August 2005 - Journal of Accountancy

f you thought Lotus 1-2-3 revolutionized spreadsheets, get a good grip on your mouse because XBRL will do even more for financial reporting and analysis. Here’s the breakthrough: XBRL (extensible business reporting language), a new global open standard for formatting financial information, makes reporting and analysis faster, cheaper and significantly

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WHEN CLIENTS ARE DESPERATE FOR FUNDS because of unforeseen circumstances, CPAs can help them tap retirement funds without triggering the 10% early withdrawal penalty. Eight exemptions to this penalty relate to life cycle events and present tax-planning opportunities. DISTRIBUTIONS TO A DISABLED TAXPAYER who has little or no

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COMBINING COST SEGREGATION AND SECTION 1031 exchange allows taxpayers to defer the maximum amount of income taxes. USING COST SEGREGATION, OWNERS CAN RECLASSIFY real property as personal property in order to obtain faster depreciation write-offs. IN AN IRC SECTION 1031 EXCHANGE, real estate owners can defer the tax

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY DEBATE HAS RAGED FOR YEARS i n financial and accounting circles over issues of independence, auditing and accounting standards, and corporate governance. In the event of an auditing malfeasance trial, a juror—unaware of this larger context—must arrive at a verdict based on what he or she learns about

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COMPLYING WITH SARBANES-OXLEY HAS LED many companies to search for a better way to manage all the regulatory demands they face. Some are doing so on an enterprise-wide basis by coordinating and integrating compliance into all facets of their business. COMPANIES NEED A FRAMEWORK TO HELP them manage

The JofA ’s “Focus On” series, which ran in the mid-1990s, asked CPAs for their opinions on a variety of issues, including casual-dress policies. It was only in the early to mid-1990s that casual Fridays ushered in a more informal era in office dress. In May 1995 the JofA asked

here’s a lot you should know about the new generation of leaders moving up in America’s top companies and professional services firms. Often referred to as Generation X, it’s made up of people born between 1964 and 1975. Numerous stereotypes and myths about Gen-Xers abound, and scant research has been

Key to Instructions To help readers follow the instructions in this article, we used two different typefaces: Boldface type is used to identify the names of icons, agendas and URLs. Sans serif type shows commands and instructions users should type into the computer and the names of files. icrosoft’s Windows

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ONE WEAPON AUDITORS CAN USE AGAINST FRAUD is simply to speak to clients, managers and employees while observing their behaviors. Normal interview skills may be insufficient to determine whether an individual is withholding information, shading the truth or outright lying, so it’s wise to learn fraud-based interview skills