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"AICPA mulls IFRS for private companies" (Oct. 20-Nov. 2, 2008, page 5) misidentified the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee as an American Institute of CPAs' committee; it is, in fact, sponsored by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, with additional administrative support from the AICPA. Our apologies for the error.

Some 60 accounting firms from across the country have been honored as the Best Firms to Work For by Accounting Today.The official ranking of this inaugural feature will appear in our next issue, the Jan. 5-18 2009, along with in-depth profiles of some of the most innovative of the best firms, as well as statistical data on the most successful best practices in recruitment and retention.

If you attended the American Institute of CPA's Fall Council in October, you had the opportunity to see history in the making. Ernest Almonte, the auditor general for the state of Rhode Island, took the podium as 2008-2009 chairman of the institute - the first government official to be elected to that position in the organization's 121 years.Almonte has served as his state's auditor general since 1994 - a position where he is responsible for auditing the state's $7 billion state comprehensive annual financial report and $3 billion federal single audit. Aside from being a CPA, he is a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Government Financial Manager, and holds both the Certified Information Technology Professional and Certified in Financial Forensics credentials from the AICPA. He was appointed by the U.S. Comptroller General to the Government Auditing Standards Committee. This year, the Secretary of Defense also named him to its first department-wide audit committee.

FIRMS GREW STRONGLY PRIOR TO CRISISNew York-A large majority of CPA firms reported continuing strong growth during the past two years, according to a new survey by the American Institute of CPAs and the Texas Society of CPAs, but the survey was taken before the financial crisis hit home in recent quarters.

Congratulations on your victory. In the interest of full disclosure, I did not vote for you, but nonetheless admired the amount of support, not to mention funding, that you were able to generate in a relatively short amount of time.

Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 128, Earnings per Share (Appendix E: Glossary, Paragraph 171), defines "Dilution (dilutive)" as: "A reduction in earnings per share resulting from the assumption that convertible securities were converted, that options or warrants were exercised, or that other shares were issued upon the satisfaction of certain conditions."

SURVEY: CAREER OPS NO. 1 FOR ACCOUNTING STUDENTS

With the election now academic, a concerted drive to ratchet up regulation of the financial markets by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and other bodies will be near the top of the legislative priority list when the new Congress opens shop in January.Even before the 110th Congress closed, House and Senate Democrats had already scheduled hearings into the need for tighter oversight of financial institutions and tougher accounting standards for the industry, which is projected to be more constricted under the incoming Obama administration.

Given the economic implosion where trillions have been lost in personal investments and wire houses are boarding up like ice cream shops in January, high-net-worth clients are looking to their accountants and wealth management advisors to help preserve their investments amidst roller-coaster swings in the markets.Compounding their concern over the economic malaise, high-net-worth individuals now also have to worry about the potential affects of President-elect Barack Obama's tax and economic policies.

COHN CREATES RECOVERY TEAMRoseland, N.J. - Accounting firm J.H. Cohn has formed a Client Economic Recovery Team to advise financial institutions and public companies affected by the financial crisis.