CalCPA BUZZ

CAMICO Insurance Tip: Business Property

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:31:08 +0000

Problem: An office fire damages your furniture, fixtures and equipment. Valuable papers and records are destroyed. Your business, cash flow and revenues come to a halt, and you must rent temporary space to continue operations.

Solution: A business owner’s policy protects the property your business owns, including office equipment, phone systems, furniture and inventory damaged by fire, theft or other covered perils. Some policies also cover damaged computers and media, and loss of income and valuable papers to help you meet your continuing financial obligations, such as rent or payroll and extra expenses for additional costs.

For more information about CPA firm insurance issues, visit CAMICO online or call (800) 652-1772.

What Your Clients Need To Know About the Economy

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:29:33 +0000

As a trusted adviser, clients often rely on you for information about the economy and its impact on their wealth. The stock market stands at a crossroads. Key averages such as the Dow and S&P 500 recently reached new highs. But what does that mean for you and your clients? Are we in a new bull market? Or is this just a new peak that perpetuates the range in which we’ve fluctuated since the tech bubble burst in 2000?

Michael Lehmann, creator of the “Be Your Own Economist” series of learning modules, outlines ways to address the above questions and frame the discussion of profit margins and the stock market with your clients in this May 24 webcast. This course demonstrates methods for collecting, navigating and analyzing internet-based economic data to be able to advise your clients with the greatest authority.

FASB Standard on the Liquidation Basis of Accounting

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:28:24 +0000

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that improves financial reporting by clarifying when and how public and private companies, and nonprofit organizations should prepare statements using the liquidation basis of accounting. ASU No. 2013-07, Presentation of Financial Statements (Topic 205): Liquidation Basis of Accounting, is effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2013, with early adoption permitted.

Under the new standard, an organization will be required to prepare its financial statements using the liquidation basis of accounting when liquidation is “imminent.” Liquidation is considered imminent when the likelihood is remote that the organization will return from liquidation and either a plan for liquidation is:

Approved by the person or persons with the authority to make such a plan effective and the likelihood is remote that the execution of the plan will be blocked by other parties, or
Being imposed by other forces (for example, involuntary bankruptcy).

Learn more.

Withholding on a Sale or Transfer of a Business

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:27:18 +0000

Did you know if you acquire the assets of a business, you also acquire its (the payer’s) withholding tax liability? Under California law (RT&C Sec. 18669) the successor of business assets can be held personally liable for the amount of withholding taxes, interest and penalties if not paid by the payer. It does not matter how the assets were acquired—whether purchased, transferred, inherited or distributed in liquidation. The obligation to pay required withholding tax transfers with the assets. The successor’s liability is limited to the fair market value of the assets acquired.

As a successor, you are required to withhold in trust a sufficient part of purchase price or set aside in trust money or property to cover the amount of the taxes required to be withheld and any interest or penalties associated with the withholding tax obligation(s) that are due or unpaid by the business entity (payer).

Learn more.

PCAOB Re-proposes Auditing Standard

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:26:23 +0000

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board re-proposed for public comment an auditing standard, Related Parties, and related amendments to other standards to address areas that have been contributing factors in a number of financial reporting frauds.

The re-proposed standard, if adopted, would increase the auditor’s focus on the evaluation of a company’s identification of, accounting for and disclosure of its relationships and transactions with related parties.

The re-proposed amendments, if adopted, would enhance the auditor’s identification and evaluation of a company’s significant unusual transactions. They also would require that the auditor perform procedures, as part of the process to assess the risk of material misstatement in the financial statements, to obtain an understanding of a company’s financial relationships and transactions with executive officers. These procedures would not require the auditor to make any determination regarding the reasonableness of, or any recommendations regarding, compensation arrangements.

Learn more.

Upcoming Foundation Events: New Digital Course Catalog Released

CalCPA — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:23:57 +0000

Check out the new digital version of our course catalog.

School Districts Conference: May 8, Sacramento and webcast
Ethics and California Regulatory Review: May 9, webcast
Fraud and the CPA Profession: May 13, O.C. South
U.S. GAAP and IFRS Update: May 15, Burbank
Not-for-Profit Organizations Conference: May 16, L.A. Airport; May 17, San Francisco; and webcast
Accounting and Auditing Update: May 20, L.A. Airport
Governmental Accounting and Auditing Conference: May 21, Inland Empire; May 22, Sacramento; and webcast
Mitigating Fraud Risk for Nonaudit Practitioners: May 21, L.A. Airport

CBA’s New Notice of Proposed Practice Privilege Regulations

CalCPA — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:07:51 +0000

Legislation enacted in 2012 rewrote the California Board of Accountancy’s practice privilege provisions (Article 5.1, Chapter 1, Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code). The law prior to July 1, 2013, requires individual out-of-state licensees who wish to practice in California to either obtain a California license or a California practice privilege (see Business and Professions Code secs. 5050, 5096). Under that law, an out-of-state licensee could obtain a practice privilege by filing a notice with the CBA and paying a fee.

The new provisions—effective July 1, 2013, and beginning at Sec. 5096 of the Business and Professions Code—allow individuals, whose principal place of business is outside of California, licensed in states that have licensing requirements substantially similar to California’s to practice in California under a practice privilege conferred by operation of law without providing the notice or paying the fee. Individuals who wish to perform certain accounting and attest functions for companies headquartered in California must do so through a firm that is registered with the CBA.

Learn more or read the text of the proposal.

CalCPA Service Awards: Deadline Extended Until April 30

CalCPA — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:05:28 +0000

The nomination period for CalCPA annual service awards has been extended until the end of this month. You can download and nominate an outstanding member or firm for the:

Need to Let Loose After Tax Season?

CalCPA — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:03:36 +0000

Then tempt your luck and enter the UPS Savings Program Sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip for two to Las Vegas. The prize includes gift cards to use towards airfare, hotel accommodations and entertainment ($2,000 value). This contest is open to all CalCPA members. Receive one entry just for enrolling in the UPS Savings Program. Plus, receive another entry for every package you ship via UPS. The contest runs through April 18. Don’t delay; the more you ship, the more chances you’ll get!

Learn more about the contest rules.

Analysis of the President’s Budget Plan

CalCPA — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:01:48 +0000

President Obama released a $3.77 billion fiscal year 2014 federal budget April 10, including approximately 160 tax provisions and a mix of individual and business tax proposals. The proposal calls for a 28 percent cap on itemized deductions, a $3 million limit on tax-preferred retirement savings, a permanent research tax credit, a permanent American Opportunity Tax Credit, a change in the taxation of carried interest and more. President Obama also provided, for the first time, specifics on the so-called Buffet Rule.

The CCH tax briefing, Fiscal Year 2014 Budget Proposals, provides a summary and analysis of the proposal and the competing House and Senate proposals, which were released earlier.