Audit & Accounting

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has released new standards aimed at improving the accounting and reporting of combinations and disposals of government operations for U.S. state and local governments.

Reactions among tax preparers to Friday’s court decision striking down the legality of the IRS RTRP mandate ranged from relief to recognition that the tax prep industry needs standards. But a survey of various tax prep-related groups on LinkedIn shows that the decision mostly raised questions.

The Institute of Management Accountants and the American Accounting Association’s Management Accounting Section have teamed up on an accounting educational framework that they hope will be used to re-orient undergraduate and MBA accounting curricula to match on-the-job demands.

Mary Jo White, the former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, is under consideration to become the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Red Wing Software has created a report tool within its CenterPoint Payroll Software designed to track employee status for the upcoming Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requirement that employers with 50 or more full time employers must offer health coverage.

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved over $561 million in disaster assistance loans for residents and businesses in New York affected by Hurricane Sandy and over $238 million for residents and businesses in New Jersey, and said it is eager to do more.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has completed a post-implementation review of an accounting standard dating back to 1996 that aimed to improve the way public companies report financial information about their business segments, and found that it generally achieved that purpose, although some companies are being less than forthcoming about all of their business segments.

While still predicting contraction in both the short- and the mid-term, the January edition of Accounting Today’s monthly Accountants Confidence Index rose somewhat from the previous month’s reading.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued for public comment a proposal to improve financial reporting about repurchase agreements such as the type used by Lehman Brothers.

Deloitte has set up its own firm in China to replace the joint venture it formerly operated there.