Accounting

| More |

Posts in Accounting

The FASB Actually Wants to Make Our Lives Easier Sometimes!

February 29, 2012
Michael Piessens

As mentioned in MFA’s February 2012 Financial Reporting Alert, Exposure Draft on Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, the FASB recently issued an exposure draft, Proposed Accounting Standards Update [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Independent Contractors or Employees? Rectifying Prior Misclassification of Workers under the IRS’ New Amnesty Program

January 26, 2012
Shannan G. Cuddy

The IRS recently introduced a new amnesty program entitled the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) that permits taxpayers to voluntarily reclassify workers as employees for federal employment tax purposes [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Good News for 990 e-Filers

December 27, 2011
Joyce Ripianzi

In case you missed the recent notice from the IRS: tax-exempt organizations that are required to file their 990 returns by January 17, 2011 or February 15, 2012 now have until March 30, 2012 to do so. [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

What Crowd Funding Legislation Reform Means for Entrepreneurs

November 23, 2011
Travis Drouin

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed several bills relating to small business financing, including the headline-making “Entrepreneur Access to Capital Act” (HR 2930), intended to ease decades-old regulations regarding crowd funding. [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Tips for Nonprofit Audit Committees

October 5, 2011
Christine Schneider

In last week’s post, What Makes a Great Audit Committee?, I suggested some criteria to consider when selecting or evaluating the members of an audit committee.

Read more 0 comment(s)

You Might Qualify for the R&D Tax Credit – Yes, You.

September 7, 2011
Erin Carmody

The U.S. government distributes billions of dollars in research and development (R&D) tax credits each year – but the money isn’t just for research labs. [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Using Roth IRAs to Mitigate “Double Taxation” of International Investments

August 5, 2011
Jeff Arsenault

As I and my colleagues have mentioned in previous blog posts, investing in a Roth IRA has a number of tax-related advantages. The $100,000 income limit window on converting a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

State Sales Tax Nexus Requirements – What Every Company Should be Considering

July 13, 2011
Shannan G. Cuddy

Businesses that sell products or services in interstate commerce, whether online, by catalog, over-the-phone or in-person, face challenging multi-state sales tax compliance issues.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Impaired or Not Impaired: That is the Question

July 6, 2011
Mike Piessens

Do you have the intangible asset “Goodwill” sitting on your books from previous business combination transactions?

Read more 0 comment(s)

Staying in Shape for Retirement

June 29, 2011
Jim Guarino

Everyone agrees that planning for retirement is important—so why do so many of us choose to avoid the issue year after year?

Read more 0 comment(s)

Evolving State Tax Trends to Watch: “Economic Nexus" and the Growing Popularity of a Single Sales Factor Apportionment

April 13, 2011
Shannan Cuddy

In what has been called the worst economic crisis since the Depression, states are scrambling to make up for massive shortfalls in tax revenue. [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

A Closer Look at the Benefits of the Refundable AMT Credit

April 6, 2011
Jim Guarino

For those of you who paid alternative minimum tax (AMT) more than three years ago, you may be entitled to some much-needed relief. [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

States Continue to Target Internet Retailers with "Amazon Nexus" Rule

March 2, 2011
Shannan Cuddy

Illinois recently joined Colorado, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island in aggressively targeting out-of-state Internet retailers that utilize in-state [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Just Another Winter in New England... How to Account for a Building Collapse

February 9, 2011
Joyce Ripianzi and Mike Piessens

Close to 100 roofs have buckled and collapsed under the weight of heavy snow and ice in the past week, including the building of [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

New 1099 Requirements Hit Landlords Hard

February 2, 2011
Jim Guarino

As MFA reported in April of 2010 (Get Your Paper Trail Ready; Expansion of 1099 Use Coming in 2012), the passage of the health care bill [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Retail & Hospitality Industries Receive Favorable IRS Guidance on Gift Cards

January 25, 2011
Craig Eaton

For those MFA clients and others whom the sale of gift cards and gift certificates is a standard business practice, I wanted to share with [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Retirement Plan Sponsors – Do You Know the Extent of Your Fiduciary Responsibilities?

