Audit & Accounting

Accounting firm BDO Seidman saw its revenue increase $31 million to $589 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2007.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has proposed a new ethics rule on communicating with audit committees concerning independence.

United States v. Stein, a U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court opinion (July 17, 2007) by District Judge Lewis Kaplan, is fascinating reading, and may have significant implications for a number of firms.

LogicManager released an upgrade to its LogicERM enterprise risk management software that takes advantage of the new AS5 risk-based audit standard.

Significant internal control weaknesses remain in the preparation of the U.S. government's consolidated financial statements, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

India plans to bring its accounting standards in line with International Financial Reporting Standards by April 1, 2011.

DREAMS INC. ENGAGES FRIEDMAN COHENSports memorabilia and licensing concern Dreams Inc. has named Friedman, Cohen, Taubman & Co. as its auditor.

With the exploding interest in and acceptance for market-value-based information in financial statements, we thought we would rerun a couple of columns from several years back as part of our summer tradition.This one was published in spring 2001, and talks about the hole in generally accepted accounting principles, even value-based GAAP, that continues to insist that there is a difference between unrealized and realized gains and losses. At the heart of this anachronistic practice is confusion between income and cash flows, which are two different things best described in two different financial statements.

Put a dozen managers and executives from financial planning firms in the same room, and before too long the conversation is likely to turn to the business issue that concerns them all: profitability. Whether they represent a one-person shop or are part of a large corporate structure, planners are almost universally challenged to serve the needs of their clients at a profit.To achieve that profitability, you must first address two other challenges - those presented by staffing and compensation. Getting the right people in place, giving them the tools to excel, and rewarding them for performance are all critical steps in achieving profitable growth.

PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL TO SHUTTER STOCK RESEARCH UNITLife insurance and money management conglomerate Prudential Financial Inc. said that it would shut down its institutional stock research and trading business - Prudential Equity Group - after 26 years of operation. Prudential will close its offices and trading operations in nine U.S. cities, as well as in London, Zurich, Paris and Tokyo. Some 400 employees will be terminated.