The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released formal guidance on its new tip reporting procedure, the Attributed Tip Income Program (ATIP). ATIP is a three-year program that does not require employers to meet with the IRS to determine tip rate or eligibility. Employers will participate on an annual basis, however, participation by employers and employees is voluntary and does not require a signed agreement with the IRS.

Antitrust attorney W. Stephen Cannon, representing the Merchants Payments Coalition, a group of about 20 retail trade associations, in written testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week accused Visa and MasterCard of violating federal antitrust laws through their practice of setting the interchange rates charged by banks to complete consumer transactions. The interchange fee, now close to 1.74 percent, is charged every time a consumer uses a credit or debit card to pay for a purchase.

On July 19, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced a joint project on leasing to their respective agendas.

The AICPA’s Small Business Practitioners Tax Forum was held July 17 – 18 in Chicago, Ill. This year’s forum had a new focus on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Compliance, demonstrated by the more than 130 pages of notes that accompanied Monday’s first session “Tax Update”, presented by conference chair Mark Mares.

SAP has completed acquisition of partner Praxis Software Solutions, based in Minneapolis, to incorporate new e-commerce and customer relationship management (CRM) software into its Business One management suite.The move comes soon after research by Yankee Group revealed that integrating the company website with accounting, inventory and other business applications is one of the biggest technology challenges faced by small and midsize enterprises (SMEs).

"You hear people say it all the time: business is just slow in the summer," says Steve Johnson, co-author of Selling Is Everyone's Business: What It Takes to Create a Great Salesperson (Wiley, 2006, ISBN: 0-471-77673-4, $24.95). "For many sales organizations, it seems acceptable to slack off, to cut corners, to put off making the tough calls because 'everyone's on vacation' or 'no one's in the mood to make big decisions.' Well, naturally if you expect business to be slow, it will be slow."So how can you keep your sales force from falling prey to the self-fulfilling slow summer prophecy?

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Institute of Management Accountants have both affirmed support for new guidance for smaller public companies released during a webcast on July 11 by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

On a manicured, level stretch of soccer field, the drum beat begins. The eagle staff begins the procession, followed by the universal flag of American Indians,next comes the American flag, California flag, three Armed Services flags and a Prisoners Of War/Missing In Action flag. The dancers come next, representing native nations that span the western hemisphere, sharing a pride and dignity that is both difficult to describe and immediately evident. It is Grand Entry on Saturday afternoon at an Intertribal Powwow in Southern California.