November 16, 2010
Jeff Arsenault

For those who could not make MFA’s webinar last week — Retirement Plans: Understanding Your Fiduciary Responsibilities — I wanted to share with you a few of the highlights from what was a very enlightening seminar on the fiduciary responsibilities of plan sponsors.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Sorry Taxpayers, You’ll Have to Wait Until After the Election

October 19, 2010
James Guarino

The White House and Democratic leaders have announced that Congress will delay its efforts to extend soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts for low and middle income Americans until after the November 2nd elections.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Proposed Lease Accounting Rules Prompt the Rethinking of Real Estate Strategies

October 5, 2010
Mike Piessens

As noted in my earlier blog post on the proposed new standard on lease accounting, the primary objective of the proposed lease rules by the FASB and IASB is to create a new accounting model that ensures assets and liabilities [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Part 2: GAAP is GAAP - An Argument Against Separate Private Company GAAP

September 7, 2010
Travis Drouin

GAAP for private companies is a hot topic that can be looked at from varying perspectives. With that in mind, we offer this second entry of a two part blog series presenting both sides of the issue.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Part 1: Separate Private Company GAAP - An Argument in Favor

August 31, 2010
Mike Piessens

GAAP for private companies is a hot issue that can be looked at from varying perspectives. With that in mind, we offer this first entry of a two part blog series presenting both sides of the issue; be sure to check back next month for “the argument against!”

Read more 0 comment(s)

Clawbacks Get Tough: Enhanced Requirements Equate to Compensation with Strings Attached

August 24, 2010
Tracy Curley

Buried within the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 is the requirement for public companies to develop and implement a mandatory policy to recoup excess incentive-based compensation from current and former executive officers after a material financial restatement.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Revenue Recognition Gets a New Look

August 10, 2010
Pam Sintros

Accountants, auditors, and corporate entities alike, take notice: the exposure draft recently issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) promises that big changes are in store.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Get Your Paper Trail Ready; Expansion of 1099 Use Coming in 2012

June 29, 2010
Julie Viola

Interesting to note with all the attention that has been focused on the healthcare reform law, a minor change with a major impact is dodging the spotlight.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Don’t Ignore the HIRE Act: Tangible Tax Benefits Await Employers

June 15, 2010
Julie Viola

Through many of my conversations with CFOs, controllers and owners of mid-market and smaller companies, I’ve noticed a running theme that more emphasis should be placed on the tremendous opportunities afforded by the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act [...]

Read more 0 comment(s)

Financial Reform: Panacea or Paper Tiger?

June 8, 2010
Mike Piessens

On May 20, 2010, the Senate approved an extensive financial regulatory bill, while a similar bill had passed the House back in December.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Estate Planning Perks: Everyone in the “Speakeasy” Before it Closes

June 1, 2010
James Guarino

When tax revenues plummeted during the Great Depression, Congress needed a new source of revenue to avoid huge deficits.

Read more 0 comment(s)

More SOX Relief in the Works?

May 18, 2010
Michelle Mackey

The SOX debate continues…. As noted in a recent Compliance Week post, the Senate is gearing up to take on financial reform, and the SOX 404 regulation discussion is emerging again; this time though it’s being debated by Congress and not by the SEC.

Read more 0 comment(s)

IRS Provides Guidelines for Small Business Health Care Tax Credit

April 27, 2010
Julie Viola

An Accounting Today post pointed us to a link worth sharing: the IRS’ new informational pages on the small business health care tax credit.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Fair Share Contribution Audits - Did the Changes Impact Your Business?

April 13, 2010
Joyce Ripianzi

Employee Benefit Plans have become a greater area of concern for the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance, especially with regard to the “fair share contribution” (FSC) requirement of the Massachusetts Healthcare Reform Act.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Loss Carrybacks Extended to Five Years

March 16, 2010
Craig Eaton

Although there is some evidence that the credit market is loosening, it is clear that the harsh lending environment of the past two years has taken a toll on a wide range of businesses.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Arbitrage Strategy and Roth IRA Conversions

March 9, 2010
Carl Famiglietti

I would like to highlight an interesting perspective for those who hold within their IRA accounts unregistered securities or investments in limited partnerships such as private equity, venture capital and mezzanine: using an arbitrage strategy.

