Blogs

SSARS 21 Part 2: Compilation

By NSA Admin posted 11-10-2015
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SSARS 21 is Coming! SSARS 21 is Coming! Part 2: Major Changes to the Compilation - New Engagement Letter and the New Accountant’s Report By: Joseph L. Santoro MBA/CPA/CVA/MAFF/ABA This is the second in a series of articles intended to provide readers with information about the AICPA’s proposed Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services [SSARS] No. 21. The first installment described a new engagement level - The Preparation – which falls below the level of a Compilation as presented by the Accounting and Review Services Committee of the AICPA. This article, the second installment, describes the major changes to the Compilation and ...
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What do our leaders have to say about the proposed By-law changes...............

By Jerry Gintz posted 07-10-2012
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I think it would be very useful for the candidates for 2nd VP to share with us all, their position and reasonings on each one of the proposed By-law changes. Since we have a rare multi-candidate race, and since it is difficult for some to cast well-informed votes, this would be a wonderful opportunity for transparency and insight into these fine candidates. I believe the response here will help to inform us as well. After all, one of these people will take on an even more significant leadership role. How they are thinking now will be very valuable with regard to casting a vote in this important election.
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State Withholding disallowed.

By Alfred Giovetti posted 01-26-2012
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The state of Maryland Department of Revenue has a new project. According to sources in the Department of Revenue, auditors came through and asked state officials if they are verifying the amounts paid on W-2 documents when they discharge liabilities for a variety of reasons. Now the state is looking back over returns as old as 12 years, and disallowing the Maryland Withholding if there is no W-2 in the electronic or paper file. This causes problems because if the state did not scan your return or they did not scan the W-2, the state will claim that you did not send the W-2 in with the return. The state will take the position that the taxpayer must maintain ...
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NSA and Practice Transitions

By Marvin Nasses posted 12-08-2011
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Dear Jerry and everyone: This subject has been on my mind for some time. Having been in the tax preparation field for over fifty years, I realize my work cannot go on forever. My valuable practice could be worthless in five minutes if I become incapacitated at the wrong time So, two ideas. 1-Begin an informal listing of practices that are available or could be come available in the future 2-Begin a list of practitioners who would like to acquire, say 25-100 new clients but not an entire practice. I, for example, would take 25 new clients in my city but cant absorb an entire practice due to my workload. So, I encourage the leaders of ...
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Highlights from the Atlanta Tax Forum

By Kathy Hettick posted 07-16-2012
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The speaking team had a great time at the IRS Tax Forum in Atlanta! I had the privilege of presenting with Bob Cross and we were very well received as a team. Attendees continue to enjoy the NSA "team teaching" style and the fun we have while delivering great tax information. It was very busy at the NSA booth, new members signing up and some current members renewing for another year. Along with 2nd Vice President Steve Hanson, District IV Governor Harold Stamey was at the Forum, and they spent all their time recruiting at the NSA booth. I saw a side of Harold that I had never seen! He was talking non-stop, funny, engaging, and recruited several new members ...
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CPA Comfort Letters

By Joanne Elsen posted 10-07-2011
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There has been lively discussions, both national (NSA Tax Talk) and local (ASCPAs tax list serv) about requests from lenders to CPAs to write letters on behalf of their clients. Although this is not a new phenomenon, the requests have been asking for more attestation than in prior years. I just had my first request from a loan officer that wanted me to attest to the fact that my client was no longer self-employed despite the fact that I had less proof of this than him. My client was self-employed as of 2010 and in fact will file a Schedule C for part of 2011. Luckily, my client is well informed and told her loan officer that if, her CPA not writing a ...
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6 Things to Bring Your Accountant to Prepare Your Tax Return

By NSA Admin posted 12-10-2015
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6 Things to Bring Your Accountant to Prepare Your Tax Return As we approach the end of the year, it’s smart to begin thinking about taxes. While the tax deadline is still a few months away, the sooner you get your return filed, the less you have to worry about it. With that being said, do you know what documents you need to take your preparer? As a rule of thumb, the more information you can provide, the better. However, there are certain documents that are absolute “musts.” This list includes the following: 1. Identification Information It’s important that your tax preparer has access to certain identification information that can be used to verify ...
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CA Franchise Board Delays Changes

By Linda Cuddie posted 11-14-2011
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The Grapevine just reported that the CA Franchise Board, after receiving many comments and suggestions from stakeholders and practitioners, has decided to delay implementation of the enhanced reporting on Property Taxes. This enhanced reporting would have required the address and parcel number of the property and the subtraction of any special assessments that are not deductible on the CA return. They will instead focus on education and outreach about this issue, probably implementing in 2012.
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Candidate Marilyn’s thoughts on the Proposed Bylaw Amendments

By Marilyn Niwao posted 08-01-2012
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To Jerry and everyone – Before I make my final decisions on the proposed Bylaw amendments, I will wait to hear the related discussions and debates at the NSA convention. As you know, only reasons for the amendments have been presented by proponents of the amendments, not reasons against the amendments . In the future, I hope NSA will provide both pros and cons to all proposed amendments so that members may fully consider the amendments with better knowledge of the facts and issues. Here are my thoughts thus far, since you asked: Proposed Bylaw Amendment 1: I disagree with the language of Proposed Bylaw Amendment Number 1. The proposed ...
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My Story

