Watch your Facebook settings, if don’t want to tell everything to the world

September 29, 2010, 2:38 pm

If you want everything you say on Facebook to be visible to the world, that is okay.  If you want to set limits on who can see how much, then you need to modify your privacy settings.  Best explanation I have seen on how to manage your privacy is found in this article from the Christian Computing Magazine.  Took me a while to wander through the settings and instructions at Facebook to learn what is covered here in just a few pages.

By the way, the magazine is free.  You can read it online or get email delivery.  Check it out. Sign up for a free subscription.

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Opportunity for fraud – how does it surface?

September 28, 2010, 9:00 am

Having the door wide open is one way to describe the concept of opportunity to commit fraud – there is nothing stopping you from getting your hands on the money and getting it out of the organization.

How does a person realize there is opportunity to do something wrong?  Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Fraud, Internal control | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Expanded 1099 reporting starts in 2012

September 28, 2010, 8:36 am

(See this post for update - legislation repealed!)

Reporting requirements for 1099s will soon expand dramatically.  From the Journal of Accountancy: “(b)eginning Jan. 1, 2012, virtually all payments by a trade or business aggregating $600 or more to any single vendor during any calendar year will have to be reported at the end of each calendar year to the vendor and to the IRS on Form 1099. Vendors include almost anyone a trade or business pays in the course of doing business, other than its employees whose compensation is already reported on Forms W-2.” – the full article is available online. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Revised accounting for leases – proposed changes to Topic 840

September 27, 2010, 7:17 am

The accounting rule makers (that would be the FASB) have proposed massive changes to lease accounting.  Essentially, all leases with a term over 12 months will be recorded as an asset with an offsetting liability for the lease payments.

This is a casual summary (well, as casual as I can get when discussing accounting).  A separate post at my other blog, www.attestationupdate.com goes into more technical details.

A very rough analogy is that all leases in the future will be treated in somewhat the same way as a capital lease is handled today.  Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Opportunity– one side of the fraud triangle

September 26, 2010, 1:43 pm

Opportunity is the first side of the fraud triangle we will discuss.  This is when there is a situation that would allow a person to do something wrong.  These are the weaknesses and procedures to correct them that we usually talk about.  Places where someone could get their hands on money and get it out the door.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Fraud happens when the ‘fraud triangle’ is present

September 25, 2010, 9:21 pm

This will be the first in a series of on what accountants call the fraud triangle.

Just a few comments before we begin.  These posts will be written in a more casual style that you would usually see from an accountant.  They will definitely be more casual than you have seen in my published resources, which you can find here. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Fraud, Internal control | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Cross-Cultural Partnerships

September 23, 2010, 8:56 am

Cross-Cultural Partnerships – Mary T. Lederleitner – ISBN  978-0-8308-3747-2 

From the back cover:  “Nothing derails global partnerships more quickly than cultural misunderstandings about finances.  North Americans don’t understand culture expectations of patronage, and Western money often comes with subtle strings attached.  So local mission work is hampered by perceived paternalism, and donors are frustrated with lack of results or accountability.  How do we build financial partnerships for effective mission without fostering neo-colonialism?  Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Books you might enjoy | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Time is running out for tiny NPOs to file a 990-N before they loose tax-exempt status

September 22, 2010, 2:19 pm

Following is from an IRS press release on September 22:  “A few years ago, Congress passed a law requiring all tax-exempt organizations, even the smallest ones, to file an annual return with the Internal Revenue Service. Any organization that does not file for three consecutive years automatically loses its federal tax exemption. Churches and some church-related organizations are among the few exceptions.

“The first three-year deadline for filing those returns was May 17, 2010. While thousands of organizations did file, a significant number did not.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Expanded disclosures for loans and allowance for credit loss – ASU 10-20

September 21, 2010, 8:14 am

Disclosures for financed receivables (i.e. loans) and the allowance for losses will be dramatically expanded by Accounting Standards Update 2010-20, Receivables (Topic 310) – Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses.  Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Increased fair value disclosures – ASU 10-06

September 20, 2010, 8:39 pm

Fair value disclosures will increase for December 2010 financial statements.  Accounting Standards Update 2010-06, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Topic 820) will require a few new items.  The two main items I see for small and medium-sized NPOs are first, disclosing transfers in & out of Level 1 & 2, and second, disaggregation of fair value disclosures. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Auditing, Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

The recession officially ended in June 2009

September 20, 2010, 6:01 pm

The people who make the official call for the start and end point of recessions, which is the National Bureau of Economic Research, announced on September 20 that the recession officially hit bottom in June 2009.  We need to look at what that actually means.  The bottom point of the economic cycle is considered the end of a recession.  The Bureau calculated the low point, or the trough, was in June last year.  Since then the economy has been recovering, although slowly. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Economics | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Anyone can run a background check on you

September 18, 2010, 2:34 pm

Earlier comment discusses dangers of social media.  Merely Googling or Binging someone’s name might produce some good background.  How about more serious background checks? Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Social media | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Dangers of social media

September 17, 2010, 5:43 pm

People are using social media to do simple checks on people they are involved with.  Examples?  Employers obviously, but that is old news.  Recently I have read articles mentioning that potential roommates, first dates, parents hiring babysitters, and college admission officers are also using social media to scope out people.

How?  The easiest way is to look at FaceBook and then Google or Bing the person’s name. Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Data on unemployment & GDP changes available on-line

September 16, 2010, 8:23 am

If you are so interested, lots of economic data is available from the federal government on-line.  Two items of interest to me are unemployment data and GDP changes.  Those are fairly major pieces of the economic picture.

Unemployment data:  Alternative measures of labor utilization – table A-15 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Of particular interest are U-3 and U-6. The most quoted information is the U-3 measure, which is a calculation of unemployed people as percent of the civilian labor force.  This is the official number you hear about. The broader data is the U-6 measure. That is based on the total number unemployed plus people only able to work part-time, plus people who want to work but have dropped out of the market.  Or at least that is my casual interpretation of the data.

Changes in GDP:  Percent change from preceding period in real Gross Domestic Product – table 1.1.1 from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. 

There are several frequently requested tables from the BEA.

http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Popular=Y

Leave a Comment » | Economics | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

The internet is permanent–nothing there is private

September 15, 2010, 7:13 pm

The internet, social media, and electronic mail are wonderful.  Those tools let us do incredible things that were beyond imagination 15 years ago.

There is danger in the midst of these wonders.  Things you say can travel far.  When it becomes electronic, those things you say can live forever.  Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment | Information Technology, Social media | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

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