Candidates for governor in Texas last week reacted to the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) conclusion that the new Texas margin tax was an income tax under Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) 109 “because the tax is based on some measure of income.” FASB declined to set up a project to give advice on the matter.Kathy Walt, spokeswoman for Republican Governor Rick Perry, and former state Comptroller Democrat John Sharp, who headed the commission that recommended the tax, said that FASB was providing instructions for accounting purposes only, according to the Houston Chro

Burkett & Beattie, Inc., an accounting firm in Libertyville, Illinois, will be deciding the winner of the Goose Dropping event at the Goose is Loose Festival sponsored by the Sunrise Rotary Club at the Libertyville Sports complex on August 26th, pioneerlocal.com reports.Advertisement

Students entering college in 2006 can expect to pay more than $500 for textbooks for their first semester courses, a huge outlay of cash for many who have already taken out student loans to pay for tuition and fees. University of Connecticut freshman Ben March returned to UConn’s Co-op bookstore for an accounting textbook last February, after having already spent $400 on other textbooks. The book cost $101. “I was trying not to buy it, but I ended up needing it," March said, according to boston.com.

DS&F Financial Services LLC, an affiliate of Darnall, Sikes, Gardes and Frederick, a CPA firm with headquarters in Lafayette, Louisiana, will merge with Wealth Care Group Asset Management LLC, the Daily Advertiser reports. The new company will be called DSF Wealth Management LLC.Larry Sikes, president and managing director of Darnall, Sikes, Gardes & Frederick, will be CEO of the merged financial services company.

A former employee of the Indianapolis Parks Department is facing charges that she directed $350,000 in public money to her personal bank accounts.The accounting staffer, who was fired after allegedly admitting her crime to investigators, steered fake credit and debt card refunds to her own accounts, according to charging papers. Questionable transactions went back to 2000. The employee, Kenya Miles, faces charges of official misconduct, theft and fraud against a financial institution.

Sales tax holidays are growing in popularity this year with four more states joining nine other states and the District of Columbia in waiving sales and use taxes for a limited time during July and August. The waivers may not include all items and local sales taxes may still apply in some locations."This is an excellent opportunity for working families, single parents and anyone else who needs a break to buy essentials and back-to-school items.

Recent audits at state, local and national government departments have revealed weak controls over personal use of government–owned vehicles by employees, government failure to report personal use as a taxable benefit, underutilization of government owned vehicles and inadequate control of employees’ access to government-owned fuel.

New York State regulators’ new crackdown on the accounting profession addresses an issue that has been roiling in the Empire State ever since the Enron accounting scandal surfaced several years ago.The New York State Board of Regents has revised the definition of "unprofessional conduct" for CPA's licensed by the state to include disciplinary actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), meaning that accountants or accounting firms disciplined by either of those bodies now can be subject to censure, reprimand and t

Rothstein Kass – Certified Public Accountants, a top 25 ranked international accounting and consulting firm, has acquired the assets of San Francisco-based Stadtler, Rosenblum & Saris (SRS), a medium-sized accounting and consulting firm. Effective July 1, SRS’ clients are being serviced by Rothstein Kass & Company, LLP.“We diligently searched for the ideal accounting firm to join and Rothstein Kass provides the best opportunities for us to substantially broaden our service offerings,” Sander Stadtler, SRS Managing Principal, explained in a prepared statement.