Practice management

BDO International said Friday the worldwide revenue of its network of accounting firms increased 7.36 percent for the year ended Sept. 30, 2011, to $5.672 billion, mainly due to growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Senate Democrats and Republicans were unable to muster the necessary number of votes to pass two competing bills to extend the expiring payroll tax cut on Thursday night.

For those who had hoped that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the Supercommittee, would find a way to reduce the deficit, the announcement that they had failed to reach an agreement came as a disappointment.

The National Society of Accountants has found that the cost of preparing an itemized tax return averaged $233 across the country, but there was still variation in different parts of the country.

The National Society of Accountants is recommending that tax preparers not rush to sign up for the Internal Revenue Service’s upcoming tax preparation compliance exams.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to host the first of a series of public meetings next Thursday on its plans to create a “real-time tax system” that would provide immediate feedback on whether the information in a tax return matched the IRS’s records.

Accounting Today's Growth & Profitability Summit speaker Jeffrey Ma ended his keynote address in Las Vegas by discussing one very big blackjack hand.

Faced with the confluence of a still uncertain economy, ongoing fee and margin pressures, torrid competition for clients, and new business and the continual challenge to sustain growth, running some of the nation's top accounting firms has undoubtedly caused a number of sleepless nights for more than one managing partner.

December represents one last chance to consider certain year-end tax strategies before the door closes on the amount of income, deductions and credits set for the year. Many traditional eleventh-hour techniques are applicable to this year-end 2011, with certain twists that recognize changes on the horizon for 2013. This column examines a handful of considerations especially useful to the individual taxpayer in these final weeks of 2011.

Accounting firms typically have multiple partners, some of whom may want to retire or move on in the near future, and others who want to stay longer.

Despite staggering statistics as to the massive scope of fraud in sheer dollar volume and the surprising vulnerability many companies are to white-collar crime, a shocking number of businesses are ill-prepared to prevent it, or are unsure of how to implement an effective prevention program.

STATE TAX REVENUES CLIMB, LOCAL TAX MONEY SLIDES

Treating a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee has its advantages, say tax experts.

December represents one last chance to consider certain year-end tax strategies before the door closes on the amount of income, deductions and credits set for the year. Many traditional eleventh-hour techniques are applicable to this year-end 2011, with certain twists that recognize changes on the horizon for 2013. This column examines a handful of considerations especially useful to the individual taxpayer in these final weeks of 2011.

ARIZONA

The on-again, off-again status of IFRS is a fact of life for those of us in the accounting profession. But it's not an excuse for inaction.

STATE TAX REVENUES CLIMB, LOCAL TAX MONEY SLIDES

Treating a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee has its advantages, say tax experts.

Senate Republicans are offering their own legislation to extend the payroll tax cut while avoiding an extra surtax on millionaires.