Accounting

My client, a third-generation owner-operator of what had been a very successful regional retail operation, was about 70 years old. Competition, supply challenges and labor issues had gradually eroded performance over the prior 30 years until there was no profit left. When you walked in the front door, the sense of pain and foreboding was

The International Federation of Accountants released a call to action this month urging CFOs and other finance leaders to improve the quality of sustainability information and processes by championing an “integrated mindset.” IFAC has been involved in bringing together the various standard-setters in the environmental, social and governance reporting space as ESG funds grow in

While automation and artificial intelligence have already significantly increased the speed of accounting processes, a recent study from Sage reports that, when it comes to closing the books at least, professionals are experiencing rising pressure to do so faster and faster. “An overwhelming 93% of our respondents are under pressure to close the books faster,

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved new rules that require institutional investment managers and investment advisors to file certain forms electronically. Specifically, applications for orders under the Advisers Act on EDGAR; confidential treatment requests for Form 13F filings on EDGAR; and Form ADV-NR (through the IARD system) must now be filed electronically. The SEC further

The Massachusetts Society of CPAs, Boston, appointed 19 members to the board of directors for its 2022-23 fiscal year. The board officers are: board chair: Karen McElroy, Deloitte; chair-elect Laura O’Brien, LGA; board vice chair, finance committee chair Laura Felice, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc.; board vice chair, audit committee chair John Geraci, LGA; board vice

The International Sustainability Standards Board is reaching quorum strength with the appointment of two new members. The addition of Jeffrey Hales, chairman of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and an accounting professor at the University of Texas, and Michael Jantzi, a member of the board of directors at the Value Reporting Foundation and a former

The Internal Revenue Service has issued FAQs regarding the reinstated Superfund chemical excise tax, detailing what the tax is, how it’s computed and who may be liable. The Superfund chemical taxes are reported on Form 720, “Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return” and Form 6627, “Environmental Taxes”. The excise taxes imposed on certain chemicals and imported chemical

An estimated 800 sales tax bills are under consideration by state legislators each month, according to a new report, as lawmakers grapple with the complexity of sales and use tax four years after the Supreme Court handed down the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision.  The report, released Wednesday by the tax compliance software company Sovos,

Nobody is safe from change, not even the world of auditing. In audit firms, we’re already seeing discussions related to the people, processes and technologies that will be needed to support the audit of tomorrow. Audit committee members and corporate finance professionals should not only be aware of these ongoing conversations, but also actively participating

Lack of Faith; concerted and conscious; Pipe schemes; and other highlights of recent tax cases. Galloway, New Jersey: Tax preparer Michele Griffin, 42, has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for using false information to inflate clients’ refunds and filing her own false returns. Griffin, who previously pleaded guilty, prepared multiple

A Senate Finance Committee hearing on June 14, 2022, may lead to legislation affecting states’ treatment of sales tax.  The Supreme Court decision in Wayfair, which removed the physical presence test as a requirement for states to impose sales tax nexus, has altered the sales tax landscape of virtually every state since it was decided

President Joe Biden called on Congress to suspend the federal gasoline tax, a largely symbolic move by an embattled president running out of options to ease pump prices weighing on Democrats’ political prospects. “By suspending the 18-cent federal gas tax for the next 90 days, we can bring down the price of gas and give

Senate Democrats have scrapped a $4,500 bonus tax credit for electric vehicles made with domestic union labor that was opposed by Senator Joe Manchin as they seek to wrap up negotiations on a spending deal. “It’s gone,” Manchin said in an interview at the Capitol Tuesday. The Build Back Better legislation passed last year in

Partners’ pay as a retention tool; volunteering to file; the global tax debate; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers. The best policy Rosenberg Associates (https://rosenbergassoc.com/blog/): Here’s a thorny one: Should partners cut their comp to pay staff better? Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders (http://ritakeller.com/blog/): Recruiting is one thing, retention another — and perhaps

Congress has been working on Build Back Better legislation for over a year now. Currently the focus is on negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia. The package seems to keep getting smaller, and there are some descriptions around about what remains, but no deal has yet been

There are many financial professionals who call themselves financial planners. Everyone from insurance salespeople, investment brokers and managers or CPAs who dabble with planning call themselves financial planners. For better or worse, all of the aforementioned professionals have helped to shape our clients’ minds and expectations of financial professionals. And as a result, many clients

Much has been publicized about the IRS pausing some of its compliance and collection notices in 2022. Specifically, the IRS announced that it would suppress many balance-due reminder notices until the IRS caught up on processing paper returns, correspondence, and other backlogged items. But tax professionals and their clients shouldn’t get too comfortable. The IRS

New Jersey will expand its planned property-tax relief program, providing more than $2 billion to more than 2 million households, Governor Phil Murphy said.  Residents with income of as much as $250,000 will be eligible, Murphy said Wednesday at a press conference in South Brunswick, New Jersey. Homeowners will get as much as $1,500, while

The Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants Educational Foundation has named its college scholarship recipients for the 2022–2023 academic year. The foundation awarded $59,250 in undergraduate, graduate and doctoral scholarships this year to 28 accounting college students across Virginia. The foundation also increased the amount of minority scholarships it offered by 25%. Virginia State University student Indacia

EisnerAmper, a Top 20 Firm based in New York, is adding Raich Ende Malter & Co. a Top 80 Firm, also based in the city, with the deal expected to close this summer. REM dates back to 1972 and has 200 professionals and 45 partners and principals, with offices in New York City, Long Island,