Fiduciary Accounting Answer Book (2012)

Home >
Accounting >
Others >
Fiduciary Accounting Answer Book (2012)

Description
Contents
Author

Details

The Fiduciary Accounting Answer Book is the most detailed reference book on the market for information on how to allocate receipts and disbursements between the income and principal beneficiaries of a trust or estate. For the first time, a single book will answer all questions about estate & trust accounting including:

An overview of fiduciary responsibility
How situs impacts a will or trust
The Uniform Principal & Income Act
How to properly allocate income taxes between income and principal

Discussed in detail is how numerous types of receipts and disbursements are allocated between the income and principal beneficiaries, with each section of the Act having its own chapter

The questions and answers are designed to narrow research and to assist in finding just the answer one is looking for. The subject matter and key word index will further narrow the search. A complete state appendix allows the practitioner to determine how each state has amended the Uniform Act and where he might wish to establish situs.

This publication allows the drafter to determine which portions of the Principal and Income Act to override or exclude in drafting and provides the drafter with timely information by subject matter to determine what impact the Principal and Income Act has on various assets owned by the estate or trust.

This book is a must desktop reference for all fiduciaries, trust officers, accountants and attorneys who practice in this area to any degree. It offers all the information needed to ensure compliance with critical fiduciary accounting principles.

Benefits and Features

Each chapter covers the relevant accounting questions for each type of instrument, including:

When and how to initially recognize the instrument in the balance sheet
how to measure the instrument in subsequent periods
how to recognize income or expense
When and how impairment must be recognized
When the instrument should be removed from the balance sheet
What disclosures should be provided in the footnotes.
The text includes visual aids whenever possible; observations, such as differences between instrument types; practice pointers; and examples to make the requirements as clear as possible to the reader.
The book also includes: a cross-reference to the original pronouncements, citing the chapters in which they are discussed; a glossary of terms including references to the applicable chapters; and a detailed topical index.
To facilitate research, the text includes references to pertinent paragraphs of the authoritative literature addressing key points.

Financial Instruments covers the following topics:

Part I: Financial Assets
- 1. Cash and Cash Equivalents
- 2. Investments in Debt and Equity Securities
- 3. Loans and the Allowance for Credit Losses
- 4. Servicing of Financial Assets
- 5. Transfers of Financial Assets
- 6. Securitizations
- 7. Calculating Yields on Debt Investments
Part II: Financial Liabilities
- 8. Debt Financing
- 9. Securities Lending Arrangements and Other Pledges of Collateral
- 10. Convertible Debt and Similar Instruments
- 11. Extinguishments of Debt
Part III: Derivatives and Hedging Activities
- 12. Introduction to Derivatives
- 13. Embedded Derivatives
- 14. Hedge Accounting
- 15. Disclosures about Derivatives
Part IV: Equity Instruments
- 16. Issuer's Accounting for Equity Instruments and Related Contracts
Part V: Pervasive Issues
- 17. Offsetting Assets and Liabilities in the Balance Sheet
- 18. Fair Value Measurements, Fair Value Disclosures, and Other Financial Instrument Disclosures
- 19. The Fair Value Option for Financial Instruments

Carol A. Cantrell, CPA, JD is a shareholder of Briggs & Veselka Co., one of the largest public accounting firms in Houston, Texas. She is also a Certified Financial Planner. She specializes in estate, tax and financial planning for families, closely held businesses, and investment entities. Prior to her merger with Briggs & Veselka in 2000, she and her husband, W. Patrick Cantrell, operated Cantrell & Company, a boutique tax firm in Houston, specializing in tax planning and IRS representation. Carol is a frequent speaker for national and state professional organizations on income taxation of estates and trusts, partnerships, and S corporations. She is also the author of CCH's Stock Options: Estate, Tax and Financial Planning, a treatise on employee stock options.

As a licensed attorney, Carol represented the Rudkin Testamentary Trust pro bono before the United States Supreme Court in Knight v. Commissioner (2008). In that decision, the Court resolved a circuit split over which administrative costs of an estate or trust are exempt from the 2-percent floor on miscellaneous itemized deductions under IRC Section 67. The court found that Section 67(e) exempts onlycosts that individuals do not "commonly" or "customarily" incur and because it saw no distinction between the investment costs incurred by the Trust and those commonly incurred by individuals, the Court found the Trust's investment advisory fees subject to the floor.

It is the author's sincere desire that this book will help its readers to distinguish between the costs incurred by a fiduciary to comply with the Uniform Principal and Income Act and the Uniform Prudent Investor Act and the costs voluntarily incurred by individual investors.
F. Gordon Spoor has practiced public accounting in St. Petersburg, Florida since 1974. He is married to Chris Spoor and they have four children ranging in age from 27 to 33 and five grandchildren. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Florida and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Suncoast Estate Planning Council and holder of a NASD series 65 Registered Investment Advisor Representative license. He is licensed to practice as a CPA in both Florida and Georgia.

He is the managing shareholder of the CPA firm of Spoor & Associates, P.A., and a shareholder in the investment advisory firm of Anderson, Riley & Spoor, P.A. He is active in the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants (FICPA) and served on its Board of Governors in 2002-2003, as Chairman of the FICPA State Tax Section for two years, and as a member of the Legislative Policy Committees for one year.

He is currently a member of the FICPA Federal Tax Committee, Chairman of the AICPA Trust, Estate & Gift Tax Technical Resource Panel, Chairman of the AICPA Fiduciary Accounting Matters Task Force and has served on a joint committee composed of the FICPA, Florida Bar and Florida Bankers Association regarding the rewriting of Florida’s Trust Administration Code and revisions to Florida’s Principal & Income Act. Gordon also serves as an expert witness for the State of Florida Board of Accountancy. Additionally, he serves as a discussion leader for continuing professional education courses and has been awarded an outstanding discussion leader award in every year the award has been given since he became a discussion leader in 1992.

He is also the recipient of a 2000-2001 FICPA Presidential Service Award as a result of his efforts on behalf of the FICPA in serving as the lead representative of their Florida Uniform Principal & Income Act task force. He is a frequently published author on subjects relating to estates & trusts as well as the area of general tax practice.

He has published numerous articles covering these topics and others. He is co-author of the FICPA’s “Fiduciary Accounting For Florida” course materials and a contributing author to “Florida Law of Trusts – Fourth Edition” (West Publishing). Much of his time is spent consulting in the area of fiduciary accounting and income tax as well as litigation support in trust matters.