Audit & Accounting

What criteria determines a good or bad credit risk?

A survivor annuity, either in the form of a qualified joint and survivor annuity, or QJSA, if the participant is alive on the starting date, or a qualified pre-retirement survivor annuity, or QPSA, if the participant dies before the starting date, must be provided to married plan participants and their spouses with respect to certain qualified plans.

The American Institute of CPAs has finalized several documents that should improve the auditing of private companies and the development of nonaudit reports and compilations.

The preparers of financial statements have long been grumbling about accounting standards, which they say are needlessly complex and painfully burdensome. The users of financial statements, on the other hand, have generally advocated detail and transparency.

A federal judge will allow the Securities and Exchange Commission to refile their lawsuit against HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy.

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a new international financial reporting standard titled, "Financial Instruments: Disclosures," as well as an amendment to its "Presentation of Financial Statements" discussing capital disclosures.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted new ethics and independence rules for auditors that place clear limits on the ability of accounting firms to offer tax services to their audit clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled charges of accounting violations by two former executives at First American Health Concepts Inc., a marketer of vision care plans.

The U.K.'s Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board said that it is looking into the audit and advisor work that Deloitte performed for bankrupted car manufacturer MG Rover.

OpenPages, a provider of Sarbanes-Oxley software, unveiled SOX Express 3.1, their latest Web-based software for compliance with Sections 302 and 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.