Audit & Accounting

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a pair of proposed fair value staff positions written to provide additional guidance regarding measurements and impairments of securities, after coming under pressure at a congressional hearing to ease mark-to-market accounting standards.

David Friehling, the accountant who ran the tiny auditing firm that serviced Bernard Madoff’s broker/dealer firm, has been arrested and charged with securities and investment advisor fraud.

“A threat and an opportunity!” is how most firms in Practical Accountant’s upcoming survey of regional firms termed this recession. An opportunity because clients will need them more than ever, and a threat for obvious reasons.

CPA firm Hill, Barth & King has acquired Stikelether & Associates of Fort Pierce, Fla., expanding the firm’s presence on the state’s “Treasure Coast.”

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a new effort aimed at unlocking the tight credit market for small businesses.

Accounting Today has published its latest annual ranking of the Top 100 accounting firms.

Provisions in the recently signed $787 billion economic stimulus package - the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - will have a ripple effect across all industries, according to experts.

Is your firm interested in entering the federal government market? In an uncertain economy, the federal government can be a reliable source of revenues, often with good margins. A terrible economy, ironically, might be about the best time to try, due to a confluence of events - an unending spate of bailout and stimulus initiatives, coupled with the new administration's strong demands for transparency and accountability.Just administering the programs will require the Treasury Department and other branches of the government to use thousands of additional auditors and other accounting professionals. The requirement for extra hands on deck will be compounded by what the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee called an "unprecedented level of accountability" that will be part of the bailout and stimulus programs going forward.

MCGLADREY SUED IN MADOFF CASENew York - McGladrey & Pullen has been sued by a hedge fund for failing to detect red flags in Bernard Madoff's investment schemes, leading the hedge fund to lose $280 million.

As the economy worsens and unemployment continues to rise, many people who have stayed invested may be asking themselves if they made a mistake by not selling out and remaining in cash.Conversely, those who have cashed out and have been sitting on the sidelines are patting themselves on the back for a job well done. However, at some point they will need to figure out how and when to get back in the market.