Archive for March 2012
Simple Ways to Create Segregation of Duties (and Avoid a Management Letter Comment)
There are four categories of potential management letter comments: material weakness, significant deficiency, control deficiency and “other comment.” We want to go through some of the common scenarios that occur in each category and go through some suggestions for preventing them. We’ll start with the most common management letter comment: the lack of segregation of…
Read MoreSection 83(b) Election: Standardization Realized
What is it? What’s new? And how do you make it work for you? By Mitchell Kopelman, partner-in-charge of Tax, and Shay Eubanks, Director Through the decades, there has been growing uncertainty around how to properly make the 83(b) election for restricted stock, and as those uncertainties grew, the cries to the IRS for a…
Read MoreAIA Architecture Billing Index Led By Commercial Construction
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has now seen 4 consecutive months of scores over 50.0. The reported score in February was 51.0, while the new projects inquiry score was 63.4. The AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker, stated that a factor preventing a more accelerated recovery was caution…
Read MoreWhat the (bleep) does Escheat mean? (what you need to know about unclaimed property)
Escheat is defined as a state’s rights to claim the title for unclaimed property. Before you dismiss this as N/A for your organization, take a look at your outstanding check list on your bank reconciliation. How far back does it go? It’s not uncommon for organizations to keep checks as reconciling items that are more…
Read MoreEITF 12-B: Interpreted As Dramatic Narrative
Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) – Issue 12-B has the same dynamic tension as the narrative in The Hunger Games and end with a killer cliff-hanger. This is the set-up: The Protagonist: Affiliated nonprofits with separate governance. The Game: Shared employees. At Stake: Do you recognize contributed services if employees for Player A work for…
Read MoreAIA Architecture Billing Index Turns Negative in April
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has turned negative for the first time in 5 months this past April as reported by the AIA. The April score reported was 48.4. Scores below 50.0 indicate a decline in architecture firm billings. The AIA chief economist, Kermit Baker, said that this decline…
Read More“Temporarily Restricted” is a Binding Legal Concept (Garth Brooks v. Oklahoma Hospital)
As highlighted in Garth Brooks’s lawsuit against the Oklahoma hospital, a donor’s restrictions are a legally binding agreement. On January 25, the jurors sided with Brooks’ in his claim that the Oklahoma hospital had not honored its agreement to use his donation to build a women’s center and name it after his mother as a…
Read MoreAIA Architecture Billing Index Continues Positive Trend
The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has seen 3 consecutive months of positive scores over 50.0. This may be a result of improving business conditions around the country, however it is noted that there was a similar upturn in late 2010 and early 2011, as pointed out by AIA…
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