Financial reporting

I noted a few weeks ago that the "Joy of Cooking" celebrated its 75th anniversary with the publication of its ninth edition.

A new federal reports says that the National Strategy for Financial Literacy needs to contain some measures of accountability.The strategy belongs to the Financial Literacy and Education Commission, which was created by December 2003 legislation. The Government Accountability Office says that while the strategy is comprehensive in identifying the breadth of issues involved, the plan does not serve as a plan of action designed to achieve specific goals.

Robert N. Anthony, an honored member of the Harvard Business School faculty for more than 40 years and a prolific scholar, author and innovator in the field of management accounting and control, died Dec. 1 in New Hampshire.

The Internal Revenue Service announced new guidelines for taxpayers to follow in order to substantiate donations to charities that were made via payroll deduction.

This column has to do with life expectancy. If you would rather not know when you are departing this world, then perhaps you don’t want to read any further. But if you are curious enough to know what your longevity might be and how this is critical for retirement planning, read on.I asked one calculator which said I would leave this earth in 12 years, 306, days, 3 hours, 38 minutes, and 24 seconds, as of the time I got this down on paper. Another calculator estimated that I would last until I was 90.21 while a third one had me pegged taking off at age 89.

Sometimes, I feel bad for Comptroller General David Walker and his staff at the Government Accountability Office.I imagine it’s the same sort of sadness most people feel for the geeky guys in high school comedies. You know, the good guys who never get the girl, but are there throughout the course of the plotline, providing some sort of insight into the inner workings of the social machination that exists all around them.

FIDELITY LOWERS MINIMUM GIFT FUND CONTRIBUTION: In an effort to make the benefits of donor-advised funds more accessible, the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund announced that it would lower its initial contribution and grant recommendation minimums.

Last year, Congress passed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, and with that legislation came some changes in the way bankruptcy debtors are taxed.New Internal Revenue Service guidelines have been issued to help explain provisions of the act that affect individual taxpayers filing Chapter 11 bankruptcies. The guidelines are issued in IRS Notice 2006-83 and relate to all Chapter 11 bankruptcies filed on or after Oct. 17, 2005.

The American College, a financial services educator based here, has launched an expedited learning program designed to prepare financial advisors for the Certified Financial Planner certification examination in roughly seven months.Developed in conjunction with the JR Financial Group, a financial services trainer, the program, titled Financial Planning Express, combines self-study with a series of live, four-day classroom sessions held every six weeks. The six modules that comprise the Express program conclude three weeks prior to the CFP certification examination with a live, five-day comprehensive review of all 89 CFP topics covered on the test.

The Internal Revenue Service announced a formula allowing businesses and tax-exempt organizations to estimate their federal telephone excise tax refunds.In May, the government announced that it would stop collecting the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service beginning Aug. 1, 2006, and provide refunds for taxes billed after Feb. 28, 2003.

My first brush with the National Collegiate Athletic Association came during my tenure as sports editor of my college newspaper. Two star players from the hockey team had been slapped with season-long suspensions for accepting room and board -- not even money, mind you -- while playing as juniors in Canada.

In a 25-page response NCAA president Myles Brand made an adamant case for his association’s tax-exempt status, following questions raised by the outgoing chairman of the House’s Committee on Ways and Means.Brand cited new NCAA penalties for poor team-wide academic performance and rising player graduation rates as evidence of the association's attention to education, adding that school spending on athletics -- including hikes in coaches' salaries -- are driven by a media and consumer market beyond the association’s control.

I got hooked onto Lee Eisenberg’s new book, “The Number” (Simon & Schuster, 2006), via Elaine Morgillo, a certified financial planner and president of New England-based Morgillo Financial Management.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that 1st Global Capital Corp., a Dallas-based broker-dealer, will pay a $100,000 penalty and consent to findings that it made unsuitable recommendations and sales of Section 529 College Savings Plans.According to the order, between 2001 and 2004 1st Global recommended and sold investments in 529 plan units without understanding and evaluating the comparative costs for its customers.

Beard Miller Co. LLP will sell its Financial Outsourcing Solutions practice to McKonly & Asbury LLP in a deal effective Jan. 1.

CBiz and Mayer Hoffman McCann PC announced the expansion of its not-for-profit practice through the acquisition of CPA David Brown Jr.’s Minneapolis-area practice.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Brown and several of his associates will be located in the downtown Minneapolis office of CBIZ and MHM.

Michael Haubrich, is a certified financial planner with more than 20 years experience. He is the owner of Financial Service Group a fee-only firm in Racine, Wisconsin, with some 100 million dollars in assets under management.He tells a tale that recently he met with a new client who experienced “free financial planning.” According to Michael, the client’s free planning started with a free dinner meeting, followed by a free financial consultation, and then a free financial plan that ultimately ended with an annuity sale resulting in $9,000 in commission to that financial “consultant.”

With the close of 2006 approaching, we asked industry leaders to share their ideas of what the accounting profession will look like in five years: What will be its major concerns? Challenges? Hot new service areas? What will shape will the firm landscape have taken?

NASD FINES METLIFE UNITS $5M: The National Association of Securities Dealers imposed a $5 million fine against three MetLife Inc. units - MetLife Securities Inc. of New York, New England Securities Inc. of Boston, and Walnut Street Securities Inc. of St. Louis.In response to an inquiry that it sent in September 2003 centering on the late trading of mutual funds, the NASD said that the MetLife trio provided inaccurate and misleading responses. The MetLife firms neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of the NASD's findings.

Earlier this year, Congress passed the Pension Protection Act of 2006.Included in that legislation are some features that encourage preparation and spending for long-term care. In particular, the act allows the transfer of excess pension benefits to fund estimated retiree medical costs, and it permits annuity and life insurance contracts to expand their coverage to include long-term-care costs, including skilled care from medical professionals and custodial care (such as assistance with bathing, eating, dressing, walking, etc.).