Audit & Accounting

The Institute of Internal Auditors has stopped most of its in-person activities, including training, during the COVID-19 pandemic and will instead do online testing on a temporary basis for its certification exams.

Prior to this unprecedented time for our community, I had been traveling the country for nearly 10 months, meeting with large accounting firms for one-on-one deep dives into their advisory workflows and client experience.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board published guidance Monday to improve accounting and financial reporting for public-public partnership arrangements — also known as P3s — along with public-private and availability payment arrangements (APAs).

Firms need to start by identifying which clients matter most to them, and then reaching out to them, according to Sarah Dobek of Inovautus Consulting.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board released its 2020-2023 strategy and 2020-2021 work plan, while acknowledging that the COVID-19 pandemic could throw those plans out of whack.

Ernst & Young must pay $10.8 million to an auditor who blew the whistle on wrongdoing at a Dubai gold refiner in another black eye for the U.K. accounting industry.

Small and midsized firms need to prepare for a world of reduced liquidity and lower organic growth.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently voted to exempt many smaller public companies from the Sarbanes-Oxley requirement for auditor attestations of their internal controls over financial reporting, but many companies have been able to bypass those audits anyway.

Major changes are required in client services, delivery models, staffing practices and management.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is proposing to delay the effective dates of provisions for all Statements and Implementation Guides by one year.