Santo Caracciolo (Southern Tier)
Movers: Business success in the Southern Tier
Press & Sun-Bulletin
Piaker and Lyons, P.C. announced Santo D. Caracciolo, CPA has been elected as the president of the Southern Tier Chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs. Caracciolo is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Other Accounting and Finance News Stories

Stocks, Bonds, Oil Confounded Experts in May
Wall Street Journal
Sell in May, they said. A strong dollar is bad for stocks and oil, they said. Everyone will get scared if China’s renminbi weakens again, they said. Avoid dangerous growth stocks, they said. Stick with safe, quality defensive shares with a yield, they said.

How Accounting Firms Significantly Benefit From Working With Single-Family Offices
Forbes.com
In many ways, the accounting industry is under pressure from factors such as fee compression and seriously increasing competition. At the same time, there are certain types of clients and sets of services that are proving to be very profitable for accounting firms. One such type of client is the ultra-wealthy.

Why I'm Going for the CPA
GoingConcern
Caleb recently published a post posing the question, "What’s the Future of the CPA Brand?" This question was prompted by some AICPA research showing that while the CPA brand still has a lot value, there’s a growing threat from non-CPA professionals who are providing specialized services outside the core services -- tax, accounting, and audit -- typically provided by CPAs.

How Friday’s Payrolls Report Could Skew Fed Rate Hike Expectations
24/7 Wall St.
Friday, June 3, 2016, will mark one of the most important economic readings of this summer. The U.S. Department of Labor will release its report on nonfarm payrolls, private sector payrolls and unemployment for the month of May. What matters here is that this is a number that could greatly skew the bias of whether Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve will move to tighten the rate of fed funds in June or if it will wait until July.

Many Companies Completely Unready for Revenue Standard
Bloomberg BNA
Many public companies are falling far behind in their ability to implement the forthcoming revenue recognition standard (10 APPR 525, 6/6/14) when it takes effect in 2019 and might not be aware of their situation, a Deloitte and Touche partner told Bloomberg BNA. They continue to operate under the figment that 2019 remains in the future when the next three to nine months “is critical” to understand the magnitude of the effort they face and to put in place transition procedures to avert something approaching a last-minute catastrophe,

BDO Merges in Charles A. Barragato & Company
Accounting Today
BDO USA LLP is expanding its New York metropolitan area practice by merging in Charles A. Barragato & Company, a firm with offices in New York City and Long Island that specializes in servicing high net worth individuals and family offices. The deal will add 38 new people, including six partners, to BDO, along with approximately $7 million in annual revenue, according to Barragato.

Bets on Fed Move This Summer Surge
Wall Street Journal
Investors are clearing their calendars for a summer interest-rate increase. Wagers on rising U.S. rates last week hit their highest level since 2014, according to a report from TD Securities on eurodollar futures trading.

How the GOP effort to oust IRS chief could backfire
POLITICO
For over a year, House conservatives have been clamoring to remove IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. But now that the impeachment process is moving forward, they face a delicate decision: Are they willing to toss 200-plus years of precedent to bring him down?

Cash Reward for Wellness Plan Participation Is Taxable
Bloomberg BNA
Employers can't exclude cash rewards, such as a gym membership, for wellness program participation from an employee's gross income, the IRS said in an advice memorandum. Reimbursing premiums that were paid to participate in a wellness program also aren't excludable from an employee's gross income, even if the payments were originally made through a cafeteria plan salary reduction, the Internal Revenue Service said in chief council advice memorandum 201622031, issued May 27.

Pension Funds Pile on Risk Just to Get a Reasonable Return
Wall Street Journal
What it means to be a successful investor in 2016 can be summed up in four words: bigger gambles, lower returns. Thanks to rock-bottom interest rates in the U.S., negative rates in other parts of the world, and lackluster growth, investors are becoming increasingly creative—and embracing increasing risk—to bolster their performances.

The Most Powerful Man in Banking
Wall Street Journal
The most important person in the banking business isn’t a banker. To most Wall Street executives, that title goes to Federal Reserve governor Daniel Tarullo, a brusque, white-haired former law professor who has come to personify Washington’s postcrisis influence over how banks do business. Mr. Tarullo heads the Fed’s Committee on Bank Supervision.