Accountants Round Up

"Pay Raises Expected to Rebound in 2010"

By MACPA: Pay raises for U.S. workers are expected to rebound in 2010, following a year in which many companies slashed raises in the wake of the recession, according to a new survey by Watson Wyatt.

Companies are projecting median merit increases of 3.0 percent for 2010, according to the Watson Wyatt 2009-10 U.S. Strategic Rewards survey. The survey includes responses from 235 large U.S. employers gathered in May 2009.

Read complete article Pay Raises Expected to Rebound in 2010
Source: MACPA.org, 22 July 2009. © Copyright 2009 Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

"Leading Accountants Tell Governments Quicken Pace of Global Standards Adoption"

By Mario Christodoulou: Governments and regulators should pick up the pace of the global accounting convergence, according to leading accountants from around the world.

Sixty leaders of the accountancy profession have called on governments to step up their convergence initiatives and establish timetables for the adoption of international standards.

Read complete article Leading Accountants Tell Governments Quicken Pace of Global Standards Adoption
Source: Accountancy Age, 27 July 2009. © Incisive Media Ltd. 2009 Incisive Media Limited.

"TAX SEASON LESSONS: Confusion, Complexity Mark Season"

By Roger Russell: Taxpayers feeling the pinch of the down economy made this tax season atypical of those in recent years, say practitioners.

In addition to taxpayers "harvesting" losses they suffered in the downturn, congressional actions to stimulate the economy added to the usual complexity.

In 2008, Congress created a $7,500 refundable tax credit for first-time homebuyers. Congress increased that credit to a maximum of $8,000 in February 2009.

Read complete article TAX SEASON LESSONS: Confusion, Complexity Mark Season
Source: Accounting Tomorrow, 15 Jun 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Politics and Accountancy Don't Mix, Obama Adviser Warns"

By Mario Christodoulou: US President Barack Obama's top financial advisor has said there is ‘strong case’ to revise controversial fair value rules but warned against political interference in the setting of accounting standards.

Speaking in China, Paul Volcker, the 81-year-old former Federal Reserve chairman said politicians should not interfere in standard setting and called for international consistency in accounting rules, The Los Angeles Times has reported.

Read complete article Politics and Accountancy Don't Mix, Obama Adviser Warns
Source: Accountancy Age, 12 Jun 2009. © Incisive Media Ltd. 2009 Incisive Media Limited.

"The ROI of Social Networking"

By John Jantsch: One of the most common reason stated by small businesses for not embracing social networking is that they can’t measure or, worse yet, don’t believe there is any solid return on the investment of participation. I get emails almost daily from frustrated marketers who want to dive more fully into social networking, but can’t convince the boss that it’s worth it.

My response to the ROI roadblock is this - How does your boss measure the ROI of attending Chamber mixers, participating in Associations, and dropping in on networking luncheons?

Read complete post The ROI of Social Networking
Source: Small Business Marketing Blog, 23 July 2009. Copyright 2003-2009 Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing.

"The Spirit of Accounting: To FASB: Mark-to-market is only a means to an end"

By Paul B.W. Miller and Paul R. Bahnson: The following is an open letter of encouragement to the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Dear board members and staff:

First of all, please accept our thanks for standing firm on the role for market values in financial statements. You didn't wilt under pressure despite one hyperbolic misrepresentation about mark-to-market after another, such as that it created the whole financial crisis, it was mandated by Sarbanes-Oxley, it was implemented in 2008 in the midst of this crisis, and it was abandoned 70 years ago to avoid prolonging the Great Depression.

Read complete letter The Spirit of Accounting: To FASB: Mark-to-market is only a means to an end
Source: WebCPA, 15 June 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Fraud At Record Levels: KPMG"

By Mario Christodoulou: The number of fraud cases has reached record highs according to a KPMG study which found there where more fraud court cases in the last six months than at any other similar period during the study's 21 year history.

The Financial Times reported on the study which found 163 cases reached the courts in the first half of the year including buy-to-let scams and other forms of property swindling to investment fraud and workers stealing from their employers.

Read complete article Fraud At Record Levels: KPMG
Source: Accountancy Age, 20 July 2009. © Incisive Media Ltd. 2009 Incisive Media Limited. All rights reserved.

"PCAOB reports on BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton"

By Sequence Inc.: Auditing firms are in a world of trouble. Their audit procedures haven’t really kept up with the changing business environment, and the expectations of the users of financial statements are practically impossible for auditors to fulfill. Regardless of the many disclaimers auditors provide about their work (that they don’t provide absolute assurance on the numbers, that the usually don’t find fraud, that they’re only looking at a fraction of the transactions behind the financial statement), financial statement users have much higher expectations.

Read complete post PCAOB reports on BDO Seidman and Grant Thornton
Source: The Fraud Files Blog, 14 July 2009. © 2005-2009 Sequence Inc. All rights reserved.

"Cap and Trade: More Impact on Accountants than You May Realize"

By Dan Meyer: Intentions of the Obama Administration to reduce pollutants, perhaps through a "cap and trade" tax as well as international meetings on carbon in Copenhagen later this year and the Western Climate Initiative creates a need for businesses (and accountants) to better understand the ramifications of costing carbon-based pollutants. Some specific issues which deserve consideration:

Read complete post Cap and Trade: More Impact on Accountants than You May Realize
Source: Tick Marks, 18 June 2009.

"100 Accounting Practice Blogs!"

By Michelle Golden: Having just updated the Accounting Blog List again (seems like every week or two) I am delighted to report that we have just crossed the 3-digit count threshold.

Read complete post 100 Accounting Practice Blogs!
Source: Golden Practices, 10 July 2009.