In March 2020, the IRS announced an exemption to the information reporting requirements applicable to foreign trusts. Under this exemption, qualified individuals no longer need…
Financial accountants and auditors who assist nonprofit organizations have been busy applying and educating nonprofit management about FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of…
In PricewaterhouseCoopers's 2018 Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey, fraud is identified as “the biggest competitor you didn't know you had,” which is an interesting way of…
It was a bellwether year for cyber-crime worldwide in 2019. As a patchwork of new regulations began to emerge in the United States and the…
Section 7623 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows for the payment of financial awards to those who blow the whistle on individuals or corporations…
Last October's column was about the need for change in the way accounting is taught in high school and college (“The Accounting Curriculum Needs a…
Streamlined Disclosure in U.S. v. Brian Nelson Booker
A Former CPA Sets a Dubious Precedent
Brian Nelson Booker has the dubious distinction of being the first person criminally charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) with allegedly making false statements…
The AICPA's December 2019 exposure draft, “Maintaining the Relevance of the Uniform CPA Examination,” includes a discussion of the growing importance of “SOC 1 reports,”…
When Is a Business ‘Shielded’ from Financial Harm?
Impending New York State Law Imposes Stringent Requirements
I recently had a conversation with a prospective client about cybersecurity readiness. The client is a law practice, owned and run by a member of…
CPAs need to be aware of current tax developments in key states to properly advise taxpayers doing business in multiple jurisdictions. Below is an overview…
Foreign asset reporting—including the reporting of foreign retirement plans—is a high priority for the IRS, which in 2019 listed the “failure to report offshore funds”…
In a recent article “Who’s to Blame for Ransomware Attacks—Beyond the Attackers?” (SearchSecurity, July 2019, http://bit.ly/38txRda), Kevin McDonald of Avalka Networks discussed the issue of responsibility…
The Next Generation of Internal Audit
Harnessing Value from Innovation and Transformation
The forces of innovation and technological advancement continue to transform business. CPAs and finance professionals, as the scorekeepers of commerce, are looking for ways to…
Investing In Qualified Opportunity Funds with Irrevocable Grantor Trusts
A Powerful Combination to Reduce Taxes
For many families, estate planning is driven by a desire for reassurance that the assets they have built will be in place for future generations.…
Cryptocurrency is here to stay. As of November 17, 2019, the top five cryptocurrencies by market capitalization had a combined value of approximately $196 billion,…
I read with interest the article in the June 2019 CPA Journal by Andre Sterley (“Cryptoassets: Accounting for an Emerging Asset Class,” http://bit.ly/2l7CYf9). It's an excellent article about…
Several northeastern states are finally in agreement with regard to the imposition of state and local taxes (SALT). To this end, Connecticut, New Jersey, and…
The Confidentiality of a Client’s Tax Return Information
Provisions Tax Preparers Must Remember
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 7216 and its lengthy regulations govern when a tax return preparer may disclose or use a taxpayer's tax return information…
Analytical procedures have been part of the audit process for decades, but many auditors fail to understand their objectives or how these procedures should be…
The Death Knell for SALT Cap Workarounds?
Treasury’s Final Regulations Uphold the $10,000 Cap
The itemized deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 164 had long provided relief to taxpayers residing in high…
ISM Manufacturing Index The manufacturing sector is slowing, especially the export sectors. According to the ISM survey of purchasing managers, there is concern over the…
I particularly enjoyed Mark Nickerson's article on fraud possibilities in your annual technology issue (“Fraud in a World of Advanced Technologies,” June 2019, http://bit.ly/2LJedBZ). I wager…
CPAs need to be aware of current developments in key states in order to properly advise their clients that engage in business in multiple jurisdictions.…
The scope of the exception for taxpayers engaged in a real estate trade or business from the harsh consequences of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section…
Cybersecurity: Where Are We, and What More Can Be Done?
Keynote Address
Our mission at the PCAOB calls on us to protect investors and the public interest by overseeing one particular aspect of the financial reporting ecosystem:…
Sometimes the highest and best value that CPAs can provide to their clients and employers is to prevent problems from occurring or to recognize events…
The origins of cloud computing go back more than 20 years, with the first reference appearing in a 1996 internal Compaq document (Antonio Regalado, “Who…
The disclosure of nonfinancial information took on an increased importance when the European Union issued Directive 2014/95/EU (http://bit.ly/305nwzg) concerning reporting of sustainability information by large…
A previous column discussed the value of data, how it is monetized by bad actors, and how executives typically do not understand the answer to…
California State and Local Tax Update
Economic Nexus and Marketplace Facilitators
The Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. [585 U.S. __, (2018)] has driven the most substantive changes to the state and local tax landscape…