Audit & Accounting

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a small Nevada audit firm challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

The main council that provides guidance to the Financial Accounting Standards Board doesn’t agree that the accounting profession’s rulemaking structure is in need of reshaping.

The latest compilations of international auditing, ethics and public sector accounting standards are available in print and electronic formats from the International Federation of Accountants.The 2007 “Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance and Ethics Pronouncements” contains all pronouncements of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board as of Dec. 31, including the first four standards on auditing, which were redrafted under the board’s new clarity drafting rules. The handbook also contains an updated, “Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants,” which was issued by the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants in July.

Financial planners reported mean gross earnings of $283,079 in 2006, an increase of more than $50,000 from a year ago, according to a recently released survey.

A New Orleans court has overturned the class-certification of a group of shareholders looking to sue major investment banks for more than $40 billion to cover the banks’ alleged role in Enron Corp.’s accounting fraud.

One year down, three more to go.KPMG has approved San Diego’s financial statements for the city’s 2003 fiscal year, issuing a clean audit opinion letter last week. In the culmination of a three-year audit process, the Big Four firm issued 66 restatements -- covering wrongly recorded debt, property and investments -- that totaled nearly $1.8 billion.

Financial services conglomerate JPMorgan is expanding JPMorgan E-Tax — its Internet-based tax service providing institutional investors with global tax intelligence, rates and breaking news.

In 2007, financial reporting is at a crossroads - with far-reaching implications for businesses, investors and the capital markets.Appropriately, the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have held public discussions with stakeholders and leading experts in Hong Kong, London, and Norwalk, Conn., discussing the creation of a new conceptual framework for financial reporting.

PWC EXITS AS BEARINGPOINT AUDITORBig Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers resigned as independent accountant to troubled global consulting firm BearingPoint Inc., declining to stand for re-election.

Not long ago, one of us noted an inspirational quotation on the editorial page of the hometown paper. It captured our full attention because its insight applies to a major issue facing the financial reporting community and profession:"The disappearance of a sense of responsibility is the most far-reaching consequence of submission to authority."