AT Think

The American Institute of CPAs announced that Judith H. O’Dell was honored with its Special Recognition Award for her work to create changes for private company financial reporting standards.

The new updates that the Financial Accounting Standards Board has just released for goodwill and interest rate swaps make good on its promise to follow up on the suggestions of the Private Company Council that FASB’s parent organization, the Financial Accounting Foundation, established less than two years ago.

The American Institute of CPAs has awarded the 2013 Personal Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award to Ted Sarenski, president and CEO of Blue Ocean Strategic Capital in Syracuse, N.Y.

Becker Professional Education has announced its second annual Newton D. Becker Scholarship Program awarding more than $200,000 in financial assistance to CPA candidates.

Cindy Fornelli, the executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, has long been an influential person in the accounting profession and is a perennial member of Accounting Today’s annual list of the Top 100 Most Influential People.

The Institute of Management Accountants has recently endorsed the undergraduate accounting programs at Michigan State University and Brigham Young University, joining Pennsylvania State University and Washington State University Vancouver, whose programs have already been endorsed by the IMA.

On Thursday, Deloitte CEO Barry Salzberg and Owen Ryan, CEO of Deloitte’s AERS Advisory practice, were scheduled to join the President and First Lady for a day-long summit at the White House focused on increasing college opportunity for low-income and disadvantaged students.

The annual Fortune magazine list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For includes a handful of accounting firms among the rankings for 2014.

To celebrate their 40th anniversary, CPA firm WithumSmith+Brown has released the latest in their annual “State of the Firm,” videos, amid anticipation that has grown every year since their “I Gotta Feeling” video in 2011 went viral.

The American Institute of CPAs announced that undergraduate and graduate-level accounting students can now apply online for scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year, including a recently added scholarship.