Audit & Accounting

Katherine Schipper, a recent member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has joined the advisory board for BNA’s recently launched Accounting Policy & Practice Series.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is beginning to move to protect accounting firms from investor lawsuits that accuse them of fraud, according to published reports.The New York Times reported that last week, the SEC filed a brief in the Supreme Court asking the justices to consider the adoption of a legal standard to make it harder for shareholders to win judgments in fraud lawsuits against publicly traded companies and their executives.

A Florida auditing firm will pay $500,000 to avoid a lawsuit with officials in Nassau County, located in the northeast corner of the state.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has taken over the tax practice unit of an Indian financial services firm to create the largest accounting firm in the country.

Kintera Inc. has unveiled its first software as a service fund accounting system for nonprofits.

A study by audit research firm AuditAnalytics found that the number of restatements filed by large companies -- those with market capitalization of more than $700 million -- fell 20 percent in 2006, the first decline since 2001.

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Mark W. Everson has announced the selection of a new chief human capital officer and a new chief of agency-wide shared services.Robert Buggs has served as the agency’s deputy chief human capital officer since 2004, though he has more than 15 years of experience with the IRS, working in areas ranging from labor relations to the Taxpayer Advocate Service. He has shared program oversight and responsibility for formulating and implementing human capital strategies, policies and programs for more than 100,000 IRS employees.

After serving as a regional managing partner with a national firm for several years, in the late 1970s Len Miller decided to find a new home for his technical expertise in accounting and consulting, as well as his firm administration skills. He co-founded his own firm in Phoenix, Miller Wagner & Co. Ltd., and ran the business for more than two decades before consolidating with CBiz Inc. in early 1999. Today, Miller serves as the president of CBiz Accounting, Tax & Advisory Services LLC.With over 40 years of experience, Miller is a recognized expert in the fields of finance, real estate, general business consulting and various litigation support matters -- but he still places an emphasis on the programs his firm has in place to retain and develop its own employees.

The New Year began with a symbolic victory for Big Four firm KPMG, as a federal judge here dismissed a criminal conspiracy charge against the U.S. arm of the Big Four firm for conspiring to sell illegal tax shelters.The charge was dropped after prosecutors said that the firm had met its obligations under a deferred-prosecution agreement struck with the government roughly 18 months ago.

Mutual funds have something for everyone - at least Michelle Smith of the Mutual Fund Education Alliance thinks so."The industry has adjusted to the public's demand for choice," said Smith, who is managing director of the alliance, a nonprofit association that provides education to investors on mutual funds. "The public wants investment options, simplicity, low cost. They want help and advice and, in many cases, they want somebody to make it as simple for them as possible. It's a complete cafeteria of options."