Disturbed by what he heard at a hearing on taxpayer issues, Senator Charles Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has issued a statement urging taxpayers to exercise caution when hiring a paid tax preparer.Sen. Grassley’s caution comes after hearing from the General Accounting Office who estimated that over half of US taxpayers who overpay their taxes had employed the services of a paid tax preparer.

Press ReleaseIn an effort to provide the public with better information about the risks that could potentially impact a government’s ability to provide services and pay its debts, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has published Statement No. 40, Deposit and Investment Risk Disclosures, an amendment of GASB Statement No. 3. The Statement amends GASB Statement No.

Always begin with the phrase "You know how" followed by a couple of common problems your clients normally experience. Then follow up by saying, "What I do is" and continue with several key points, benefits or value propositions as to how your product or service solves these problems. For example, if you are a consultant, you can say, "You know how some businesses experience poor staff performance and productivity which can wind up costing the company time and money?" Allow the person to respond, demonstrating you have their attention and they are interested in what you have to say.

One of the most confusing and problematic issues under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is who is exempt and who is not, especially when it comes to overtime. Answer this question right, and an employer could save millions. But answer this question wrong, and an employer could be pushed into a never-ending nightmare of fines and lawsuits that will eat away at a company's bottom line. The free report, Q&A On Exempt Vs.

By David MaisterThe right way to give a critique.The worst thing you can do if you want to get somebody to listen to you is to criticize him or her. As human beings we hate being criticized. When attacked we attack back. And we attack even when we are in the wrong. Right or wrong has nothing to do with it. Many of us fall into the trap of thinking 'I know I am right, so I'm going to tell the others how silly they are!' It's tempting, but doesn't work. If you have the self-control and the presence of mind to put aside your own ego-needs, and say, 'I've got a problem.

Continued from "Are You Teaching Your Employees to Steal? Part 2"WHEN DO PEOPLE EMBEZZLE OR ABUSE THE COMPANY? Generally, three things have to be present before someone commits fraud or embezzles: need, opportunity, and rationalization. This is known as the "triangle of fraud." (See Figure 1.)Need takes two forms—direct and indirect. Direct need is stealing to fund cash needs and is often driven by an addiction—drugs, alcohol, gambling, or an extramarital affair.

By Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D. President of The Discovery GroupTHE PROBLEM:Our research shows that employees crave performance feedback but that their supervisors are doing a poor job of giving it to them. 60 percent of employees say that they don't receive ongoing feedback about their job performance throughout the year.Here are some reasons why supervisors avoid providing feedback: 

Question: How do you get the employees of a CPA firm to treat the business as their own? Answer: Sell the business to them through an Employee Stock Ownership Program. That’s exactly what Minneapolis-based HLB Tautges Redpath Ltd. did earlier this month.One hundred percent of the ownership of the firm will be redistributed from the partners to the 85 employees under the ESOP plan.

A newly released survey of private companies in the United States indicates that although the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is primarily geared towards public companies, 58% of private companies are instituting changes to ensure greater control of their accounting processes."Although recent changes to accounting regulations have been directed toward public companies, privately held firms are also closely scrutinizing financial processes in the wake of corporate scandals," said Paul McDonald, executive director of Robert Half Management Resources who sponsored the survey.