By Albert Van Tieghem posted 11-29-2012
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It was my privilege in August of this year to attend the National Society of Accountants Annual Meeting in Maui, HI. It was my 35th convention since I joined NSA in 1963. I was given time to address the delegates and I wanted to express my gratitude to not only the delegates but the officers, governors, and state directors for their dedication to keeping our profession on the cutting edge. However, I most wanted to thank them and all concerned for protecting our right to practice. Why is this important to me? This is "my story." In 1961, I started my practice in the basement of my home on half of a ping pong table, a vintage adding machine, a Manuel Underwood ...
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My thoughts on the proposed By-Law changes as a Candidate for 2nd VP:

By Kathy Hettick posted 07-23-2012
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1. Definition of a Student Associate Member: Serving as administrative chair for the membership committee the last two years has given me great insight as to who are members are as well as who our potential members are. Our committee proposed this change in the definition for student membership with the knowledge that we have many individuals attaining an accounting and tax education part time, while working full time in another field. It is becoming more and more common for people to seek out another career while still maintaining and supporting themselves and their families. I am in complete favor of this amendment as I believe it gives us the opportunity ...
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Running for office!

By Kathy Hettick posted 05-23-2012
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After much thought and analysis, I have announced my candidacy for 2nd Vice President of NSA. As you know, I believe wholeheartedly in this organization and have a continued passion to serve and make a difference. This is an exciting time in our profession and I look forward to working with all of you and taking this great organization to the next level!
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iPads in hotel rooms?

By Alfred Giovetti posted 10-17-2012
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On Sunday, October 14, 2012, The Sun papers reported "Hotels add in-room iPads" for use by hotel guests. 82 percent of the 53 hotels surveyed reported that hotel guests used the iPad an average of 11 times per day, 41% ordered in room food, 21% requested wake-up calls, 7% ordered a housekeeper according to a study by Intelity. What will they think of next? The Baltimore Sun, Travel, Sunday, October 14, 2012, page 4.
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iPad (third generation)

By Alfred Giovetti posted 05-08-2012
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Software/Hardware Review by Al Giovetti first appeared in the Free State Accountant May 2012 edition The New iPad In case you haven’t noticed (it did occur during tax season, after all) the new iPad was released. The successor to the iPad 2 was unveiled on March 7, 2012 by Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The new iPad sports the new dual core A5X processor, with quad-core graphics, and a Retina Display with a resolution of 2048 by 1536 pixels (over 50% more pixels than a standard 1920×1080 high definition TV screen). As with previous iPads, there are two models, in this case a Wi-Fi-only model and a Wi-Fi ...
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IRS Easing ACA Individual Mandate After Trump Order

By National Society of Accountants posted 02-24-2017
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The IRS will not require taxpayers to indicate whether they have health insurance when filing their tax returns, a return to the policy the agency had in place in prior years. The agency reversed a previous decision to require an indication of coverage on tax returns filed this year after President Donald Trump signed an executive order January 20 requiring federal agencies to reduce the burden of the ACA. After accepting returns that did not indicate coverage in 2014 and 2015, the IRS said it had set up a system for this year that would reject tax returns during processing if an individual did not provide health coverage information. The agency decided to ...
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San Jose Tax Forum

By Gene Bell posted 08-12-2011
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Well it truly is over here in San Jose. The news here is that those attending really do care about their clients and about compliance. The consents and disclosure presentation was well received and I think that Kathy and I made a somewhat boring (albeit crucial) subject come to life in the minds of those attending. Most of the questions during these sessions were about how to get the reference material because everyone was concerned about compliance. After the S-Corporation presentations, Kathy and I were asked several times about S-Corp officer compensation and a large amount of questions centered on the issue of self-rental. According to Kathy these were big ...
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2011 Accounting

By Alfred Giovetti posted 05-26-2011
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This is day 2 of the two day accounting seminar in Frederick, MD sponsored by the local Affiliated State Organization. The speaker yesterday was NSA member and Past Governor of District I Joe Santoro from New Hampshire. Today's speaker is Stan Pollock from California (www.stanpollockcpa.com).
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Other Comprehensive Bases of Accounting (OCBOA)

By Alfred Giovetti posted 05-28-2011
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OCBOA sounds like something you wear around your neck. Statements on Auditing Standards (SAS) 62, "Special Reports," and Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SARS) 19 allow accountants to use OCBOA. "... an independent auditors judgement concerning the overall presentation of financial statements should be applied withing an identifiable framework." This framework can include tax basis, cash basis, and even any "identifiable framework" that the National Society of Accountants (NSA) Accounting Standards Committee produces, such as TAGSB. I am unclear whether we can use TAGSB for OCBOA. It would make logical sense that TAGSB is another comprehensive ...
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Check out the Bookstore

By Allison Ingram posted 06-23-2011
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I haven't blogged before because I figured I wasn't really interesting enough for anybody to follow me. I could share with you the crisis that was my daughter's first swim meet, or the amusement of my daily interactions with the cleaners next door who block my parking spot every day, or the fact that yet again I neglected to order the right sized trash bags.. but instead I have something much more interesting to share with you.... The past several weeks, I have been working on creating a NSA Bookstore. We are trying to make all of our educational resources and opportunities available to our members and website visitors in one location. Today, I made the ...
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NSA Proposed Bylaw Changes Restated.

By Linda Cuddie posted 07-23-2012
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I had originally answered this blog directly to Jerry and then noticed that it did not show up on the blog for everyone to see. Below are my answers that I gave to Jerry. Article III Student Membership: I believe that if you are going to college and would like to be a member of NSA that you should be allowed to do that whether you are a full or part time student. Article XIV State Directors: This was to clear up an oversight, all of the NSA officers' duties are mentioned in the bylaws except the State Directors. This is to correct that omission, I am in favor of it. Article III Class of Membership Retirees: Again this allows people who are NSA members ...
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