Accounting

Accounting News & Professional Insight

Accounting Today delivers news, rankings, thought leadership, and analysis for accounting professionals so they can navigate change in standards, firm strategy, technology adoption, talent, and the overall business environment.

Accounting professionals are facing rapid transformation, including shifting professional standards, demographic change, technology disruption, practice consolidation, and changing expectations for advisory services. Our coverage surfaces these strategic dynamics and provides insights and analysis for firms, leaders, and the accounting profession.

Associations

Knauf assumes TIC chair at AICPA and gets to work

Edward Knauf didn't take long to get to work after rising to the chairmanship of the American Institute of CPAs' Technical Issues Committee. Within a month of his appointment, he met with the three organizations of most concern to the small and midsized accounting firms that comprise the TIC's constituents.All three - the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing Standards Board, and the AICPA's Professional Ethics Executive Committee - are, in the diligent pursuit of their respective missions, putting increased pressure on auditors, who are already stretched in one direction by the demands put upon them and in another by the scarcity of human resources available to satisfy those demands.

January 9
Financial planning

Global PFP standard passed

ISO 22222, the Standard on Personal Financial Planning, has been approved as an international standard. All ISO members (standardization institutes in approximately 150 countries around the world) can now adopt ISO 22222 as a national standard.According to Stuart Kessler, chairman of the International Standards Organization's blue-ribbon committee on personal financial planning, "ISO 22222 is by nature not legally binding, but a document of 'good practice' that can be applied voluntarily, unless there is a reference to it in legislation or it is part of a contract, in which case it might become binding."

January 9
Regulatory actions and programs

SEC Appoints Cartwright as Top Legal Officer

Brian Cartwright, a law school and, later, law firm colleague of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, was named general counsel at the regulator.

January 5
Audit

GASB Publishes Guide to Statement 44

The Governmental Accounting Standard Board has published a Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 44 on the Statistical Section.

January 4
Tax practice

Treasury, IRS Finalize Roth 401(k) Rules

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued final regulations regarding Sections 401(k) and 401(m) related to designated Roth IRA contributions.

January 4
Audit

SEC's Bergmann to Depart Commission

Larry E. Bergmann, senior associate director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Market Regulation, will retire from the regulator in January to join the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

January 4
Regulatory actions and programs

SEC Questions Gemstar Deal

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told a federal judge the Justice Department was too lenient in striking a plea deal with the former chief executive of Gemstar-TV Guide International.

January 3

Resources

The latest Accounting Today research and discussion:

Predicting the next 15 years in accounting

Take a look at what the accountant and the accounting firm of the future will look like with AICPA chief Mark Koziel.

Sponsored by BILL
The changing world of government financial reporting

The serious new pressures facing governments of all sizes are changing their financial reporting, says GASB Chair Joel Black.

Sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks
Special Report Technology and CAS

Handling the compliance work that is the foundation of modern CAS while also creating time and insights for the advisory overlay that really drives its value to clients requires the careful deployment of a suite of technology tools — and that suite is constantly evolving, meaning accountants need a strategy to keep up.

Sponsored by Canopy

Accounting: Key Questions & Analysis

What are the key trends and strategies emerging from accounting industry leaders?

Top leaders are focused on structural challenges facing firms, including succession planning, evolving service mix, and long-term sustainability of traditional models.

How are accounting firms positioning themselves for the profession’s next phase?

Firm leaders are redefining and evaluating their strategy for growth. This includes investing in people and systems as well as rethinking how firms deliver value to address changing client needs and competition.

What role does professional identity play as accounting continues to change?

Debate continues over how accounting defines itself. This is due to accounting expanding into advisory, consulting, and technology-enabled services. These changes can raise questions about standards, training, and long-term credibility.

How are accounting firms managing leadership and succession risk?

Demographic shifts are accelerating in accounting. This means more firms are confronting leadership transitions and ownership succession which can create critical strategic risks that influence growth, culture, and valuation.