Is this a good time to be an Auditor?

According to a February 26, 2009 article in the Wall Street Journal, President Obama’s budget request for 2010 includes a 13% budget increase for the Securities and Exchange Commission to over one billion dollars. The new administration is pushing enforcement in light of recently uncovered frauds and the government bank bailout. Higher enforcement levels could [...]

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Obama’s Budget: Almost $1 Trillion in New Taxes Over Next 10 yrs, Starting 2011

Obama’s Budget: Almost $1 Trillion in New Taxes Over Next 10 yrs, Starting 2011 February 26, 2009 12:00 PM President Obama’s budget proposes $989 billion in new taxes over the course of the next 10 years, starting fiscal year 2011, most of which are tax increases on individuals.

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Next Exit: Extended Housing Slump.

Foreclosures, short sales, deed in lieu…  How many homes in your neighborhood are vacant?  How many have “For Sale” signs in the yard?  How many are bank owned?  Have you tried to refinance or sell your home and were shocked by the offers or appraisals? As of mid-February it is estimated that Arizona has a [...]

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The Safe Money — Internet & ID Theft Scams Spiraling out of Control — ASSET PROTECTION UPDATE

My colleague Ike Devji wrote this very timely article. FRAUD AND IDENTITY THEFT ARE ON THE RISE – TAKE SIMPLE STEPS When times are tough all types of fraud increase, not just the lawsuits that are typically the focus of these updates. In addition to the obvious financial exposure of having someone access your identity [...]

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2008 Taxpayer Attitude Survey

I was reviewing the 2008 Taxpayer Attitude Survey published by the IRS Oversight Board and noticed a couple if interesting items I wanted to share. In 2008 almost 89% of taxpayers surveyed indicated it was not acceptable to cheat while preparing their tax returns, this is up 5% over the 2007 rate and is the [...]

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Arizona Tax Update

Tuesday evening I had the privilege of attending a CPE class titled “State Tax Update” which was presented by Jeffrey Williams and Krista Howard, both of whom are Senior Managers with Deloitte Tax LLP. Some of the highlights of the class included newly enacted legislation:  HB 2106 which is effective January 1, 2009 and amends [...]

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Business Valuation Roundtable

Today I had the opportunity to attend the Business Valuation Roundtable titled “Use of Transaction Databases – The Valuator’s Titanic”. The roundtable was held at the Arizona Society of CPA’s main office in Phoenix and we had 21 members in attendance. It was a 2 hour discussion on business valuation issues and the Society served [...]

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Arizona’s Mandatory CPE Class on Ethics

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take another CPE class at the Arizona Society of CPA’s Offices. As always the staff was extremely friendly and helpful and registration went smoothly. This was a 4 hour CPE class titled “Ethics Standards Update and Review for Arizona CPA’s in Public Practice – 2008 Edition”. We had a [...]

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Tax Season Stress

I received the following article from Ed Gomillion the owner of Zangfu Total Wellness and thought it was worth sharing.     Health Realities Due to Stress By Edward J. Gomillion   Tax season is a very stressful time of year for anyone owing money to the I.R.S. Add to that new economic pressures and [...]

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Credit Card Processing Fees

I was having coffee the other day with Jake Bogen of Blue Pay and asked him about credit card processing fees, and he provided me with the following information. If your business accepts credit cards you might wonder what all the fees are. Your processor may have a wide array of terms for the miscellaneous [...]

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