contemporary business issues | Wiley Accounting Updates

Internal Auditing a career to consider!

Posted 11:36 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Canadian Economy.

Profession: Internal Auditing is now a fully developed profession, Internal audit developed as an extension of the external audit role in testing the reliability of accounting records that contribute to published financial statements. These are exciting times for internal auditors, especially those who see themselves as agents of change within the organization. The drive to… Read more »

Year-End Tax Planning-2010

Posted 11:05 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Taxation & Planning.

Accountants are always keeping up to date on tax related issues. Here are a few tax planning ideas to consider before 2010 and changes for 2011: 1.Federal Small business rate remains at 11% for Federal tax purposes 2.New Avoidance Transaction rules, must be reported after 2010. 3.Quebec Sales Tax Rate: Increasing from 7.5% to… Read more »

Canadian Audit Committee Update: Evolving issues for 2010

Posted 11:30 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Advanced Accounting, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Fraud Accounting, IFRS.

Audit Committee Evolving Issues focuses on communicating to stakeholders about the impact of adopting IFRS. Today’s changing business and economic conditions provide an opportunity for the audit committee to reassess its priorities and refocus its agenda. The purpose of the Audit Committee is to strengthen the integrity of the financial reporting process and the quality… Read more »

Restructuring GM: Government Bailout a Success!

Posted 5:42 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Auditing, Corporate Restructuring, Financial Statement Analysis, International Accounting.

General Motors started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, a day after its IPO raised US$20 billion. From a starting price of US$33 a share it rose as high as $35.95 in intraday trading before settling at $34.01. It closed at $34.19 on the New York Stock Exchange, a gain of 3.61% in… Read more »

GM IPO

Posted 6:37 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Canadian Economy, Corporate Restructuring, Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis.

What is an IPO? An initial public offering, or IPO, is the first sale of a corporation’s common shares to investors on a public stock exchange. The main purpose of an IPO is to raise capital for the corporation. While IPOs are effective at raising capital, being listed on a stock exchange comes with heavy… Read more »

Taking a Private Company Public……Going Public!

Posted 11:20 am by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Corporate Restructuring, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Taxation & Planning.

Why go public? Growing companies constantly search for new capital. Going public is one way to obtain that capital, but it takes time and money—and a lot of both! Your decision to go public should follow from your longer-term strategic objectives—seeking opportunities for growth, value creation, or an exit strategy. It’s a big decision. You… Read more »

Four things that will slow Canada’s growth

Posted 9:24 pm by Gerry La Rocca & filed under Accounting Careers, Canadian Economy.

The Canadian economy is coming off a “sugar high” and will face four impediments that will slow growth going forward. 1. A weaker U.S. economy 2. Softness in Canadian housing 3. Fatigued consumers and 4. Fading stimulus will all conspire to limit growth to the 1.5% to 2.2% range U.S. exposure U.S employers have been… Read more »

How Low Can the Costs Go?

Posted 7:36 am by admin & filed under Accounting Principles, All Articles, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

India has developed the world’s cheapest laptop – a touchscreen device which resembles Apple’s wildly popular iPad but will cost just £23. The prototype was unveiled this week by Kapil Sibal, the country’s human resource development minister, who said 110 million Indian schoolchildren would be the first recipients. Questions: 1. Find the current exchange rates and calculate… Read more »

New Revenue Recognition Standards on the Way for Contractors

Posted 7:01 am by admin & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Contractors should be educating themselves on the impact of the new proposed revenue recognition standards and the recently published (June 24, 2010) exposure draft pertaining to revenue from contracts with customers. Public comments are due October 22, 2010, and it is expected the standards will be finalized in 2011. Questions: 1. What are some of… Read more »

Mortgage Fairs

Posted 6:56 pm by admin & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Given the last year’s trend, is there an end in sight to new record-low interest rates? For example, on July 22, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of 4.56% with 0.7 points on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the same time… Read more »