The IRS has posted the standard mileage rates for 2018. New rate for transportation and reimbursements is 54.5 cents. That is up a penny from 53.5 cents in 2017.
According to IRS comments in Notice 2018-03:
Standard mileage rates for 2018
Jim Ulvog
Who picked up the bill for our freedom?
For our freedom, I offer up a humble thank you to all who have gone before standing endless watch, slogging through the jungle mud, freezing in a foxhole, shooting Nazis with a machine gun at 30,000 feet, doing yet another round of dreary maintenance, brought home a life-long injury, or paying the ultimate price fighting to defeat the Confederacy.
Because of millions who did what had to be done, I can say what I wish without fear of being thrown in jail.
It seems so insufficient, but I’ll say it anyway – – Thanks.
“It is the soldier, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
Estimate of the price tag for the first New Testament ever printed in German
In 1522, Martin Luther published his translation of the New Testament from Latin into German. Bound copies of the first and second printings were sold for 1 Gulden.
What would that be in terms of today’s money?
I infer a price tag of about $900.
After running out of 5,000 copies in the first and second printings, bound copies from the third printing went for 3 Guldens. I’ll guess that is roughly equivalent to about $2,700 now.
If you want to see more details, sourcing, and my calculations, check out the post at my other blog, Ancient Finances:
Various thoughts from continuing education classes this year, part 3. Not so good news on audit and peer review quality.
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
As I’ve mentioned here and here, I have reread my notes from several continuing education classes this year. Thought I would share a variety of stray ideas.
Probably need to note again that I have not gone back and read the original pronouncements supporting each idea and therefore I do not have a specific citation for you. (Reading three of the documents is the next step for my writing project.)
I should probably throw in a disclaimer. All of the comments I’m mentioning were the opinion of the presenter, not the agency from whom the person was drawing a paycheck. That is why I’m not mentioning the names of the presenters, or even the CPE event. In addition, the rephrasing of their comments is my interpretation, not their words.
Here are some tidbits you might enjoy:
More interest in Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-sized Entities (FRF-SME)?
The FRF-SME framework is a non-GAAP alternative to GAAP. It is dramatically less complicated with the promise it will not be revised more often every three years.
Various thoughts from continuing education classes this year, part 2
As mentioned in the previous post, I’ve reread my notes from several continuing education classes this year. Thought I would share a variety of stray ideas.
For what it is worth here are some tidbits you might enjoy:
Presentation of not-for-profit financials – ASU 2016-14
Presenter said that if an organization wanted to break out the with restriction column into more detail there is nothing to resented been broken into two or three columns. Perhaps it could be columns for:
- donor endowment
- other with restriction contributions
- time restrictions
- total with donor restriction
- without donor restriction
- total (total column is not required, but total change in net assets is)
Another possibility to present more detail would be to present multiple lines within the with donor restriction column, such as contributions to donor endowment, various purpose restrictions, time restriction, and a subtotal.
Various thoughts from continuing education classes this year, part 1
As part of working on a big writing project, I’ve reread my notes from several continuing education classes this year. (More details later and a link to the published material much later.) Thought I would share a variety of stray ideas. Here are a few tidbits from the classes.
Probably need to note that I have not gone back and read the original pronouncements supporting each idea and therefore I do not have a specific citation for you. (Reading three of the documents is the next step for my writing project.)
For what it is worth here are some tidbits you might enjoy:
Leases – ASU 2016-02.
One of the key on/off switches is whether a particular transaction or document is a lease. That will require an assessment of each transaction.
Right of use assets (the new description) resulting from operating and financing leases need to be listed separately on the statement of financial position. Those two categories (operating right of use and financing right of use) will be presented separately from fixed assets.
Tips on how to apologize
Let’s face it, we all goof up sometimes whether by insulting a client, dropping the ball on a project, or the good ol’ engage mouth before engaging brain routine.
To repair the damage, especially in the work environment, an apology is needed.
The Journal of Accountancy on 9/25/17 offered some great suggestions on How to make a professional apology.
Here are a few of the multiple tips suggested.
The story on Silk Road, an on-line drug bazaar, shows the power of rationalization and self-deception
The sad tale of Ross Ulbricht and his on-line drug bazaar called Silk Road is a good study of the outer limits of how far rationalization can carry a person.
It is also a frightening illustration of Jeremiah 17:9. From the New International Version, ponder:
The heart is deceitful above all thing and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Considering the tale of Silk Road is useful for accountants wanting to learn about the outer fringe of the internet and he investigative power of the federal government, believers who would like an illustration of the frightening level of deceit that lives in the human heart, and anyone else wanting to learn more about the dark worlds that normal people will never see.
My posts are gathered into two collections on my other blog, Outrun Change:
FASB exposure draft on contributions and grants.
FASB has released an exposure draft which slightly redefines the distinction between revenues and contributions for the nonprofit world.
Exposure draft is called Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958) – Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made.
On 9/11/17 I watched FASB’s one hour webcast on the exposure draft. This is only the second time I’ve seen a presentation on the issue and I haven’t yet dived into the 51 page document. That means I’m just starting to understand the changes.
What I’m going to do here is give a high level introduction. Keep in mind this is just an overview without all the details. Furthermore it is my preliminary understanding after having only heard the presentation twice and looking at the slide deck once. Please don’t cite this in your workpapers!
