Audit & Accounting

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced that Martin F. Baumann will succeed Phil D. Wedemeyer as director of its Office of Research and Analysis.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced that five former chairmen of the commission will join him for a roundtable discussion today.

While such issues as mobility, Sarbanes-Oxley 404, peer review and private company financial reporting continue to impact the accounting profession, keeping the CPA pipeline filled remains the profession’s No. 1 priority, American Institute of CPAs president and chief executive Barry Melancon told attendees at the institute’s spring meeting of its Governing Council.

“A series of accounting irregularities at large companies have deepened public distrust of both accounting and auditing firms.”

Texans have always been an independent bunch, but many Lone Star CPAs think that their state legislature is going too far when it tries to write off Statement 45 of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board as irrelevant.State Senator Robert Duncan and State Representative Vicki Truitt, both Republicans, introduced alternative bills in their respective financial committees that would allow, but not require, governmental entities to issue financial statements that do not comply with Statement 45. The bills define an alternative method of accounting that would not record projected post-retirement benefits as a liability.

GRANT THORNTON DROPS PAIR OF SUBPRIME CLIENTSGrant Thornton has quit as auditor to subprime lenders Fremont General Corp. and Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co..

Baby Boomers - those Americans who were born between 1946 and 1964 - total about 79 million people.This segment of the population may soon find that they will be spending more annually in their retirement years than they did while working. Over the past century, life expectancy has increased over 56 percent, and this trend is expected to continue, so Baby Boomers will face the financial challenge of the cost of living for many years in retirement, as well as the associated costs of aging.

COURT NIXES SEC RULE GOVERNING FINANCIAL PLANNINGA federal appeals court ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission overstepped its authority in updating rules governing brokers who offer financial advice.

H&R Block Inc. announced that its new bank opened more than 2 million prepaid card bank accounts by the end of the 2007 tax season, doubling the company’s original projection.

Suggesting that accounting firms may have become addicted to the fat audit fees associated with Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts, a spokesman for the nation's bankers warned that plans to streamline internal control reporting rules and issue new auditor guidance may not be enough to wean accountants away from wasteful and unnecessary SOX-related audit procedures."Reducing costs and streamlining efforts will only be achieved if the auditing firms have the incentive to make efficiency a priority," American Bankers Association spokesman Thomas Venables told a hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.