The straight line

Another article on Section 199, tired of the topic? We might agree, except we recognize the significance to our clients on how this deduction benefits the cooperative or its members.

It’s been a difficult year for many credit unions. Due to the struggling economy in 2009, delinquency has increased 0.25%, charge-offs and bankruptcies continue to rise in numbers and because of status of the economy, many credit unions have had to increase their allowance for loan loss reserve in order to absorb some of these increased losses.

Just when we thought we had seen it all with the grain price volatility last year! We see a year of extreme price volatility in the fertilizer prices. What a time for the prices to go nuts; many of you had made significant investments in building facilities to allow you to take delivery and inventory many more tons! Who would have thought we would see certain fertilizers sell for over $1,000 and then drop to a couple hundred dollars just a few months later.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recently issued Statement No.54, which will significantly change reporting requirements for governmental fund balances. The new statement clarifies the definitions of individual funds and may change the activities reported in a government’s special revenue funds.

Enforcement of the rule has been extended to November 1, 2009 to give additional time for developing and implementing written identity theft prevention programs. There are no criminal penalties for failure to comply, however violators may be subject to financial penalties. In addition, compliance assures the entity’s customers that they are doing their part to fight identity theft.

About half of the $770 billion of the economic stimulus funds will be received by governmental bodies and not-for-profit organizations as grant funds, requiring these entities to have single audits performed on the Federal programs