How can you determine income available for child support and equitable distribution in divorce cases?

How can you determine income available for child support and equitable distribution in divorce cases?
Divorce typically requires equitable distribution, and often a requirement for child support. How are these figures determined?

I think there are two steps to that:

One would be a complete financial analysis to figure out what assets are available, and what could be distributed to each party.
The second step would likely be financial projections. When you’re trying to determine what would be a reasonable amount […]

February 3, 2013 Accounting Read more...

MARYLAND STATE & COUNTY TAX CREDIT RULING – WYNNE V COMPTROLLER

Billy Thomas, CPA

In 2011, a ruling in the Maryland court system had very interesting implications for many resident taxpayers with out-of-state sourced taxable income.

The court case: Brian and Karen Wynne, et al v. Comptroller of Treasury.
In court the Wynne’s argued that it is unconstitutional for the state of Maryland to disallow a tax credit for taxes paid to another state against the income taxes paid to a Maryland county.
The case was originally heard in Howard County, MD and the […]

January 31, 2013 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Appropriate Due Diligence May Reduce Fraud Losses

John Merchant, CPA, CFE

On Friday January 18, 2013, Caterpillar, Inc. (Caterpillar), one of the world’s largest construction equipment manufacturers, announced that it would take a write-down of assets due to discovery of deliberate misconduct in the accounting for a subsidiary acquired in 2012.  The subsidiary was acquired at a cost of approximately $653 million and the write-down will be approximately $580 million.

On Tuesday January 22, 2013, the first business day after the announcement, the price of Caterpillar shares began […]

January 24, 2013 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

UPDATED GUIDANCE PROVIDED FOR TRANSIT BENEFITS UNDER THE SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE

Thomas Parisi, CPA

The IRS has issued a clarification to IRS Notice 2013-8 as to the reporting of the 2012 retroactive adjustment to the tax-free exclusion of transit passes and transportation in a commuter highway vehicle on the 2012 fourth quarter Form 941.

Upon review the original guidance instructions on how to complete Form 941 (and Form 941 Schedule B, Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors), IRS has noted the potential for a mismatch to occur in the filing […]

January 23, 2013 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Creating a New Fund? Update your Collective Bargaining Agreement

Posting by Ron Chandler, CPA

My firm was recently engaged to begin an employer compliance audit program for a new Taft- Hartley Health and Welfare Fund.  The master Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was good for a four year period; a new Health and Welfare Fund was created during the second year of the agreement.  The health and welfare language in the agreement used verbiage that addressed self-funding eligibility for each employee, but there was never any addendum or memorandum to […]

January 22, 2013 Payroll Audit Read more...

Small Grocery Chains Squeezed Out By a Crowded Field

The Washington Post
Posting by Geoffrey Brown, CPA

An increasingly crowded field of big-box supermarkets is squeezing out many of the smaller do-it-all grocers that tried to compete directly with the national chains. “There is just too much competition to try to take on the big-box stores, because they can kill you on prices and variety,” said Geoff Brown, principal at Bond Beebe, an accounting firm in Bethesda specializing in small, medium and family-run businesses.

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January 20, 2013 Family Owned Businesses Read more...

At what point in a case should a forensic investigation be initiated?

Once a case for fraud has been initiated, when should a forensic investigation be done?

As early as possible, for a couple reasons:

One is, once an investigation begins, there is opportunity for the perpetrator to destroy evidence. You want the investigation by the forensic team to start before that happens.
Also, in the case of computer imaging to reveal data, we have to face the unfortunate situation that data can be overridden.  So, something that has been deleted from […]

January 19, 2013 Forensic Accounting Read more...

What types of investigations require a Certified Fraud Examiner?

What types of investigations require a Certified Fraud Examiner? Well there are several that would require such a person.

One would be an embezzlement case where you need someone to investigate records to see if there’s been a misappropriation of assets.
Another would be fraudulent financial statements which would be probably be a result of management rather than an employee, where someone specifically misstates their financial statements in order to get a loan or bring in new capital.
A […]

January 19, 2013 Forensic Accounting Read more...

5 Ways an Expert Witness in Accounting Can Bolster Your Fraud Case

Since the recent economic downturn, individuals as well as businesses of all sizes have been facing immense financial pressures. So, it’s no wonder that the number of fraudulent financial activities and schemes is on the rise. An estimated 20 percent of U.S. businesses are subjected to fraud incidents each year, translating to a loss of over $600 billion.

The overall financial climate, coupled with advancements in technology over the past few years have translated to even more opportunities for computer […]

January 17, 2013 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

QUALIFIED EXCLUDABLE TRANSPORTATION BENEFITS – RETROACTIVE GUIDANCE FOR 2012

Posting by Thomas Parisi

The IRS has issued Notice 2013-8, which provides employers guidance on how to deal with the retroactive (part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 passed 1/1/13) increase in the maximum monthly exclusion afforded employees from $125 to $240 for 2012. The increased exclusion is applicable to employer-provided transit passes and commuter highway vehicle (vanpooling) transportation benefits and puts them on par with the exclusion for qualified parking for tax year 2012 and 2013.  Such […]

January 17, 2013 Tax Read more...