In this Issue: January 2016

This month’s issue focuses on the coming year in accounting and taxation, as CPAs take stock of recent changes and prepare for their actual implementation. In the accounting arena, the focus is on several unresolved issues in accounting standards setting. These fundamental issues—revenue recognition, leases, and going concern—have been a topic of debate for years, even decades. Standards have been issued and then revisited, new guidance has been released, critiqued, redeliberated, and then postponed. For CPAs trying to keep current on standards, catching up with the growing volume of guidance can feel like running to stand still. This month’s authors cut through the confusion with detailed illustrations and comparisons to help readers prepare for the changes. The situation can be similar for tax preparers, who must try to keep up with a shifting tax code that seems to expand with every busy season. Last-minute updates from Congress have become the norm, even if this year’s legislation—finalized too late for us to analyze in depth here—might be more straightforward than most. A variety of tax topics are covered throughout this issue, from IRS enforcement initiatives to state tax credits, from incentive plans for retirees to hobby loss cases. Advice on how to prepare for the start of tax season and a roundup of free tax research tools can also be found inside this issue.

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