Practice management

An economic triple threat - the collapse of equity markets, declining top-line revenue, and stingy banks - makes it a risky time to be in business or investing, and equally risky to be a CPA.All businesses are being squeezed hard. This creates pressure to cut corners or ignore the facts. Human nature being what it is, you must be extra-vigilant. CPAs are also expected by clients - and juries - to "advise and warn" clients who are teetering on the brink of losing their credit and their footing in business. If CPAs don't, a possible lawsuit could easily follow.

You're reading Accounting Today - but you could be reading Accounting Tomorrow.We've launched www.accountingtomorrow.com to keep tabs on intergenerational issues that are popping up in firms today. Targeted at younger CPAs and the Baby Boomers who love (to hate) them, Accounting Tomorrow covers topics such as work/life balance, succession planning, recruiting and retention, diversity, and green initiatives, all with a cross-generational twist.

President Barack Obama is expected to release his budget proposal this week, and he reportedly plans to include tax increases to close the deficit.

Document management software developer SmartVault has introduced an affiliate program that pays referral fees to accounting professionals, QuickBooks ProAdvisors and consultants who recommend the software to their clients.

Many of the Internal Revenue Service’s plans to protect its employees and provide service to taxpayers during and after a major disruption are not up to date, have not been adequately tested and do not contain sufficient detail to be effective, warned a government watchdog.

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson urged Congress to simplify the U.S. Tax Code and recommended measures to reduce the burden on taxpayers who are struggling to pay their bills.In the first of this year's two required reports to Congress, she designated the complexity of the Tax Code as the most serious problem facing taxpayers. According to data compiled by her office, U.S. taxpayers and businesses spend about 7.6 billion hours a year complying with tax-filing requirements. "If tax compliance were an industry, it would be one of the largest in the United States," she said in her report. "To consume 7.6 billion hours, the tax industry requires the equivalent of 3.8 million full-time workers."

GUIDANCE ISSUED ON TAX STATSWashington, D.C. - The Internal Revenue Service has issued interim guidance on the ability of a tax return preparer to use statistical compilations of anonymous tax return information to support their business.

Regional accounting firm Schenck Business Solutions has created a Financial Crisis Response Team to help companies challenged by the recession.

The stimulus bill signed into law this week includes significant tax savings of up to $1,000 per year for workers who commute by mass transit.

Tax return examiners at the Internal Revenue Service often select the wrong prior or subsequent year’s tax return when looking for inconsistencies with the current tax return.

Here is some advice from the Internal Revenue Service about reporting gains and losses on tax returns:

Swiss bank UBS has worked out a deal with the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission to reveal the identities and account numbers of U.S. citizens who have been stashing their money in previously secret bank accounts.

When Timothy Geithner unveiled the Treasury Department’s latest financial rescue plan, he probably didn’t expect it to flop so quickly.

President Barack Obama plans to sign the stimulus bill into law in Denver on Tuesday after Congress passed the massive $787 billion bill.

How much, if any, of your Social Security benefits are taxable depends on your total income and marital status.

A former attorney at BDO Seidman has pleaded guilty to tax evasion and tax fraud charges in connection with a tax shelter scheme.

Minority-controlled accounting firm Mitchell & Titus has combined practices with Hill Taylor, another minority-owned firm, expanding Mitchell’s presence to Chicago.

President Barack Obama signed the massive $787 billion stimulus bill into law in an effort to boost the economy out of a deep recession.

House and Senate leaders made last-minute adjustments to the economic stimulus package as the final bill headed for a vote.

The amount of taxes owed to the U.S. government from cross-border transactions by U.S. and foreign citizens and businesses is murky, according to a new report, but could be as high as $123 billion.