Thanks to some fast footwork by regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, accounting firms and many of their smaller audit clients gained an additional 45 days of breathing room to comply with complex new Sarbanes-Oxley Act internal control reporting rules.

Officials at the Public Company Oversight Board unveiled an aggressive agenda for the coming year that may result in as many as 11 new standards for auditors in areas ranging from corporate fraud detection and reporting, to wrestling with related-party transactions.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is wrapping up a year in which it has been simultaneously returning to basics and promulgating specifics - both of which include projects of long-term significance to government financial operations.

Following a review of Fannie Mae's accounting practices, the Securities and Exchange Commission said that the mortgage concern didn't comply with two major accounting rules and asked it to restate past earnings.

At long last, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued its final rule mandating that companies expense at fair value the stock options that they grant to their employees.

Time Warner Inc. reached a $210 million settlement with the Justice Department to end a probe into whether its America Online unit improperly booked ad sales, and proposed a $300 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to end an investigation into accounting irregularities at AOL.

Triggered by congressional concerns over the marketing of abusive tax shelters by some accounting firms, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has proposed new rules restricting the ability of accountants to provide tax services to audit clients.