The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission issued a request for proposals to develop guidance to help organizations monitor the quality of their internal control systems.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued staff questions and answers about auditing the value of stock options granted to employees.The guidance provides direction for auditing a company’s estimation of the fair value of stock options granted to employees under its revised statement on share-based payments, standard, No. 123. The standard became applicable for financial statements of companies with fiscal years ending on or after June 15, 2006.

The managing executive of the Crowe Chizek’s Commercial Services Group will become the chief executive of Crowe Group LLP in April.Charles “Chuck” Allen, 53, will succeed Mark L. Hildebrand, who is completing his second term as the head of the firm. Hildebrand was first named chief executive in 1999.

What’s becoming increasingly apparent as more and more companies reveal the results of internal investigations into the timing of stock options grants to executives, is that there’s really no cut and dry, right or wrong, when it comes to the practice.According to published reports and independent research groups, upwards of 130 publicly traded companies have announced that they are looking into their own options-granting practices -- and the actual number is surely much, much higher than that. But with many of those investigations wrapping up, what comes now?

The American Institute of CPAs has released a second exposure draft of a proposed statement on standards for valuation services.

Statistics show that more than 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce.The process of a divorce can create tremendous animosity between the parties, and this can lead to difficult financial issues for those affected by the split. There are many complex federal tax issues that need to be planned for, or they will create tremendous pitfalls. The Internal Revenue Code also contains several provisions that provide specific guidance for divorce-related transactions.

Year-end tax planning opportunities abound this year. They do so not only because it has been a particularly active year for tax legislation, but also because of other significant tax developments taking place in 2006, as well as changes from pre-2006 tax legislation that have a particular impact this year and next.Traditional year-end tax strategies should not be abandoned. Income should either be accelerated or postponed between 2006 and 2007, depending upon the anticipated tax brackets for each client. Similarly, deductions and credits should be manipulated to lower income either in the more favorable year or, in some cases, in both years, before midnight, Dec. 31, 2006, has come and gone.