Audit & Accounting

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued FASB Statement No. 151, Inventory Costs. According to FASB, the new statement, an amendment to No. 43 Chapter 4, would improve financial reporting via clarification that abnormal amounts of idle facility expense -- i.e. freight, handling costs and spoilage -- should be recognized as current-period charges. The measure also requires the allocation of fixed production overheads to inventory based on a facility's normal capacity. The standard-setter, headquartered here, said in its clarification of ARB 43 that it adopted language used in International Accounting Standard No. 2 as part of its effort toward convergence to a single set of global accounting standards. FASB said that the guidance is effective for inventory costs incurred during fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2005. The statement may be accessed from the FASB's Web site at http://www.fasb.org.

Financial services audit committee members say that the implementation of Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 is the most pressing issue they face, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Strong revenue and market share growth don't guarantee a financially healthy independent investment advisor practice -- but being focused and deliberate about the types of clients served and the services offered can drive profitable growth, according to a study of the top firms by Schwab Institutional and Moss Adams.

A recent survey on issues related to long-term care and the sometimes widely varying views between men and women on the subject gives credence to the phrase, "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus."

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.

Members of an advisory council to accounting rulemakers say that revenue recognition should be the Financial Accounting Standards Board's top priority.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released the third in a series of staff questions and answers to help auditors and issuers in the implementation of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2, regarding audits of public companies' internal control over financial reporting.

Companies may be spending millions to comply with it, but more than two years after its passage, the majority of workers and investors don't know what Sarbanes-Oxley is, according to a poll by staffing firm Hudson.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said that its fiscal 2004 aggregate net revenues climbed nearly $2 billion to $16.3 billion, an increase of 6 percent in local currencies and just over 13 percent in U.S. dollars.

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.