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Accounting News Roundup: Madoff Speaks; Why a Tax Pro Is Worth the Money; Crime Pays…Behind Bars | 02.16.11

From Prison, Madoff Says Banks ‘Had to Know’ of Fraud [NYT]
In many ways, however, Mr. Madoff seemed unchanged. He spoke with great intensity and fluency about his dealings with various banks and hedge funds, pointing to their “willful blindness” and their failure to examine discrepancies between his regulatory filings and other information available to them. “They had to know,” Mr. Madoff said. “But the attitude was sort of, ‘If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.’ ”

Why It’s Worth Paying for a Tax Pro [WSJ]
To save money last year, Anthony Fasano tried preparing his new business’s first tax return on his own. Then reality sank in. “I realized I really had no understanding of the tax laws from a business standpoint,” says Mr. Fasano, founder of Powerful Purpose Associates, an executive-coaching company he runs out of his home in Ridgewood, N.J. “I was just winging it.”

Nonprofits and International Financial Reporting Standards [AW]
Anyone who has looked at a nonprofit financial statement over the past two years might recognize the term “Fair Value Measurements” in the footnotes. This is just one example of how a joint project between the FASB and IASB has affected the reporting of U.S. nonprofit organizations. On an ongoing basis, U.S. nonprofits can expect to see changes in U.S. GAAP that will impact their reporting requirements for years to come.

Replace the Big Four with Audits by Government? More Heat in the Kitchen — and Less Light [Re:Balance]
An excellent column from Jim Peterson although I feel like he missed an opportunity to include a cockroaches metaphor.

Should Faculty be Required to Fill Out Time Sheets? [TaxProf Blog]
The billable hour goes to school.

Is Your Employee’s Cell Phone a Security Breach Waiting to Happen? [CPA Trendlines]
Not to mention the sexting!

A Question for the CFO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters [White Collar Fraud]
Sam Antar is puzzled: “How was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters able to report income before taxes in its Timothy’s Coffee of the World Inc. subsidiary that exceeded revenues in the thirteen-weeks ended June 26, 2010?”


Trump and the Mets? Anything Is Possible [NYT]
Or running for President. Whichever.

Cheating IRS nets inmates $39 million [DFP]
Crime Pays!

From Prison, Madoff Says Banks ‘Had to Know’ of Fraud [NYT]
In many ways, however, Mr. Madoff seemed unchanged. He spoke with great intensity and fluency about his dealings with various banks and hedge funds, pointing to their “willful blindness” and their failure to examine discrepancies between his regulatory filings and other information available to them. “They had to know,” Mr. Madoff said. “But the attitude was sort of, ‘If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.’ ”

Why It’s Worth Paying for a Tax Pro [WSJ]
To save money last year, Anthony Fasano tried preparing his new business’s first tax return on his own. Then reality sank in. “I realized I really had no understanding of the tax laws from a business standpoint,” says Mr. Fasano, founder of Powerful Purpose Associates, an executive-coaching company he runs out of his home in Ridgewood, N.J. “I was just winging it.”

Nonprofits and International Financial Reporting Standards [AW]
Anyone who has looked at a nonprofit financial statement over the past two years might recognize the term “Fair Value Measurements” in the footnotes. This is just one example of how a joint project between the FASB and IASB has affected the reporting of U.S. nonprofit organizations. On an ongoing basis, U.S. nonprofits can expect to see changes in U.S. GAAP that will impact their reporting requirements for years to come.

Replace the Big Four with Audits by Government? More Heat in the Kitchen — and Less Light [Re:Balance]
An excellent column from Jim Peterson although I feel like he missed an opportunity to include a cockroaches metaphor.

Should Faculty be Required to Fill Out Time Sheets? [TaxProf Blog]
The billable hour goes to school.

Is Your Employee’s Cell Phone a Security Breach Waiting to Happen? [CPA Trendlines]
Not to mention the sexting!

A Question for the CFO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters [White Collar Fraud]
Sam Antar is puzzled: “How was Green Mountain Coffee Roasters able to report income before taxes in its Timothy’s Coffee of the World Inc. subsidiary that exceeded revenues in the thirteen-weeks ended June 26, 2010?”


Trump and the Mets? Anything Is Possible [NYT]
Or running for President. Whichever.

Cheating IRS nets inmates $39 million [DFP]
Crime Pays!

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