Read more 0 comment(s)

IRS to Consider Closer Look at FIN 48

February 23, 2010
Craig Eaton

More changes may be on the way for the now infamous FIN 48, the guidelines for reporting uncertain tax positions.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Planning Around the Estate Tax Repeal in 2010

January 26, 2010
James Guarino

Here we are in late January, and we find ourselves between year-end tax planning and the actual filing period for most individuals.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Proposed Revamped Accounting Standard May be the Lease of Your Worries

December 1, 2009
Mike Piessens

The FASB and IASB have been involved in a joint project on leases, with the objective of creating a common standard on lease accounting to ensure that assets and liabilities from lease contracts are properly recognized in the balance sheet.

Read more 0 comment(s)

The Big IRA Question: To Convert or Not to Convert?

November 16, 2009
James Guarino

There has been a lot of discussion about the potential benefits of converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, spurred on by new rules that go into effect in 2010.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Do New Revenue Recognition Rules Smooth Out Life Science and Biotech Wrinkles?

October 30, 2009
Pam Sintros

Earlier this month we wrote about how the new revenue recognition rules are having an impact in the technology sector, but it doesn’t end there.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Revenue Recognition’s Real Life Impact

October 14, 2009
Michelle Kupka

We recently issued an alert about FASB’s new rules regarding “Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables” and “Applicability of AICPA Statement of Position 97-2 to Certain Arrangements That Contain Software Elements.”

Read more 0 comment(s)

Small Companies Paying Big Price for SOX Audits

October 8, 2009
Travis Drouin

The anecdotal evidence was already there, but now the hard numbers are in from an SEC report that proves smaller companies are paying a disproportionately high cost to comply with Sarbanes Oxley.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Changes on Horizon for Revenue Recognition on Multiple Element Arrangements

September 8, 2009
Mike Piessens

So you want to recognize revenue on your multiple element arrangement sooner?…Well, the FASB genie looks like it may actually grant that wish…but nothing comes for free…

Read more 0 comment(s)

IFRS Education is Still the First Step

July 16, 2009
Travis Drouin

Perhaps in response to slow adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) among private companies, a new “quick guide” has been issued that condenses the standards to 230 pages or less.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Upcoming Webinar on FASB Codification

June 22, 2009
Mike Piessens

FASB is coming up on the launch of its “codification” effort, as it streamlines rules into more of a single-source organization.

Read more 0 comment(s)

New IASB Guidance on Fair Value

June 2, 2009
Travis Drouin

The International Accounting Standards Board made another attempt to bring order to the global uncertainty around fair value.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Multinational Tax Rules to Bring Revenue Home

May 26, 2009
Rosanna DiFilippo

Interesting red flag thrown up by CFO magazine in its recent article on the new administration’s multinational tax plan.

Read more 0 comment(s)

FIN 48, A Challenge for Nonprofits

May 5, 2009
Joyce Ripianzi

Nonprofits should be ready to adjust this year to new guidelines around FIN 48, a regulation that calls for improved disclosure of uncertain tax positions.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Thoughts on the Future of Multinational Tax Policy

April 22, 2009
Rosanna DiFilippo

An interesting look ahead, flagged for us by our peers at TaxProf Blog: Mihir A. Desai (Harvard Business School) has posted a new paper on evolving tax policy for companies operating overseas.

Read more 0 comment(s)

May 15 Deadline for MA Life Science Tax Incentive Applications

April 7, 2009
Rosanna DiFilippo

A reminder that May is fast approaching, and with it comes the deadline for companies to apply to be considered for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Tax Incentive Program.

Read more 0 comment(s)

FASB Staff Positions Focus on Fair Value

March 24, 2009
Will Andronico

As noted on the FEI blog, FASB is taking more steps towards addressing fair value.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Form 990 for Nonprofits: It’s No Longer a Draft

March 17, 2009
Joyce Ripianzi

The IRS gave it’s official blessing to the new form 990 that is required filing for nonprofits.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Proper Tax Planning Will Tap Opportunities for Many Taxpayers in 2009 and 2010

March 11, 2009
James Guarino

The recent passage of the Stimulus Package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009) creates a wealth of tax planning opportunities for 2009 and 2010.

Read more 0 comment(s)

More Push-Back on IFRS

March 4, 2009
Travis Drouin

No surprise to see that the saga around IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) lives on.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Fair Value Tug-of-War Continues

January 26, 2009
Will Andronico

The question of whether fair value is, well, “fair” could be sorted out sometime soon, although the priority placed on addressing the issue remains in question.

