A.E. Feldman Blog

Total bankruptcy filings in the U.S. soared 31% to 1,117,771 in 2008 – up from 850,912 in 2007, according to the American bankruptcy Institute (ABI), citing data from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC). The 2008 tally marks the first time in three years (or the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and [...]

XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, could assist government auditors in monitoring spending under the more than $700 billion financial bailout plan. That’s the message Mark Bolgiano, President and CEO of XBRL US, delivered to Capitol Hill this month. According to Bolgiano, XBRL is “real, ready and relevant in the current financial crisis.”
XBRL is a [...]

Facing economic uncertainty and a liquidity crunch, corporations are seeking to capitalize on the high value associated with intellectual property (IP). With more patents on the market than ever, companies are on a shopping spree being driven by the recessionary economy, according to Law.com. A recent Reuters report also states that even in a tough [...]

President Obama is making good on promises to crack down on corporate tax avoidance. In his 2010 budget, Obama is proposing a tough new enforcement campaign directed at taxes owed both domestically and abroad, according to tax-news.com. Moreover, in his recent Fiscal Responsibility Summit, Obama discussed the possibility of lowering the statutory corporate tax rate [...]

Although the backlash against IFRS appears to be picking up steam, the conversion is seen as having a positive impact on foreign investment in U.S., according to a recent KPMG survey. The senior finance executives and institutional investors polled by KPMG, however, stress the need to prepare. U.S. companies need to gear up for the [...]

Freddie Mac announced it is suspending foreclosure sales on mortgages eligible for the Home Affordable Modification Program as part of the Obama Administration’s Making Home Affordable plan. Freddie Mac’s previously announced suspension of foreclosure sales on occupied properties expired on March 6th. Ingrid Beckles, Senior Vice President of default asset management at Freddie Mac says [...]

The focus on…and criticism of…fair value accounting standards has intensified over the past two years as more than $1 trillion of writedowns and losses have contributed to what as emerged as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s. Also known as FAS 157, fair value accounting forces companies to use complex methods to assign a [...]

Productivity gains from private equity involvement in companies since 1980 have boosted the U.S. economy by $4 billion to $15 billion per year and are expected to be even greater in the current recession, according to one of the most exhaustive studies conducted by the non-profit World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF study, which involved [...]

Chief Financial Officers and senior-level executive CPAs now say the U.S. economic downturn will last longer than previously expected. According to a new survey of 1,183 CPAs who hold leadership positions as chief executives, COOs, and CFOs conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business [...]

Recession or not…companies must file financial and tax reports. That’s good news for accountants as economic uncertainty continues to plague countries around the globe. Here in the U.S., as layoffs seem to dominate headlines, accounting firms are expected to buck the hiring trend, according to Dow Jones/AP.
Right now, as a growing number of companies attempt [...]