CFO

A&A

DOL clarifies stimulus bill’s COBRA rules and issues model notices

The Department of Labor (DOL) has published model notices of temporary premium reductions in COBRA payments mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (the stimulus bill), that employers are required to send to employees whose loss of coverage occurred between September 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009. Eligible individuals should receive a notice by April 18 informing them of this opportunity. The stimulus package reduces the premium for COBRA coverage for eligible individuals to 35 percent of the full COBRA premiums for up to nine months.
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A&A

Expedited fair value guidance may ease pressure on banks

Following a hearing at a House Financial Services subcommittee last week, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) agreed to expedite release of their proposed guidance for the application of FAS 157 "Fair Value Measurement." The proposed guidance was published for public comment on March 17th and will be voted on by the Board on April 2. If approved, the FASB recommends that the guidance be effective for interim and annual periods ending after March 15, 2009. According to CFO.com, FASB chairman, Robert H.
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A&A

Telecommuting calculator adds up savings for employees and employers

The folks at Undress4success.com, the Web site jam-packed with everything you need to know about working from home, have introduced the Telework Savings Calculator. Based on U.S. Census data and other information, the calculator can help determine if working from home is beneficial to you as an employer and as an employee. It also reflects the environmental impact of not getting in a car each day and commuting to work.
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A&A

New tax law extends NOL carryback period

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 can use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years.
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A&A

Provisioning your home accounting office

By David H. Ringstrom, CPAAs the economy continues to contract, more and more accountants are considering striking out on their own. A benefit to providing accounting services is that you can often ease your way into your own business, as long as you don't run afoul of any non-compete agreements with your primary employer. I'm sure you've read a million articles about how to establish a separate workspace that's all your own and how to organize your files, so instead I'm going to focus on elements of my own home office that I've found particularly effective.
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A&A

FASB Chairman Robert H. Herz testifies on mark-to-market accounting

Robert H. Herz, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), testified about mark-to-market accounting today before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises. Herz appeared at a hearing convened by Congressman and Committee Chairman Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA) on "Mark-to-Market Accounting: Practices and Implications."
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A&A

Special accounting needs of not-for-profits and moving business forward

by Ken Garen, CPANot-for-profit organizations find themselves in a very challenging position. Government and funding sources thrust extremely sophisticated reporting requirements upon them, yet budget and personnel constraints often hamper their ability to fulfill the requirements. The organization's very existence and their ability to move forward may depend upon being able to closely track expenditures and create unique reports required by government and funding sources in an accurate and timely manner.
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A&A

Small businesses found to be especially vulnerable to fraud

According to a report released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), U.S. organizations lose an estimated seven percent of their annual revenues to fraud – but the damage is the worst among small businesses. Among the fraud cases detailed for the survey, the median loss suffered by organizations with fewer than 100 employees was $200,000, higher than the median loss for larger organizations.
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A&A

How will the Economic Stimulus Act affect payroll for me and my clients?

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), aka the Economic Stimulus Act, includes new tax credits and other assistance that, while beneficial, will require changes to how payroll is calculated. Intuit, producer of QuickBooks, Intuit Payroll, is providing its clients with several methods for keeping up to date on the latest changes. Here are the suggestions Intuit is making to its clients for how to ensure payroll is current and correct:
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A&A

Scrub data before getting rid of old computers

Company officials know that they must properly dispose of computers to protect personal information as well as the environment.Here are some tips for companies and for individuals who are looking to upgrade old computers without unwittingly making the hard drives available to identity thieves. Think of all the passwords, account numbers, addresses, phone numbers, tax returns, medical information, registration numbers for software programs and other information that's available.
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A&A

Obama pushes for mandatory retirement savings plans

Part of President Obama’s budget proposal would require employers who do not offer a pension plan to provide their employees with a direct-deposit retirement savings plan, modeled after a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA).“The result will be that workers will be automatically enrolled in some form of savings vehicle when they go to work, making it easy for them to save while also allowing them to opt out if their family or individual circumstances make it particularly difficult or unwise to save,” according to the budget plan.
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A&A

Talent mapping: Navigating through the downturn

Having a clear understanding of the talents, skills, and behaviors of every employee could be the difference between your organization successfully emerging at the end of the downturn, or it failing, says Mark Hopkins, who recommends talent mapping as a means of ensuring success.
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A&A

Maximizing profitability: Mind your Ps and Qs

By Barbara Bix and Melissa Josephson EdwardsAccountants' top directives to companies may very well be: aim to maximize profit. Yet, in the frenzy of everyday work, it is not uncommon for "urgent" issues to supplant "important" ones. How, then, can companies stay on target and maximize profitability? Marketers at your client companies need to consciously choose a strategy for optimizing sales and marketing resources—and then stick to it.Selecting the Right Target Market
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A&A

Even small businesses can benefit from marketing systems

Barbara Bix and Melissa Josephson EdwardsSmall companies that implement marketing systems to identify their best prospects can dramatically increase revenue and reduce the time and cost of their sales cycles. "Best prospects" are those companies that need what you are selling the most, are ready to buy immediately, and will pay top dollar.Who needs what you're selling?
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A&A

New booklet helps small biz understand automatic 401(k) enrollment

The U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service have released a new publication to help small employers understand automatic enrollment for 401(k) plans offered to their employees. Automatic Enrollment 401(k) Plans for Small Businesses provides a comprehensive overview of the advantages of starting and operating this type of 401(k) arrangement.
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A&A

Ways and Means completes new tax plan

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee have released a tax plan that they hope will provide additional economic stimulus to taxpayers who have yet to demonstrate the effectiveness of last year's stimulus package.
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Practice Management

Test your customer IQ

By Barbara BixIt will come as no surprise that customers want it their way (to paraphrase Burger King). Yet many companies don't have processes for figuring out what that means.Take this quiz to assess your customer "IQ" (or "Insight Quotient") and determine the necessary next steps for shortening your sales cycle.The Questions 
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A&A

Free Web chat focuses on small businesses and the credit crunch

The U.S. Small Business Administration's Web Chat series starts the new year with a focus on small businesses and the credit crunch.
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A&A

SBA offers disaster assistance to Maine businesses

Low-interest disaster loans are available in Maine to small businesses, and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes affected by the fire in Mount Desert Island on July 29, 2008, U. S. Small Business Administration SBA Acting Administrator Sandy K. Baruah has announced.SBA Acting Administrator Baruah made the loans available in response to a letter from Maine Governor John E. Baldacci on November 24, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers Hancock County and the adjacent counties of Penobscot, Waldo, and Washington in Maine.
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Technology

Microsoft Convergence 2008: Tool up to harness the winds of change

For those who think the best course of action in an economic downturn is to batten down the hatches and freeze technology investment until sunnier days, Microsoft has a different message. Matt Henkes reports for our sister site, AccountingWEB.co.uk, from Microsoft's recent Convergence conference in Copenhagen.
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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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Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
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