Read more 0 comment(s)

New Year, New Tax Changes

January 8, 2009
Doug Sweazey

As we keep our feet under us making the transition to a new year, we also have to keep our eyes on changes to the tax code that will impact filers.

Read more 0 comment(s)

XBRL Is In The Books

December 18, 2008
Travis Drouin

The SEC voted yesterday to make XBRL the official standard for communicating business and financial information. As XBRL Blog Magazine reports, the mandate comes out of a roundtable held by the SEC, and might require compliance for companies reporting as early as June 2009.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Mark-To-Market Here To Stay?

December 10, 2008
Travis Drouin

The SEC’s study of mark-to-market accounting is winding down, and Compliance Week’s Tammy Whitehouse published some interesting insight into the initial comments made by SEC Chariman Christopher Cox.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Goodwill Impairment Top of Mind For Year-End

December 3, 2008
Bill Duratti

As we head for the New Year, identifying goodwill impairment is fast becoming a crucial activity for year-end filers and, indeed, for public and private companies at all stages of reporting.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Change is Coming: A New President with New Tax Plans

November 12, 2008
Craig Eaton

As I sat late Tuesday evening on November 4^th watching the President Elect, Barack Obama, deliver his victory speech, a reality became apparent that the Bush administration is actually approaching its close and a new administration will be entering Washington.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Bailout Goes Beyond Banks: Benefits For Taxpayers

October 29, 2008
Craig Eaton

At this point, everyone has heard of the new Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), more commonly known as the “Bailout Plan.”

Read more 0 comment(s)

Multinational Tax Strategies - Tax Avoidance or Playing by the Rules?

October 1, 2008
Doug Sweazey

A recent article in Accounting Today investigates a study on reporting practices by multinational companies, and seems to question the intentions of these filers.

Read more 0 comment(s)

FAS 141R: Will Revised M&A Accounting Standards Kill Deals?

September 17, 2008
Bill Duratti

New M&A guidelines under FAS 141R are taking effect in 2009, and there’s been some talk about how it might impact the deal process.

Read more 0 comment(s)

IFRS To Be a Reality?!

September 3, 2008
Travis Drouin

Well, it looks like we may be on our way. After years of false starts and conjecture about U.S. adoption of - or complete convergence with - International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the SEC issued a press release on August 27th entitled “SEC Proposes Roadmap Toward Global Accounting Standards to Help Investors Compare Financial Information More Easily."

Read more 0 comment(s)

Simplifying Revenue Recognition

August 27, 2008
Travis Drouin

I’ve heard some describe the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as the accountant’s version of the full employment act.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Keeping an Eye on Massachusetts Tax Reform

August 13, 2008
Doug Sweazey

This summer marked the passage of some noteworthy tax reform in Massachusetts that will be on our minds as year-end strategies start to take shape.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Discussion Heats Up On IFRS

August 6, 2008
Travis Drouin

A June forum on International Financial Reporting Standards (”IFRS”) held in New York saw some urgency around getting the United States aligned on timing and action steps for making a transition to IFRS.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Getting Ready For XBRL

July 30, 2008
Travis Drouin

If you haven’t heard of XBRL before, don’t worry, many others haven’t either.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Transparency in Business

July 21, 2008
Travis Drouin

My inaugural blog for MFA has me thinking about transparency in business.

Read more 0 comment(s)

New York’s Battle Over Ecommerce Sales Tax

July 15, 2008
Rosanna DiFilippo

The world of e-commerce sales tax has been active of late, complete with high profile legislation that could in the end impact the way sales tax is applied to online retailers across the country.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Stock Option Valuation: 409A, Fair Value and Audit Prep

June 30, 2008
Will Andronico

From 409A to audits, independent valuations are a popular topic of discussion these days…and for good reason. They can make all the difference in defending your position – and that of portfolio companies – with the IRS and financial statement auditors.

Read more 0 comment(s)

Transfer Pricing and Cross-border Business

June 16, 2008
Rosanna DiFilippo

Business is global – and so are taxes. Companies that are connected by common control and share resources across borders need to ensure they address transfer pricing when goods or services change hands.

Read more 0 comment(s)