Audit & Accounting

Top 100 Firm Blum, Shapiro & Co. PC announced that it has acquired Glastonbury, Conn.-based Scully & Wolf LLP.

A new report from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board summarizes how practitioners have been implementing interim standards relating to auditor responsibility to detecting fraud.

Speaking at a New York State Society of CPAs conference earlier this week, Conrad Hewitt declined to speak in absolutes when it came to across-the-board implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s infamous Section 404.The Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant avoided absolutes when speaking on the question of compliance for micro-cap companies -- the first time that I’ve heard a federal regulator hedge their bets on implementation that’s currently planned for 2008. It would be far from the first deferral for companies will market capitalizations under $75 million -- but the first ray of hope for those small companies since the SEC declined to strongly move forward on a number of recommendations outlined last year by an advisory committee.

Texas law firm Andrews Kurth will pay Enron's estate $18.5 million to settle potential malpractice claims stemming from legal advice the firm allegedly offered concerning the energy giant’s asset transactions.

The Internal Revenue Service has launched a new Internet-based version of its popular Exempt Organizations Workshop covering tax compliance issues confronted by small and midsized tax-exempt organizations, including charities and churches.

There have been calls by financial statement users for increased transparency with regard to financial statements. It seems the regulators are taking those demands seriously, not just by enacting standards aimed at increasing transparency, but also by ensuring that the standard-setting process is more transparent.

A board within the International Federation of Accountants has released a standard identifying disclosures to be made by governments and other public sector entities that make their budgets publicly available.According to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, such disclosures will contribute greatly to improving accountability. The new standard, IPSAS 24, “Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements,” applies to entities that adopt the accrual basis of financial reporting. Additionally, the cash basis standard, “Financial Reporting under the Cash Basis of Accounting,” has been updated to include both required and encouraged disclosures that apply to entities that adopt the cash basis of financial reporting.

So, what makes a top-notch advisor? It looks as though MainStay Investments may have given us the answer.

Deloitte & Touche LLP announced the formation of its Center for Banking Solutions, which will address new ways to solve issues affecting the competitiveness of banks operating in the United States.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has unanimously voted to move forward in implementing new rules that require public companies to take a more structured approach in reporting uncertain tax positions on their financial statements.