Obtaining an Award of Audit Costs: Case Study

Posting by Travis Ketterman

In my last two blog entries, I reviewed important lessons that can be learned about admitting an auditor’s report into evidence and allowing an auditor to testify at a federal trial.  These lessons were a crucial part of a federal appellate court decision in Trustees of Chicago Plastering Institute Pension Fund v. Cork Plastering Co., 570 F.3d 890 (7th Cir. 2009).  This final installment on the Cork Plastering case discusses the award of audit costs to […]

January 30, 2012 Payroll Audit Read more...

“How To” Series: Testing for Vacation

Posting by Phil Vivirito

In this series, I will explain several fundamental payroll auditing principles.  This post discusses guidelines for for effective vacation testing, including preliminary questions, testing methods, and handling unique vacation contribution scenarios.

When performing payroll audits, employee vacations of course must be considered.  When contributions are based on hours paid, or when the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) states specifically that contributions are required for vacation, the payroll auditor must test vacations.

Prior to going out into the field and […]

January 18, 2012 Benefit Plan Accounting, Payroll Audit Read more...

New Year Tax Planning Guide for Family-Owned Businesses

Posting by Joel C. Susco, CPA

That time of year has come and gone again.  The office parties, family get-togethers, and buying presents are over, and tax planning for the year has begun.  It just does not seem like there are enough hours in the day or days in the week to accomplish it all.  But, it is important to spend some time after this end-of-year madness to focus on areas that may have gotten away from us during the […]

January 18, 2012 Family Owned Businesses, Tax Read more...

THE THIRD TIME’S A CHARM?

The Internal Revenue Service is going back to the well one more time as it released the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) for a third time in as many years.  For Uncle Sam, this program has been very successful in raising approximately $4.4 Billion.

Little has changed from the previous Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program published earlier in our blog.   The IRS intends for this program to function similarly by offering an opportunity for taxpayers to report offshore accounts and get […]

January 17, 2012 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Three Bond Beebe Auditors Pass the Certified Fraud Examiners Exam

Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced today that Senior Auditor Jennifer Hohman, CPA, CFE, and Staff Auditors Tara McKinney, CPA, CFE and Josh Smith, CPA, CFE, have all passed the examination to become Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs).  All four sections that comprise the CFE examination must be passed before the certificate is earned: Investigation; Law; Financial Transactions; and Fraud Detection and Deterrence.  Exams are administered and reviewed […]

January 13, 2012 Firm News & Events Read more...

Three Bond Beebe Auditors Become Certified Fraud Examiners

Natalie Burchfiel, CPA

BETHESDA, Maryland (January 13, 2012) – Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced today that Senior Auditor Jennifer Hohman, CPA, CFE, and Staff Auditors Tara McKinney, CPA, CFE and Josh Smith, CPA, CFE, have all passed the examination to become Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs).  All four sections that comprise the CFE examination must be passed before the certificate is earned: Investigation; Law; Financial Transactions; and Fraud […]

January 13, 2012 Accounting, Forensic Accounting Read more...

IMPORTANT CHANGE TO SCHEDULES C, E AND F

IRS recently released 2011’s form 1040 and its corresponding schedules C, E and F. These schedules are used by sole proprietors to report different kinds of business income. IRS has added questions dealing with 1099 reporting to all three schedules for tax year 2011. The first question asks if the taxpayer has made any payments in 2011 that would require him/her to file Form(s) 1099. If the answer is yes, then the next item asks whether the taxpayer did […]

January 4, 2012 Accounting, Audit, Tax Read more...

Paul Boudrye Hired as Bond Beebe’s Director of Business Development

Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, announced today that it has hired Paul C. Boudrye as its Director of Business Development.  In this newly-created position, Boudrye will utilize his over 20 years of consultative business development experience in the banking, financial services and information technology industries to foster Bond Beebe’s relationships with clients, prospective clients and other professional service providers throughout the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Prior to moving […]

December 28, 2011 Firm News & Events Read more...

MAKE HAY WHILE THE SUN SHINES!

As the on-going battle over the extension of the payroll tax cuts continues in Congress, those of us in the tax professional community are left scratching our heads and trying to advise our clients on what will happen with respect to income and estate taxes over the next few years.  The only thing I can say to my clients with any confidence is that anyone who tries to predict what tax changes may emerge from this Congress is talking […]

December 22, 2011 Accounting, Tax Read more...

Who is a Fiduciary? Current Definitions and a Proposed Update

Larry Beebe, CPA

Fiduciaries have the ultimate responsibility for an employee benefit plan.  A fiduciary is any person who:

Exercises control over plan assets
Provides investment advice to the plan
Has responsibility for the administration of the plan

The Trustees of an employee benefit plan are fiduciaries as is the plan administrator and the plan’s investment advisors.  Professional service advisors such as independent auditors, actuaries and attorneys are normally not fiduciaries.

A fiduciary must:

Act solely in the interest of plan participants […]

December 21, 2011 Accounting, Firm News & Events Read more...