The straight line

Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No.45, Accounting and Financial Reporting by Employers for Postemployment Benefits Other Than Pensions, issued in 2004, requires governments to recognize and report the cost of postemployment benefits (OPEB) when they are earned, regardless of when they are paid.

Now, we would like to introduce Tony Miller, CPA, as one of our newest staff members. Tony came to us after having passed the CPA exam (on his first try!) and we are very excited to have him on our team. He’s recently married, competes in Log cutting at the State Fair, and has relocated to work out of our Charles City, Iowa office. Tony will be focusing on cooperative and governmental auditing.

Form IA 137 is used to compute the ethanol promotion tax credit. This form and credit are quite confusing, but beginning January 1, 2009 an ethanol promotion tax credit is available to taxpayers who: are retail dealers of ethanol blended gasoline, and who operate motor fuel pumps at an Iowa retail motor fuel site. Note that for this credit, a tank wagon is considered a fuel site.

The topic of how much retained earnings is appropriate keeps surfacing as well. One of the concerns that comes up is how the proceeds of a sale of the company would be distributed if the company were to sell. And, with the retained earnings being significant relative to the equity in the names of the members, the concern turns to how vulnerable the cooperative is to an offer that could be perceived as attractive to the members but would end up being a discounted sale of the coop– one heck of a bargain for a buyer.

With their letter dated August 19, 2009, AGP announced their intent to take advantage of the enhanced section 199 deduction effective with their current fiscal year ended August 31, 2009. They will now be computing their section 199 deduction in accordance with the prescribed manner that Gardiner Thomsen brought to you last year.

As we visit your offices to perform audits, you may notice a few new faces. We have increased the size of our staff this year and have enjoyed growth at a faster pace than in the past. Much of this growth is associated with your growth. Your industry continues to consolidate and grow. We have always been proud to be associated with organizations who are survivors; successful companies whose goals are to build strong balance sheets to ensure their financial viability.