Michael Cohn

The Internal Revenue Service has selected TaxSlayer as the new tax software provider for the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance and Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs, starting with the 2017 tax filing season.

Half the companies in a recent survey are still using some type of manual system to process their expense reports, according to a new survey.

ADP is participating in an Internal Revenue Service pilot program to test verification codes on W-2 forms in an effort to reduce tax refund fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended five accountants and two audit firms Thursday from practicing or appearing before the SEC after they violated rules designed to preserve the integrity of the financial reporting system.

Haskell & White acquires Castle & Co.; Goldstein Schechter Koch merges in Ribotsky, Levine & Starman, CPAs; and Blue & Co. adds Fleming, Brockschmidt & Durkin.

BDO said Thursday that worldwide revenue for all BDO network’s member firms (including members of BDO firm alliances) totaled $7.3 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2015, a 12.95 percent increase year over year, at constant exchange rates.

Henry & Horne, LLP has acquired Anderson, Church & Co. PLLC in Arizona, effective December 1.

The Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board is continuing to encounter resistance from Chinese authorities in its efforts to gain access to inspecting audit firms in China.

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White said the SEC is considering a recommendation from SEC chief accountant James Schnurr that would allow for the supplemental use of International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. companies in addition to their U.S. GAAP financials.

Forty-eight percent of small and midsize businesses use one technology supplier for accepting payments, processing payroll, issuing invoices and doing their accounting, according to a new survey, while 34 percent use two or more suppliers for their financial technology.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has established a consultative group that will offer advice to the board on setting financial reporting standards for government entities.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun a new program, the Early Interaction Initiative, to more quickly identify employers who are falling behind on their payroll or employment taxes and help them get caught up on their payment and reporting responsibilities.

The Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent organization of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Private Company Council, has elected Charles H. Noski as its new chairman, succeeding Jeffrey J. Diermeier, whose term ends on December 31.

Nonprofits are expressing concern about proposed regulations from the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department that could give charities the option of providing Social Security numbers of donors who contribute more than $250 to their organizations.

The American Institute of CPAs is objecting to a bill that was introduced in the House giving the Internal Revenue Service the statutory authority to regulate tax return preparers.

The Internal Revenue Service has extended its hold on certain tax refunds for returns filed by nonresident aliens and other foreign taxpayers on Form 1040NR beyond the usual 180-day limit in order to give extra scrutiny to the refund claims, leaving many undocumented immigrant workers waiting up to 360 days to get the tax refunds they filed this year.

Rager, Lehman & Houck, P.C., a regional accounting firm with offices in Pennsylvania and Maryland, has merged in Dallavalle & Co. P.A., a firm in Frederick, Md., effective Nov. 30, 2015.

CliftonLarsonAllen has announced its fourth merger since last week, combining with Accounting Management Solutions.

The Private Company Council is calling for the removal of the effective dates of four accounting standards updates.

Litigation against accounting firms appears to have subsided for now, according to one legal expert, but is showing signs of reviving as the Securities and Exchange Commission turns its attention back to accounting and audit enforcement cases.