What If You Can’t Pay Payroll Taxes?

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Video Updates.

What If You Can’t Pay Payroll Taxes? In this video, Darrin T. Mish, tax attorney discusses some of the questions businesses ask about non-payment of payroll taxes.  His advice is to “get current” as soon as possible, even though the IRS may not catch the lapse for up to four years and because IRS payroll… Read more »

Accounting for Security Deposits

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Video Updates.

A security deposit is money paid by the tenant to the landlord. This deposit protects the landlord if the tenant vacates without making required payments or damages the rental property. If the tenant gives proper notice and vacates without owing any rent or damages, the landlord must return the security deposit to the tenant in… Read more »

Fighting Back Against Payday Lenders

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis.

Wisconsin lawmakers agreed on Thursday, April 22, 2010, to regulate payday lenders. Wisconsin had been the only state not to regulate this industry, which consumer advocates said allowed its rapid growth and trapped too many borrowers who take out short-term loans with high interest rates in a cycle of debt. Questions: 1. What were some… Read more »

Corporate Sustainability Can Mean Financial Reward, Despite Extra Costs

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Tracking efforts in companies like Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard and Clorox, authors Ram Nidumulo, C.K. Prahalad, and M.R. Rangaswami, identified a five-stage process that will benefit companies as they navigate through the adoption of green business models.  In the article, the authors contend that early adopters of this process will develop competencies that will be difficult for… Read more »

Late Payments Matter

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis.

Late Payments Matter According to new research, approximately 4,000 small and medium sized firms in the U.K. collapsed in 2008 due to late payments by customers. This amounted to approximately 62 billion pounds that were more than 30 days late and of this 15.5 billion that were more than 120 days overdue. For more than… Read more »

How to “Regroup” During a Recession

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Chris Mittelstaedt, owner of The FruitGuys, has turned his local business into a national operation by changing strategy during the recession through investment in technology and the restructuring of his operations. Required: 1.  Based on the video, what were some of the things that Chris did to cut costs?  What disaster almost bankrupted his company?… Read more »

Getting to the Bottom of Repurchase Agreements (or Repos)

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking public-company CFOs for better disclosures and additional information about repurchase agreements, or repos, which are the same transactions that Lehman Brothers used to make its balance sheet look healthy before the investment bank collapsed into bankruptcy. Based on company responses, the SEC could ask issuers to amend their filings… Read more »

Visual Forensic Accounting Skills Are Assets In Divorce Consulting

Posted by & filed under All Articles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Video Updates.

Clearly laying out key ideas and arguments that support divorce proceedings are becoming a critical success factor for forensic accountants who consult in this area. As author, Dan Roam The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam asserts visual thinking is critical in the business world and forensic accounting is no exception.  For the forensic accountant,… Read more »

More Forensic Accountants of the Future Needed

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting.

In recent efforts, the AICPA is promoting forensic accounting skills to CPA firms and university professors. As part of this push, the Institute has published a new report entitled, “Characteristics and Skills of the Forensic Accountant, which presents qualities that surveyed attorneys, forensic CPAs and academics see as critical for the forensic accounting discipline, particularly… Read more »

Good News for Accounting Graduates

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Financial Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting.

Good news for accounting graduates! A nationwide survey of 3,500 accounting, finance, and human resource executives indicated that, in 2010, the majority of accounting and financial businesses that were impacted by the economic crisis are likely to hire accounting and financial candidates in 2010. About half of the survey respondents said they anticipated hiring support,… Read more »