Audit & Accounting

Even as the Securities and Exchange Commission weighs the comments that were due this week on its proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS could be on a convergence path of its own with Islamic accounting standards.

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup reported better than expected financial results last week, but critics are complaining that the two banks bended accounting rules to boost their earnings.

Bernard Madoff’s accountant, David Friehling, is facing an extra month of uncertainty over his legal status after prosecutors filed a continuance with the court.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has written to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the SEC to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards.

It's safe to say there hasn't been a time in recent history when small-business owners needed guidance from their accountants as much as they do now. It's becoming clear that for all their knowledge and energy, most entrepreneurs can't go it alone in these difficult times.

The Internal Revenue Service now has a new interest in sports and entertainment - and not just as a spectator.

Can anything good come out of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme?

The economic downturn, coupled with proposals to make the Research and Development Credit permanent, the potential repeal of LIFO, and higher individual tax rates under the Obama administration, could significantly reshape the landscape of S corps over the next several years."For planning purposes, the proposal to make the R&D Credit permanent has significance because it will affect what types of investments companies will make," explained Rick Klahsen, managing director at RSM McGladrey's national tax department. "However, the proposed repeal of the LIFO inventory method would have a tremendous negative impact on S corporations. Many S corporations are manufacturers, and the loss of the LIFO method will cost them in terms of additional taxable income. It will cause them to take a look at the types of inventory investments they might make."

Washington, D.C.-In the wake of several high-profile Ponzi schemes - most notably, the $65 billion fraud perpetrated by the now-jailed Bernard Madoff - the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance for victims of these types of schemes and their tax preparers.

Among the many changes born of the financial crisis that's sweeping the globe are changes in internal auditing departments.