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A Better Way to Gauge Profitability

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Return-on-equity (ROE) is the correct profit metric to evaluate the performance of a business. However, the primary emphasis on financial ratio analysis must be on operating performance. The “advanced” version of the DuPont model remedies the original model’s failure to cleanly separate the effects of operating and financing...

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M&AS

Two-Stage Deals

A sequenced transition can smooth a firm’s ownership transfer. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Although it’s not the only way to go about succession planning, a two-stage deal offers a transitioning CPA an opportunity to imbed a practice into a successor firm’s infrastructure while maintaining a considerable amount of autonomy for an agreed-on

SPECIAL REPORT

Taking Care of Small Business

The Institute’s vice-president for small firm interests describes AICPA programs for small firms and their small business clients. mall businesses—the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy—rely on their CPAs for business advice, making them a core practice area for many practitioners. In recognition of this important relationship, the AICPA provides

SOFTWARE

Small Business Software Grows Up

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Microsoft’s introduction this year of its small business accounting software is challenging the two leading competitors—QuickBooks and Peachtree—to step up their efforts with products that are ever-more technologically powerful. The competition will be intense because “Microsoft Small Business Accounting (MSBA) is technologically more advanced than either QuickBooks or

CASE STUDIES

Section 404 for Small Caps

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In 2005 about 3,700 large-cap ($75 million or more) companies underwent the first wave of Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 audits. Here, a firm experienced with Sarbanes-Oxley section 404 audits for accelerated filers shares its best practices to help with compliance for nonaccelerated filers (companies with market capitalization under $75

SPECIAL: BOOK EXCERPT

Planning for Trouble

From Smart and Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People by Jane Bryant Quinn. Copyright 2006 by Berrybrook Publishing, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Jane Bryant Quinn is the voice of personal financial planning for a generation of Americans. On the following pages the author of a

FINANCIAL REPORTING

Options and the Deferred Tax Bite

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more complicated.   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Implementation of FASB Statement no. 123(R) goes beyond selecting a method to value employee stock options. CPAs also must help companies make the necessary tax accounting adjustments to properly track the tax benefits from stock-based compensation. Statement no.

SPONSORED REPORT

Be prepared for tax season early

Our expert tax report highlights the important issues that tax preparers and their clients need to address for the 2024 tax year. Stay informed and proactive with guidance on critical tax considerations before year-end.