Accounting and Financial News Stories

A Blueprint for Succession Failure
AccountingWEB
When it comes to facing succession and ownership transition within CPA firms, experience has taught me there are two types of practitioners – those who are proactive with regard to securing their next generation of leaders and those who continue to procrastinate despite repeated efforts to convince them otherwise. The other day I was visiting a long-time client, who, as he approaches 70, continues to put in ridiculous hours when at that period in his life he should be more concerned about lowering his golf handicap like many of his peers.

Markets Now Expect Inflation To Remain Low...Forever
Wall Street Journal
When Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen starts speaking at Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday, Wall Street will be analyzing every word for clues to when and if interest rates will rise this year. Just as interesting will be what she says about the long term. John Williams, Ms. Yellen's successor as president of the San Francisco Fed, set the tone for this week's conference with a warning that a monetary policy overhaul is needed because interest rates are likely to peak at much lower levels than in the past.

IRS Chief Faces Likely Impeachment Vote in U.S. House Next Month
Bloomberg Politics
U.S. House conservatives are set to re-launch next month their effort to impeach Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, with or without Speaker Paul Ryan’s go-ahead . Representative John Fleming says he and other conservatives are prepared to unilaterally force an impeachment vote within days after Congress returns to session on Sept. 6.

IRS Gives Break to People Who Miss IRA Rollover Period
AccountingWEB
The IRS announced a new procedure on Aug. 24 that gives taxpayers a waiver for missing the 60-day time limit on retirement plan rollovers and helps them avoid early distribution penalty taxes. Revenue Procedure 2016-47 includes a sample self-certification letter that a taxpayer can use to notify the administrator or trustee of the retirement plan or IRA who will receive the rollover that they qualify for the waiver.

Years of Fed Missteps Fueled Disillusion With the Economy and Washington\
Wall Street Journal
In the past decade, Federal Reserve officials have been flummoxed by a housing bubble that cratered the financial system, a long stretch of slow growth they failed to foresee and inflation persistently undershooting their goal. In response, they engineered unpopular financial rescues, launched start-and-stop bond buying and delayed planned interest-rate boosts.

IRS Eases CPA Requirements for Certified PEOs
Accounting Today
The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are providing new guidance on the requirements for professional employer organizations seeking voluntary certification, relaxing some of the original requirements for submitting written opinions and attestations from CPAs. In May, the IRS proposed temporary regulations for a new voluntary certification program for PEOs, in accordance with a 2014 law known as the ABLE Act.

How to tackle the 5 biggest intercompany accounting challenges
CGMA Magazine
Businesses of any size can encounter intercompany accounting challenges. Additional challenges arise during global expansions, as the supply chain becomes more complex, or when the entity has gone through a merger or acquisition. Intercompany accounting can be difficult because it deals with money that flows across multiple legal entities of a company.

MACPA, BLI Usher In New Era Of Learning For Accounting and Finance Pros
CPA Practice Advisor
Nano learning and blended learning are now accepted forms of continuing professional education, thanks to newly revised standards from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs. That means a new offering from the Maryland Association of CPAs and its learning subsidiary, the Business Learning Institute, is the first nano learning program for finance professionals in North America to qualify under the new standards.

The ACA: Still a Moving Target
Accounting Today
The Affordable Care Act has new surprises this year that can trip up employers and their advisors, experts warn. In an interview with Accounting Today at the Midwest Accounting & Finance Showcase, held here this week, ADP vice president of strategic advisory services John Haslinger noted a number of new thresholds, limits and reporting deadlines that employers and their advisors will need to be aware of, and offered a four-step process that your business clients can follow to be sure they’re compliant.

Treasury to Sell $74 Billion of Bills
Wall Street Journal
The Treasury Department will auction $74 billion in securities next week. Details (all with minimum denominations of $100): Monday: $40 billion in 13-week bills, a reopening of an issue first sold on June 2, 2016, maturing Dec. 1, 2016. Cusip number: 912796JW0. Also Monday, $34 billion in 26-week bills, a reopening of an issue first sold on March 3, 2016, maturing March 2, 2017. Cusip number: 912796JE0.

U.S. Nudges States to Help Private-Sector Workers Save for Retirement
Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration on Thursday finalized a new regulation to encourage states to set up retirement savings plans with automatic enrollment features for private-sector employees, part of its push to promote Americans to build their own nest eggs to supplement social security. The rule, announced by Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and the White House, gives states a road map for establishing the retirement plans.