News

Tax

Lois Lerner, EO Director, Takes the Fall in IRS Scandal

The "Tea Party scandal" at the IRS has claimed another victim: Lois Lerner, director of the IRS Exempt Organizations (EO) division, has been placed on administrative leave after refusing to resign. Ken Corbin was promptly named the EO acting director.
Technology

Overcome a Nuance of Excel's Subtotal Feature

Many users rely on the Subtotal feature in Excel to instantly insert totals, averages, counts, or other statistics into a list. As you'll see, the feature is easy to use – until you want to copy or format just the total rows.
Technology

Apple Has Been Accused of Large-Scale Tax Avoidance

Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to defend his company's tax practices, including a 2 percent corporation tax rate deal it struck with the Irish government on two of its subsidiaries.
Technology

Social Media: Ten Things Accountants Should Never Do

If you're an accountant who has been experimenting with social media, this article is for you. It will be of particular interest if you've been disappointed by your social media experiences. And you're not alone if you started out with unrealistic expectations or misunderstood how social media works.
Tax

Controversy Swirls Around Hearings on IRS Scandal

After the initial round of hearings held by three Congressional committees this week, at least we know the IRS wrongfully targeted conservative "tea party" groups applying for tax-exempt status. But precious little else has been revealed.
Tax

Jackpot! Ten Pieces of Financial Advice for New Powerball Winner

There's one person – or maybe a group of people – who has yet to claim the largest Powerball jackpot in history: an estimated $590.5 million. The ticket was purchased on May 18 from a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Florida.
A&A

Feedback Sought for FASB/IASB Lease Accounting Proposal

Interested individuals and organizations have until September 13 to offer their input on a revised exposure draft – "Proposed Accounting Standards Update - Leases (Topic 842)" – from the FASB and the IASB.
Tax

IRS Official Lois Lerner Pleads the Fifth before House Oversight Committee

Lois Lerner, director of the IRS Exempt Organizations division, chose to invoke her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on May 22.
Tax

Crime Watch: May 22, 2013

Michael Parker of Baltimore, Maryland, who was the COO of TransCapital Corporation, a tax-advantaged investments company based in Virginia, was sentenced May 20 to fifty-four months in prison in KPMG tax shelter case.
Tax

IRS Extends Tax Deadlines for Oklahoma Tornado Victims

Following Monday's disaster declaration for individual assistance issued by FEMA, the IRS announced May 21, 2013, that affected taxpayers in Cleveland, Lincoln, McClain, Oklahoma, and Pottawatomie counties will receive special tax relief.
A&A

US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy Green-Lighted by SEC

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted the 2013 US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, which allows companies to use eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) in reporting financial statements.
Education & Careers

New York Accounting Foundation Awards $183,750 in Scholarships

The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants' Foundation for Accounting Education has announced the sixty-seven New York State students who will receive Excellence in Accounting Scholarships for the 2013-2014 school year.
Tax

Beyoncé's Father and Former Manager under Heavy Tax Debt

Matthew Knowles, music executive, television producer, father, and former manager of Beyoncé Knowles, is into the IRS for more than $1.2 million. The tax debt relates to income earned in 2010 and 2011, the same years he managed his daughter's career.
Tax

Rapper Ja Rule's Tax Evasion Time Served, Mostly

Rapper Ja Rule spent the last nearly two years in prison at Ray Brook Correctional Facility in upstate New York on charges that included illegal gun possession and tax evasion. Now he'll finish his sentence on home confinement.
A&A

LA Jeweler Pleads Guilty in KPMG Insider Trading Case

Los Angeles jewelry store owner Bryan Shaw faces a maximum of five years in prison after he pleaded guilty May 20 for his role in an insider trading case involving a former senior audit partner at KPMG LLP.
Education & Careers

CPA Firm Sponsors Yearlong Push for Employee Health, Fitness

Healthy living is a year-round commitment at Herbein + Company, a 110-person CPA firm in Pennsylvania where employees are encouraged to participate in the firm's wellness program throughout the year.
Education & Careers

BDO and Ernst & Young Named Top Workplaces for Recent Grads

BDO USA LLP and Ernst & Young LLP were among twenty-five companies that were included in the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads 2013 report from ConnectEDU Inc., a technology company committed to transitioning learners from school to college to career.
Practice

Survey Finds Small Businesses Slowly Increasing Economic Activity

Small business owners are showing a willingness to hire more employees amidst signs of expanding business activity, according to the most recent Business Confidence Survey released by Insperity, Inc., a provider of human resources and business performance solutions.
Practice

The Tools That Build Brands

What identity do you want your firm to have? What do you want people to think of when they hear the name of your firm? Once you've identified your firm's desired positioning, the next step is to plan the branding strategy that will make it a reality.

Pages

Voice of the Editor

What would you do if one of your clients won the lottery? We asked several accountants to weigh in with their advice for the lucky Powerball winner, and the tips we received are useful for anyone who receives a windfall, whether it's a lottery win, an inheritance, a big bonus on the job, or a killing in the stock market.
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This Week on AccountingWEB

CPAs Mira Finé, Scott Hitchcock, Rob Keasal, Kathy Scorcio, and Ken Travis offer ten pieces of financial advice for the newest Powerball winner.
Hang Bower of BDO USA and Dan Black of Ernst & Young share their perspectives on why their firms made the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads 2013 list.
Herbein + Company, Inc. firm members talked with AccountingWEB about their year-round employee wellness program.
Bill Walter of Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates and Harold Gaar of TravisWolff LLP weigh in on mobile technology use while employees are at work.
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