NYSSCPA Members in the News

Dionne Warwick to Sing for New York CPAs
Accounting Today
Legendary singer Dionne Warwick is slated to headline a gala for the New York State Society of CPAs’ Foundation for Accounting Education. Warwick will be taking the stage on May 19 as the NYSSCPA inducts a new president at its annual banquet and awards ceremony.

Other Accounting and Finance News

Auditing the Auditors: U.S. Rethinks Approach
Wall Street Journal
The U.S. government’s audit regulator is rethinking how it audits the auditors.  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which inspects major audit firms each year, is exploring a shift to focusing more on assessing the firms’ quality-control efforts, rather than looking for deficiencies in the firms’ individual company audits as it does now, according to a PCAOB member.

Labor Department issues new fiduciary standards rule
GSA Business
The U.S. Department of Labor issued an update to a rule to crack down on financial advisers who put the interests of their broker-dealer ahead of those of their clients. The new rule requires advisers overseeing retirement accounts to act under a fiduciary standard while also lessening the compliance burden on firms so long as they guarantee the interests of their clients are first above their own.

How CPAs and Technology Can Help Transform SMBs
AccountingWEB
To the best of our historical knowledge, accounting first emerged in those ancient civilizations of Sumer, Egypt, and Indus some 5,000 years ago. Around the 4th century BC, auditing was developed.

Health Insurers Struggle to Offset New Costs
Wall Street Journal
Insurers have begun to propose big premium increases for coverage next year under the 2010 health law, as some struggle to make money in a market where their costs have soared. The companies also have detailed the challenges in their Affordable Care Act business in a round of earnings releases, the most recent of which came on Wednesday when Humana Inc. said it made a slim profit on individual plans in the first quarter, not including some administrative costs, but still expects a loss for the full year.

Taxpayers Across The Country Reporting Uptick In IRS & Tax-Related Scams
Forbes
Even as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) have continued to warn taxpayers about IRS impersonation scams, fraudsters are still making the rounds. Law enforcement officials from Rhode Island to Kentucky to Hawaii are warning taxpayers that IRS impersonation scams are on the rise – and those scammers are becoming more aggressive.

Putting the Squeeze on Profits
Wall Street Journal
U.S. productivity doesn’t look likely to strike back anytime soon. That may be good news for workers, but it is bad news for the growth of corporate profits.

Market Continues Its Retreat After a Weak Jobs Report
New York Times
United States and global stock indexes moved lower a second day on Wednesday after a dismal report on job creation gave investors concern over the state of the economy. The data followed a round of economic news out of China and Europe a day earlier that also suggested sluggish growth.

Stocks Fall as Investors Flee From Risk
Wall Street Journal
U.S. stocks dropped Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its lowest close since mid-April. Major indexes have declined in four of the past five trading days as investors dialed back on risk after a multi-week rally.