The growing volume and complexity of financial disclosure information inannual reports and other filings is overwhelming for investors and financial
executives, making the information less useful, a KPMG report finds. The volume of disclosure information rose 16% over the last six years, the report found.
The number of footnotes was up 28%. Read more»
Investors want the Financial Accounting Standards Board to revisit pension accounting rules and make changes that go beyond the International
Accounting Standards Board’s new standards, Chairman Leslie Seidman said. “That is a pressing matter we’re going to have to take seriously in terms
of adding to the agenda,” she said. The FASB changed pension accounting rules in 2006, but has deferred a second phase of revisions. Read more»
The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the InternationalAccounting Standards Board responded Monday to calls by the AICPA and others
for changes to a 2010 proposed joint standard on revenue recognition. The new proposal contains a number of changes from the previous plan, including added guidance on how to determine when a good or service is transferred over time and simplified proposals on warranties. Read more»
The Financial Accounting Standards Board acted on recommendations from its Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee by adding to its agenda a
standard-setting project that will focus on the financial statements and related notes that are unique to nonprofit organizations, and a research
project that will study other means of communication that nonprofit organizations currently use in telling their financial stories. Read more»
Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP, Certified Public Accountants, recently announced the following promotions. Jay A. Montalbano, CPA, CVA, CCIFP has been named a partner in the Audit Division. He was previously a Senior Manager and has 12 years of public accounting experience. Montalbano’s areas of specialization include auditing in the construction industry as well as business valuations. In addition, Gregory H. Brenan, II, CPA has been promoted from Manager to Senior Manager in the Audit Division. Brenan has 11 years of experience in public accounting and specializes in providing audit services to the construction industry as well as financial institutions. Read more»
On Monday, the Internal Revenue Service announced the launch of a new offshore voluntary disclosure initiative. The new program is similar to the 2011 OVDI, but it has no deadline. However, the IRS warned that the program could change or be ended in the future. Also, the penalty amount is larger than under the 2011 OVDI. JournalofAccountancy.com
Sixty-nine percent U.S. companies were organized as pass-throughs, or nontaxable organizations, in 2008, compared with 24% in 1986, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. Members of Congress and the business community disagree on whether the exemption should change. Increasingly, traditional for-profit companies are at a competitive disadvantage against pass-throughs. The Wall Street Journal
Starting with Forms W-2 for 2012, most employers will be required to report to their employees the cost of their employer-provided group health plan coverage. The Internal Revenue Service has issued 39 questions and answers providing guidance on how employers can meet this reporting requirement. JournalofAccountancy.com
The Internal Revenue Service held a hearing on Thursday to get feedback on its proposed real-time tax system. Representatives of the tax professional community, New York state, federal oversight agencies, and low-income taxpayer clinics testified, including the chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, Patricia Thompson, CPA. Under a real-time system, the IRS would match tax return information with data received from information returns during return processing, instead of after the return is accepted. JournalofAccountancy.com
On Friday, the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2012 optional standard mileage rates for taxpayers to use when calculating deductible automobile costs for business use, for medical or moving purposes, and for service to charitable organizations. JournalofAccountancy.com
