Accounting News Roundup: Ex-PwC Partner to Show the Way on Private GAAP; Romney Could be Richer; Tax Reform Talk | 09.20.12

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

Ex-PwC partner to head U.S. accounting body for private companies [Reuters]
The foundation that oversees the making of U.S. accounting rules said on Wednesday that it had named Billy Atkinson, a former audit partner at PwC, as chairman of a new standards council for private companies. Atkinson was appointed by the Financial Accounting Foundation to head the Private Company Council, which will help decide when to modify accounting standards for private companies. […] Atkinson worked for 39 years at PwC, where he served as an audit partner and risk management partner in the firm's private company services unit. He chaired the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy from 2009 to 2010 and was on the governing council of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants from 2003 to 2006.

FIN 48 among first priorities for new Private Company Council chair [JofA]
Sounds like a riot.
 
Romney With Fortune Missed Private Equity Boom Worth Billions [Bloomberg]
After the week he's had, Bloomberg decides to add insult to injury: "Mitt Romney should be a billionaire."
 
Incomes Fell or Stagnated in Most States Last Year [WSJ]

The median annual household income—the point on the income scale at which half earn more and half earn less—fell in 18 states in 2011 from a year earlier after adjusting for inflation, according to a Census Bureau report to be released Thursday. The sharpest drop occurred in Nevada, where median income fell by 6%. The median fell by 3.8% in California and by 2.9% in Arizona and Florida. Those four states are among those that have seen the biggest falls in home values and housing construction since the financial crisis, and where Americans are still struggling with the resulting heavy debt and high unemployment. Nationally, the median income dropped by 1.3% to $50,502 in 2011. A separate report last week reported a slightly different median income level, but either way, the number is at a level last seen in the mid-1990s, continuing a long period of stagnant or falling wages since an all-time peak in 1999.
 
SEC you later, pal! Schapiro may be heading for the exit [NYP]

Execs inside and outside the Beltway are speculating that the 57-year-old Securities and Exchange Commission chief, who has served nearly four years, is mulling leaving her post and may announce her plans as early as November after the presidential election is decided. “I suspect sometime after the election — regardless of how the election turns out — she will say, ‘I’m outta here,”’ said one former SEC official.
 
Wind-Sector Cuts Tied to Tax-Credit Clouds [WSJ]

New layoffs at Siemens AG's wind-power factories in the U.S. mark the latest retrenchment in the wind industry caused in part by the looming expiration of a federal tax credit. Siemens, a global leader in wind-turbine manufacturing, said Tuesday it would eliminate more than 600 positions, or about 37% of its U.S. wind-turbine-manufacturing jobs. The cuts include 407 jobs at its Fort Madison, Iowa, blade factory and 146 at a factory in Hutchinson, Kan., that makes nacelles, or housing, for the turbines' generators and gears. Additionally, Siemens said 330 temporary positions added to help with busy times earlier won't be renewed. Current U.S. law gives wind-power producers a tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour, a subsidy that keeps wind energy competitive with other methods of generating electricity. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of the year. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Congress is pushing to extend the credit, while many Republicans say the cost—an estimated $12 billion through 2022—is too high.
 
House and Senate Hold Joint Hearing Today on Tax Reform and Capital Gains [TaxProf]
FYI.
 
Gut Check at Shake Shack [WSJ]

The bliss of biting into a ShackBurger—a quarter-pound of beef, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and a special sauce—is no longer accompanied by ignorance of its 490 calories. 

Disabled Employee Says Bank of America Fired Him for Slow Typing and Walking [ABC]
A former Bank of America employee is suing the bank, saying he faced discrimination because his right hand, arm and leg were disabled in a car accident and he was told accommodation "wouldn't be fair to people with two hands."

 

Posted in ANR

Related Posts

Accounting News Roundup: How Secure is SaaS?; Highest Marginal Tax Rates by State Under Dem, GOP Plans; Familiar Rich People | 09.23.10

Blockbuster Files for Bankruptcy After Online Rivals Gain [Bloomberg]
“Blockbuster Inc., the world’s biggest movie-rental company, filed for bankruptcy after failing to adapt its storefront model to online technology pioneered by rivals such as Netflix Inc.

The company listed assets of $1.02 billion against debt of $1.46 billion on a Chapter 11 petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The company said it reached a deal with a group of bondholders on a plan of reorganization and secured a $125 million loan to finance operations.”

SaaS security: McAfee’s response [AccMan]
“One question that gets raised time and again: Is SaaS secure? The answer depends on with whom you speak. My take is that any vendor that cannot answer a set of well defined questions is probably not going to meet the minimum requirements for me to recommend a service.

Earlier today I attended a Salesforce.com presentation and among the speakers were Dell, Wells Fargo and McAfee. Both companies are deploying Salesforce and in particular its Chatter service to thousands of users. I put the question to Marc Benioff, CEO Salesforce: ‘How do you demonstrate to users that services such as yours are secure without going down technical rat holes?’ “

Friended for $100 Million [WSJ]
“Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old founder and chief executive of Facebook Inc., plans to announce a donation of up to $100 million to the Newark schools this week, in a bold bid to improve one of the country’s worst performing public school systems.”

Senate Holds Hearing Today on Lessons from the Tax Reform Act of 1986 [TaxProf Blog]
“Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will convene a hearing [today] to examine the lessons from the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and look at ideas for tax reform that will make the code simpler and fairer, while helping American businesses compete in the global economy.”


Top Marginal Effective Tax Rates by State under Rival Tax Plans from Congressional Democrats and Republicans [Tax Foundation]
The big winner is Hawaii with California taking first runner-up.

The Richest People in America [Forbes]
The usual: Gates, Buffett, Ellison, a lot of Sam Walton offspring, a pair of Kochs and Hizzoner.