Accounting and Financial News Stories
Overheard: Did ComScore Push Envelop on Accounting?
Wall Street Journal
ComScore has pushed the envelope with its accounting. Now it seems it might have pushed it a bit too far. The Internet analytics company said Monday it is delaying the filing of its annual report and postponing its investor day after receiving a message on Feb. 19 regarding “certain potential accounting matters.” ComScore said its audit committee is working “vigorously” with independent counsel to complete a review but that it would suspend its previously announced share-buyback program “out of an abundance of caution.
Social Security: Managing New Claiming Strategies, Benefits
ThinkAdvisor
For advisors with clients approaching retirement age, it is important to keep in mind that in addition to selecting the year in which they want to start taking benefits, there are several options currently available for choosing how to structure their Social Security benefits. As most of us know, early retirement benefits begin at age 62 and equal between 70% and 75% of your client's full retirement benefit, depending on his or her year of birth.
Clients Dissatisfied with Their Accountant's Phone Manner
Accounting Today
Only 24 percent of American consumers are satisfied with the way accounting firms handle their phone calls, according to a new survey. The study of 2,234 people, conducted by audio branding specialist PH Media Group, found standards in the accounting industry fell below the American average of 32 percent. Insurance companies performed the best (41 percent), while customers of architectural firms are the least content, with only 20 percent of their customers indicating they are happy with call handling standards.
The Warning in Wall Street Paydays
New York Times
The financial crisis of 2008 and its painful aftermath wiped out jobs, incomes, savings, home equity and economic opportunity throughout the country. But it did not wipe out rich paydays on Wall Street. The average bonus on Wall Street last year was $146,200, according to a new report from Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State comptroller. Bonuses were down 9 percent from 2014, mainly because of lower trading profits and higher regulatory compliance costs.
Auditing Firms Count on Technology for Backup
Wall Street Journal
KPMG LLP will soon have a new assistant to help it examine corporate America’s books: Watson. The auditing firm is forming an alliance with International Business Machines Corp.’s IBM Watson artificial-intelligence unit to develop high-tech tools for auditing and its other businesses. The deal is expected to be announced Tuesday. Other auditing firms also are enlisting cutting-edge technology to help them review their clients’ finances. Deloitte & Touche LLP has its Argus and Optix. And Ernst & Young LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP have their own smart tools.
IRS Suspends IP PIN Service for Identity Theft Victims
Accounting Today
The Internal Revenue Service has temporarily suspended the Identity Protection PIN tool on its website after security vulnerabilities were discovered in the service, which is intended to help victims of identity theft. Last week, reports emerged that a number of identity theft victims who had received IP PINs from the IRS found out that someone else had already used their IP PIN to file a tax return in their name (see IRS Experienced Identity Theft of IP PINs). The IRS said Monday that as part of its ongoing security review, it has temporarily suspended the Identity Protection PIN tool on IRS.gov.