The Latest

Sarbanes-Oxley compliance paid off big time for audit firms in the past five years, with median fees shooting up 345 percent, according to a study by the Corporate Library.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has written letters to the Big Four accounting firms asking what they are doing to let their financial institution clients know about waivers on mortgage accounting standards that could let borrowers refinance their loans.

The American Institute of CPAs is asking the Internal Revenue Service to reconsider some of its proposed monetary penalties for misbehaving practitioners and firms.

If you didn’t see the WebCPA news item last week or the write-up in the 08/17/07 AICPA News Update e-mail newsletter, I’m telling you about the subject of those two pieces now. It is the AICPA’s Professional Ethics Executive Committee’s exposure draft that proposes a new Interpretation 101-17, Networks and Network Firms, under Rule 101, Independence, of the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct. I suggest you read the exposure draft.

Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani announced his tax proposals, saying he would make the Bush administration tax cuts permanent, eliminate inheritance taxes and reduce marginal tax rates.

The Justice Department has filed suit against a Maine tax preparer to keep her from preparing tax returns for others, even though she is currently in prison.

Virginia CPA firm Yount, Hyde & Barbour has established a $2,500 annual scholarship for accounting students through the Virginia Society of CPAs Educational Foundation, making a $50,000 gift to the foundation so the scholarship can launch next year.

CCH introduced a CPE Podcast Center with downloadable audio files that accountants can listen to on their iPods to earn continuing professional education credits.

The Institute of Internal Auditors Research Foundation has introduced an internal auditing textbook that promises to unite theory with practical knowledge to give students a more realistic look at the profession.

I’m not breaking any new ground here when I say that depending on the particular life experience, the differing degrees of recall and accuracy you have.