Trusts are old entities and go as far back as the Crusades when we were an agrarian society, and the only asset of any value was the land and what was produced on the land. Therefore, dividing the benefit in a trust between income and principal was logical and worked efficiently for a long time. However, times have significantly changed, and trusts are often invested in assets that don't involve land, and these assets also have great value. Often, the value lies in their growth rather than their income. New rules have developed in the fiduciary accounting area that provide elections that often result in favorable benefits to the trust and the beneficiaries. This course will explore those elections. Be sure to register for all four parts: Fiduciary Accounting Part 1: Fiduciary Duty Basics & Authority Fiduciary Accounting Part 2: Tools, Rules and Relationship to Tax Fiduciary Accounting Part 3: Special Accounting Elections & Distributions from Entities Fiduciary Accounting Part 4: The New Frontier (Total Return Trusts)
Learning Objectives
• Determine the special accounting rules available to a fiduciary
• Recognize the flexibility inherent in the elections provided by the state statutory accounting rules
• Identify situations where the use of special accounting rules can benefit both the trust and the beneficiaries
Major Topics
• Analyze a traditional fiduciary accounting situation
• Determine the use of the reserve for depreciation
• Become acquainted with the special accounting rule for business assets
• Review the accounting treatment of distributions from entities
