Practice management

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin, D-Mich., has unveiled a draft of a new bill that would provide tax incentives to small businesses to spur job creation.

IMGCAP(1)]Many businesses have been reluctant to start using social media, and for good reason.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has released a draft version of the financial regulatory reform legislation that he has been working to write since the House passed its own legislation last December.

Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., has introduced legislation to encourage small business investment and job creation by expanding the research and development tax credit.

At a practice management conference earlier this year, one presenter treated attendees to a 17-year-old flashback - a nostalgic chart showing Accounting Today's 1993 ranking of the top 60 tax and accounting firms. (Yes, back then we only ranked 60 firms.)

At first glance, the notion proposed by our cover that there might be signs of growth in the accounting profession and its Top 100 Firms might seem overly (even ridiculously) optimistic.

Each year, we present a selection of "Firms to Watch" that aren't quite large enough for the Top 100, but that have shown such strong growth that they can be considered candidates for future editions of the list. Two factors have caused us to alter the format and contents of our watch list this year.

After weathering one of the roughest economies on record, the 2010 Top 100 Firms are making a gradual transition from implementing austerity measures such as fee reductions, hiring freezes and, in some dire cases, staff cuts, to repositioning themselves to capitalize on a slower-than-expected, but gradual, recovery.

Amper, Politziner & Mattia: Continued integration of 2008 merger with Goldenberg Rosenthal. Created a Clean Tech Group.

It's been another lagging year for growth in specialty services at the Top 100 Firms, which should come as no surprise given the gloomy economic climate. Nevertheless, a number of this year's class of T100 Firms still managed to post gains in select niche areas.

The poor economic conditions for most of 2009 were reflected in the first-ever decline in the revenue of the Top 100 Firms, primarily as a result of the size of the losses experienced by the Big Four. Local and regional firms as a group, however, for the most part showed modest growth. With the exception of the Mountain region, all of the regions posted modest gains for the year.

The first piece of tax legislation likely to emerge from Congress in 2010 is expected to be focused on job creation. The House passed a bill at the end of 2009, and the Senate is crafting a response as we go to press. It appears unlikely at this point that the Senate will adopt the House bill.

When it comes to social media, it's all about domination - at least it is for Andrew Rose of Naden/Lean in Timonium, Md.

It's all about blogging these days ... who's writing, what's being said, and what to do with the information.

OBAMA PROPOSES SMALL-BIZ TAX CUT

Despite its significant tax increases, President Obama's 2011 $3.8 trillion budget plan contains a number of revenue provisions calculated to encourage business expansion and move the economy upward.

A group of senators has asked executives overseeing the Boys & Girls Clubs of America to account for the high salaries, perks, executive retirement plans and lobbying expenses at the nonprofit group.

The Internal Revenue Service is collecting information on approximately 20 Swiss banks, according a letter from UBS, one of the main banks it has been investigating.

Two IRS Service Center employees in Covington, Ky., were charged in a 29-count indictment with stealing thousands of dollars in money orders.

An IRS employee in the U.S. Virgin Islands and her husband have been charged with filing 32 false federal tax returns using the names of friends and family members.