Financial reporting

AccuFund has enhanced its AccuFund Accounting Suite with point-of-sale and electronic funds transfer features.

According to recent surveys, Americans are lacking in preparation for retirement. In fact, many have little or absolutely no idea of how to achieve certain goals. To the rescue comes WealthRidge which is offering a free retirement planning White Paper to help people get on track to financial well-being in retirement. "Facts You Need To Know About Retirement Planning" can be obtained via www.wealthridge.com. Wealthridge points out that more than 65 percent of all retirees have saved less than $100,000, and they find that is nowhere near enough money for retirement. Michael Snowdon, CFP®, financial planning partner in WealthRidge says, "It's not uncommon to live in retirement for 20 or 30 years. Finding the funding to support those years has become, for many, an exercise in futility." Why? Here's an example he cites. An individual who wants to have an income of $75,000 per year in retirement, plans to retire in 15 years, and to live for 30 more years, may need as much as $2 million to fund the desired retirement income. How so? Because health care expenses represent a significant factor. A recent study suggests that a couple who reaches age 65 will need more than $200,000 to pay for their retirement health care expenses. With fewer company pensions, and living expenses at all-time highs, saving enough money for retirement can seem to be an almost impossible task. There are solutions, notes Wealthridge, and people can achieve their goals. They say that the retirement planning White Paper provides answers to how much money will be needed for retirement, how much healthcare will cost, and how much retirees can safely withdraw from their retirement portfolio to make sure it lasts as long as they do. The White Paper also identifies the tools that are available to save for retirement, along with some cautions about what not to do. For additional information, feel free to contact Michael Snowdon at (888) 326-5557. WealthRidge is an independent fee-based financial planning firm in the Denver metro area.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added the topic of business combinations to its accounting standards codification, which aims to organize the thousands of U.S. accounting pronouncements issued by multiple standard-setters into a single authoritative source.

The Internal Revenue Service has released its revised instructions for the redesigned Form 990 that tax-exempt organizations must submit.

The American Institute of CPAs is helping to promote a movie on the financial challenges facing the U.S. today.

The Securities and Exchange Commission unveiled its next-generation system for online financial filings, IDEA, the successor to its EDGAR database.

A group representing financial executives has written to the Financial Accounting Standards Board asking to exempt private companies from the requirements of FASB Interpretation No. 48, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes."

I write the "M&A" update box in Practical Accountant's Profession Watch section, and one of the details we give for firms recently merged or acquired is "Niches/Concentrations."

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would distribute millions of dollars to investors harmed by market-timing trading violations in mutual funds managed by Putnam Investment Management and Janus Capital Management.

Will health issues force your clients to retire earlier or spend their nest eggs quicker than they planned?Four in 10 Americans retire sooner than they expected. Of those, 40 percent do so because of health issues or disability, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

HOUSE CONSIDERS MANDATING EMPLOYER IRA PLANSThe House Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee held hearings on bills that would encourage employers to automatically enroll their employees in individual retirement account plans. One bill is aimed at creating automatic payroll deposit IRAs for workers who do not have access to employer-sponsored pension plans.

Few people actually know what a credit score represents. For example, less than one-third of Americans understand that credit scores indicate risk of not repaying a loan and not knowledge of, or attitude toward, consumer credit. That is what has come out, among other things, from a new survey commissioned by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Washington Mutual Bank, the guys you call WaMu. Moreover, the survey reflects the fact that most Americans fail to understand that one’s credit score shows only how they use credit and does not include factors such as income and age. Those that have obtained their scores are generally the most knowledgeable, says the survey. But if you have clients who have low credit scores, what can you advise them about raising such scores? Here are some ways they can do it:

Education consultancy Professional Education Services has created an affiliate program for CPAs and certified financial planners to give them access to its college-funding software.

The National Football League is asking for an exception to new Form 990 rules that require tax-exempt organizations to disclose the names and salaries of any executives who earn more than $150,000 per year.

The American Institute of CPAs and Texas Tech University's Division of Personal Financial Planning have teamed up to offer a new educational program for gaining the AICPA's Personal Financial Specialist credential.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has certainly been hearing an earful in recent days from a variety of organizations warning that the amendments it is proposing to two of its accounting statements could lead to a spate of lawsuits.

Several organizations are criticizing a proposed standard on accounting for loss contingencies, saying it could lead to possible abuses, including a flurry of spurious lawsuits.

I am never ceased to be amazed at the misinterpretations of what a certain financial planner does or how the planner acts in conjunction with the client. Let me explain. For one, there is the definition of commission-based and fee-based. Actually, there are three aspects here. A fee-only planner is one who is paid based on a set hourly rate, a project rate, an annual retainer, a percentage of assts under management, or some combination. The planner does not receive any compensation contingent on the sale or purchase or a financial product. A commission-based planner may include brokers who receive compensation based upon commissions paid by the client or by the mutual fund company or insurance company, or other product provider, each time the client is sold a security. A fee-based compensation is not to be confused with fee-only. This indicates that compensation occurs by way of both fees and/or commissions. Now as to those artful terms of advisor, planner, et al, consider this. The term investment advisor describes a rather wide range of people who are in the business of giving advice about securities and they may use a variety of titles such as investment manager, investment counsel, asset manager, wealth manager, or portfolio manager. An investment advisor then provides ongoing management of investments based on the client’s objectives. The terms broker and broker-dealer refer to firms who are in the business of buying and selling securities on behalf of customers. Individual salespeople employed by brokerage firms are usually called stockbrokers and are officially referred to as registered representatives of the brokerage firm. They may also use other titles such as financial consultant, financial advisor, and investment consultant. A financial planner, unlike an investment advisor and broker, is not a legally defined term and it usually refers to providers who develop, and may also implement, comprehensive financial plans for clients based on their long-term goals, or who may prepare plans to address specific issues their clients may face such as retirement income planning, funding of educational expenses, and the like. When you talk about a comprehensive financial plan, you can turn to the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors who defines comprehensive financial planning advice as the coordinated consideration of each of the following areas for a client: income tax, cash flow, retirement planning, estate planning, investments, risk management, and any special needs planning.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised exposure draft of a proposed standard on earnings per share, along with a staff position on endowments for nonprofit organizations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a warning about the use of 401(k) debit cards that allow employees at some companies to borrow money from their retirement plans.