This exposure draft does not call for any change in how transactions are presented in the statement of activities. Organizations can present particular transactions as either revenue or contributions as they wish. The point was made several times in the presentation that the rules spelled out here determine which model is used for recognizing a transaction, not what presentation is used on the statement of activity.
There is a fantastic graph in the slide deck that provides a good visualization of the current and proposed accounting. It is copyrighted and thus I won’t be presenting it here. I’m sure you’ll be seeing the graphic before you get very far into your study.
Here’s a breakout of how exchange transactions are currently handled. These are also called reciprocal transactions. Currently we think of these as revenue, although the verbal comments in the presentation indicate that is no longer necessarily how exchange transactions must be presented.
Final thoughts on the tale of Silk Road. Part 9.
This is the 9th and final part of a discussion of Silk Road, as discussed in American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road, written by Nick Bilton. For the longer story, you may enjoy reading parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight.
Other thoughts on the book
If you have previously been following the Silk Road story, you will enjoy the book. It reads like a good detective novel, except it is all true.
The book describes the mutual low opinion held of other federal agencies by the staff of most of the federal agencies that had a part in the investigation. This is not the first time I’ve read of those attitudes or heard of poor cooperation across agencies.
Lack of technical discussion
A couple of the reviews at Amazon indicate there is minimal technical detail in the book. That is absolutely the case.
The Silk Road perps. Where are they now? Part 8.
This is part 8 of a discussion of Silk Road, as described in American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road, written by Nick Bilton. To learn how these three individuals earned an extended stay in federal housing, you may enjoy reading parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven.
Update 10/9/18 – Location and status updated.
Current status:
In good ol’ Dragnet style, where are bad guys now?
Here is the info from the federal Bureau of Prisons website:
It didn’t end well for two of the feds investigating Silk Road. The tale of Silk Road, part 7.
Two of the feds working on the Silk Road investigation went rogue. That did not turn out well for them.
This is part 7 of a discussion of Silk Road, as described in, American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road, written by Nick Bilton. Check out parts one, two, three, four, five and six, if you wish.
Since the book was written, there have been more developments. I stumbled across the additional info after drafting this series of posts.
Let’s take a look at how things turned out for the two crooked federal agents.
What did the two feds do and what did they get for their trouble?
Where did one guy wind up by making moral decisions with no moral frame of reference other than himself? The tale of Silk Road, part 6.
How far did he go?
So as a result of running the drug bazaar called Silk Road, where did Ross Ulbricht wind up with his efforts to forcibly legalize drugs and simultaneously remove God from His throne and take over the throne for himself?
What did he get for his efforts? The feds claim he had tens of millions of dollars in his personal accounts.
(This is part 6 of a discussion of Silk Road, as described in, American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road, written by Nick Bilton. Check out parts one, two, three, four and five, if you wish.)
He ran a web site at which he knowingly sold to anyone who could pay:
- pot,
- coke,
- heroin,
- many varieties of synthetic drugs,
- equipment & supplies to manufacture drugs,
- automatic weapons,
- grenades,
- rocket launchers,
- body parts, including but not limited to:
- livers,
- kidneys,
- bone marrow,
- deadly poisons,
- counterfeit identification,
- counterfeit currency,
- keystroke loggers,
- spoofing software,
- sundry hacking tools, and
- fake passports.
He also contracted for and paid for what he thought was the murder of five people who offended him.
Permanent injunction halts proposed overtime rule
The proposed new overtime rules that would have required overtime pay for anyone earning less than $47,476 a year will not go into effect. I do not know if any parties will try to file an appeal, but doesn’t seem to me that is very likely.
The federal judge who issued a temporary injunction last fall has issued a final ruling that the proposed rules violate federal law. The reasoning (if I understand a condensed explanation correctly) is federal law includes a duties test which the proposed rules would essentially make irrelevant.
For more details, check out a Wall Street Journal article on 8/31/17: Texas Judge Quashes Obama-Era Overtime-Pay Rule.
Article says the current administration is working on a new rule, which would likely set a new dollar threshold, but which would be lower than in the previously proposed rules.
The power of rationalization when you have no frame of reference other than your own opinion. The tale of Silk Road, part 5.
This is the second of two posts describing the frightening power of rationalization on display in the story of Ross Ulbricht, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts, as he developed the Silk Road website where you could buy anything you wanted. The story is told in American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road, written by Nick Bilton. This is the fifth post in a series. You may enjoy reading parts one, two, and three.
You might want to read part four before diving into this wrap-up of the rationalization discussion.
How can body organs be okay?
Shall we extend this discussion into body organs?
I suppose there might be some way for informed consent to be given in a situation where a body organ is extracted and sold on the Dark Web. I can’t get my brain around it, but I suppose there might be some possible way to do so that would be consistent with libertarian concepts.
I have a real problem with thinking that organ providers in China gave informed consent.
Maybe I’m missing the boat or maybe just can’t stretch my brain far enough, but I don’t see how libertarian concepts can be used to justify the sale of either hand grenades, rocket launchers, or livers & kidneys. That seems to be a rationalization to do what you otherwise feel like doing.
There is even more rationalization in play.
How do beatings and torture fit in?