As I noted in this blog a few weeks ago, the IRS is gearing up for the first stage of a massive audit sweep targeting employers’ payroll tax practices. Tax law firms are starting to turn out some useful alerts and advisories.

David R. Fuller and Jerry E. Holmes, of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, are not mincing words about the scope of the IRS initiative: “Likening this project to a tsunami is an apt description,” they say. more

Announcing a new directive today aimed at ensuring that companies with serious tax delinquencies don’t win new federal contracts, President Obama had harsh words for “deadbeat” company owners, singling out one guy who “owed over $1 million in taxes and was paid over $1 million as a defense contractor — and instead of using that money to pay his back taxes, he chose to buy a boat, some cars, and a home abroad with his earnings. more

Risk management is improving and evolving, yet some surprisingly prevalent misconceptions remain.

In terms of improvement, a new study from Aon (contact information required to download) finds that 62 percent of companies have progressed beyond basic ERM practices. When Aon conducted a similar study in 2007, only 38 percent of respondents reported that their organizations had progressed beyond basic ERM practices.

This article (abstract only) helped remind me that our collective understanding of risk management continues to evolve. The article seeks to correct the false impression that entrepreneurs love to gamble and take big risks. Evidence suggests that successful entrepreneurs do the opposite: They minimize their risk of incurring big losses and maximize their odds of big rewards through thorough analysis and conclusions that elude others.

If you’re not a New Yorker subscriber and want some deeper insights from the article, the author pulls from the following books:

• The Greatest Trade Ever;

• The Illusions of Entrepreneurship; and

• From Predators to Icons ###

But companies going public will be solid performers, survey indicates.

In 2009, only 41 companies went public in the U.S., according to information from Jay Ritter, a professor of finance at the University of Florida. To be sure, that’s nearly double the 21 IPOs in 2008. However, it’s well off the pace hit earlier in this decade; between 2000 and 2007, an average of 155 companies entered the public markets each year.

This coming year, however, the IPO markets will be busier. That’s the conclusion of a recent survey of capital markets executives at leading investment banks, conducted by the Chicago-based accounting firm BDO. Just over two-thirds of the executives polled predict an increase in activity when compared to 2009; one-fourth say it will be substantial. On average, the bankers are forecasting a jump in the number of IPOs of 25 percent. That would mean about 51 companies coming public in the U.S. this year. more

Symantec released its third annual technology usage survey last week. What grabbed attention was not any particular technology but the lead role that midsize organizations are taking in the adoption of new IT.

The study defines midsize enterprises as those with 2,000-10,000 employees. Not exactly mom-and-pop operations, these are big enough to leverage the advantages of IT and to invest in IT skills but not so big as to be weighed down by entrenched technology processes and practices.

For example, midsize organizations are adopting cloud computing and deduplication technology at higher rates (11 to 17 percent higher) than either large or small organizations. Here are the study’s top findings. more