised and approved -- included fraudulently inflated assets and earnings, and also that in 2001 Gold altered work papers to prevent discovery of the fraud in a peer review, and later tried to hide the audit failure by destroying documents and e-mails after another accounting firm discovered American Tissue's overvalued inventory.Earlier, former Andersen audit manager John Parson and senior accountant Brendon McDonald settled SEC charges in the same matter; Parson for $50,000 and permanent suspension from practicing before the commission, and McDonald for a $30,000 penalty and a five-year suspension.