Audit & Accounting

January 23, 2018

Linda Orlando has joined our firm on a part time basis. Linda has vast non-profit experience, serving as the CFO of various agencies and has significant dealings with the State of Maine. She has also taught accounting for various schools, including Beal College and Southern New Hampshire University. Linda has her DBA from Northcentral University […]

January 23, 2018

In 2015, a law was enacted to simplify the exam process of large partnerships. The IRS will audit a partnership and collect any additional taxes from the partnership, itself (not the partners). The partnership has the option of adjusting K-1s to the partners. Partnerships with 100 partners or less, may opt out, in which case, […]

January 23, 2018

Being an external auditor is a privilege, earned through education, testing and the constant meeting of auditing and accounting standards. Audits must comply with various governmental agency requirements (state and federal). To remain qualified, auditing firms spend significant hours and money staying up to date with changes in the profession, on software and research material […]

April 18, 2017

For someone who has not used a CPA firm, billing may be a mystery, but it is not complex. Like any other business, we must charge enough to cover our expenses. What are these expenses? CPA firms have large overhead costs; we pay several thousand dollars every year for our tax software and additional fees […]

April 13, 2016

Be ready for the auditors. Complete all the items listed in the year-end letter before the auditors arrive. Auditors are busy people, scheduling jobs weeks in advance. When they arrive at a job, they expect the client to be ready for them. Waiting for information and extra unplanned trips to the client’s site cost time […]

January 16, 2015

The OMB (Office of Management and Budget) in conjunction with COFAR (Council on Financial Assistance Reform) issued new guidance concerning federal grants which went into effect on December 26, 2014. The new guidance, commonly called the Super-Circular or Omni-Circular, supersedes and streamlines eight separate OMB Circulars, including A-21, A-110 and A-133. Some of the changes […]

September 29, 2014

The City of Bangor’s Commission on Cultural Development will be hosting a workshop on self-employment taxes and tax issues, particularly those relevant to artists, both new and established. Lily Dalton, Hilary Clark, and Al Faust, from EFS, will be offering a one-hour presentation, with a 30-minute question and answer period to follow, to help artists […]

September 26, 2014

There is a lot of information to absorb about the Affordable Health Care Act. Here are a few pieces of information that you may find helpful. Taxpayers with incomes that fall between 100% & 400% of the federal poverty level, and who do not receive their insurance at work, may be eligible for a tax […]

September 26, 2014

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released a new accounting standard on May 28, 2014 (ASU) 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. FASB has been working jointly with the International Accounting Standards Board (ASB) since 2008 to develop a single principles-based model for recognizing revenue. The standard applies to both public and nonpublic companies for […]

September 26, 2014

Scott Edwards, managing partner of Edwards, Faust & Smith has been appointed to the New England Peer Review Board (NEPR.) NEPR was founded in 1989 by Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island to provide a professional and efficient method for monitoring peer reviews. It includes rotating volunteer CPAs from the four participating states as […]

February 22, 2014

Almost weekly, we read in the paper or hear on the news about another Maine business being hurt by employee theft. Sometimes the losses are well over $50,000. No business can make themselves exempt from such losses, but there are steps that can be taken and controls put into place that will reduce your exposure […]

February 22, 2014

John Baiamonte, one of our CPAs from Dover, will be spending more of his time in the Penquis area to assist our many long time clients as well as seek new clients who have the need for a CPA.