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Thomson Tax & Accounting has released "PPC's Guide to Audits of Nonpublic Companies," which helps integrate the requirements of the newly released risk assessment standards that go into effect for financial statement audits beginning on or after Dec. 15, 2006. The new tome fuses two existing products -- "PPC's Guide to Audits of Small Businesses" and "PPC's Guide to Risk-Based Audits" - into a single guide for all nonpublic, non-industry-specific audit engagements. The manual includes checklists, forms and audit programs to help firms transition their audit approach to reflect the new standards. The guide is available in a variety of formats including TTA's proprietary Checkpoint platform. The risk-assessment guide also contains in-depth coverage of new requirements for communicating internal control deficiencies under SAS No. 112 and communicating with those charged with governance under SAS No. 114.

When I was 15, my father caught me sneaking a cigarette in our backyard. It was dusk and I thought I had successfully camouflaged myself behind our hedges to avoid detection. Following a fleet introduction between my backside and his size 12 Bostonian loafer, he informed me that not only was I grounded for two weeks, but my TV viewing privileges were revoked as well. When I protested that it should be one or the other, he introduced me to the concept of bargaining leverage in a negotiation and, as a rule, teenagers, caught smoking in a house where it was prohibited were not imbued with a whole lot of it. Since my younger brother was with me, he was on the receiving end of the punishment as well, even though he had not violated the no-smoking policy at Chez Carlino. My father called it guilt by association. As a result, I read roughly four books in that span and, in retrospect, undoubtedly came out better for it. I was reminded of my tobacco-induced quarantine last week when I attended a financial reporting conference keynoted by former Maryland Senator Paul Sarbanes, one-half of the now-famous hyphenate that drastically reshaped the corporate landscape. The senator told attendees that when he assumed the chairmanship of the Senate Banking Committee, he was more concerned with drafting money-laundering legislation in the wake of 9-11 than reforming the financial reporting process. But then the floodgates of scandal began to creak and, eventually, burst open with billion-dollar restatements and bankruptcies headlined by the poster children for corporate greed and fraud, Enron and WorldCom. Hence we were introduced to Sarbanes-Oxley, which no doubt gave as big a jolt to corporate America as my father's right foot did to my ability to sit down. Unfortunately, like my younger brother who endured being homebound for a fortnight for a peccadillo he didn't commit, many public companies that had adhered to ethical and legal financial reporting standards were also bound to its time-consuming and often expensive compliance. In the nearly five years that SOX has been law, there have been myriad opinions of whether the legislation has accomplished what it intended to - coupled with occasion movements toward full or partial rollbacks. But if there was any doubt as to whether lawmakers were solidly behind the bill or portions of it, I offer up last week's overwhelming defeat of an amendment put forth by Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who proposed that filers with a market cap of less than $700 million would be able to opt the act's 404 requirement. The measure was routed out of the chamber by a 62-35 margin. By contrast, lawmakers also voted 97-0 to approve an amendment from Sarbanes' successor at the SBC, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., suggesting the SEC and the PCAOB forge ahead with their previously announced plans to develop guidance for smaller filers to make SOX more manageable. A long time ago I learned about bargaining power and when you don't have it. Unfortunately those companies that conducted business in an above-board fashion, were lumped in with those that didn't. And now as a result of compliance requirements, their costs have risen. I guarantee my brother can vouch for their pain.

Citing a material breach, financial staffing and marketing services concern AccountAbilities has terminated its planned asset purchase and reorganization pact with automotive franchiser Tilden Associates Inc. and TFP Associates, a spinoff company controlled by Tilden chairman Robert Baskind. AccountAbilities said that, among other things, Tilden did not file its annual report on time, which subsequently resulted in Tilden's stock being delisted from the OTC exchange. Under the terms of the pact, Tilden would have acquired the assets of AccountAbilities for 12.5 million shares of its stock -- valued roughly at $18.7 million. Following the close of the deal, there was to be a 1-for-25 reverse stock split, representing about 96 percent of Tilden's shares. Allan Hartley, president of Accountabilities, said that his company would shop around for similar agreements such as the one with Tilden.

Former Internal Revenue Service district director Jesse Ayala Cota pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States through his involvement in a tax fraud scheme promoted by the Topeka, Kansas-based organization "Renaissance, The Tax People Inc."Cota admitted in his plea agreement that from 1997 through April 2002, the conspirators, through Renaissance, operated a scheme to defraud the government by marketing a program designed to sell illegal tax deductions through false and misleading representations.

In an effort to ease the implementation of the new risk-assessment standards from the American Institute of CPAs, tax and accounting products provider CCH has released ProSystem fx Knowledge Tools -- a product collaboration between CCH and audit process and services concern AuditWatch. The new offering, which is predicated on the guidelines of the knowledge-based audit, is available as an integrated module for ProSystem fx Engagement, or as a stand-alone application. The Knowledge Tools' KBA methodology uses a set of integrated procedures, from the pre-engagement stage through evaluating, concluding and reporting. The results from each audit stage are fed into a communication "hub," which enables audit team members to view summaries of the significant matters, risks and findings uncovered during the audit. The KBA documents contain steps and procedures required by generally accepted auditing standards. In addition Knowledge Tool users have access to: * Practice points - additional information in completing the associated section of the audit program, checklist, or workpaper; * Audit alerts - information such as upcoming changes to audit pronouncements; * Examples - example workpapers and explanations regarding how a section could be completed; * Optional workpapers - workpapers that can be brought in to complete the documentation for a specific step; and, * References - links to books, such as industry guides, and original pronouncements. CCH said it would offer training in the new methodology, as well as training on the Knowledge Tools software. For more information, go to

In working toward finalizing a reporting system and rules, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board today pushed back the 2007 deadlines for the first round of annual reports to be filed and registration fee payments by accounting firms. Last May, the audit watchdog proposed that the first annual reports would need to be filed by June 30, 2007, with the first annual fee payment due by July 31, 2007. However, since the board had not finalized its rules and forms for either, it said it would push back both to as-yet-undetermined deadlines. The board said that once the rules become final, it would give registrants enough lead time to comply.

Norwalk, Conn. -- The Financial Accounting Foundation, overseer to both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, appointed Girard Miller and Jan I. Sylvis to five-year terms on GASB. Their terms begin July 1. Miller and Sylvis will succeed outgoing GASB board members Cynthia Green and Edward Mazur, respectively. Miller previously served as president of Janus Funds and chief operating officer of asset manager Janus Capital Group. Sylvis currently is the chief of accounts for Tennessee's Department of Finance & Administration, where she serves as state controller.

The Internal Revenue Service has granted further relief for taxpayers in New York State in the Presidential Disaster Area of Orange, Rockland and Westchester Counties that was struck by severe storms and flooding during the period from April 14-18, 2007. Deadlines for affected taxpayers to file returns, pay taxes and perform other time-sensitive acts falling on or after April 14, 2007, and on or before June 23, 2007, have been postponed to June 23, 2007. In addition, the IRS will waive the failure to deposit penalty for employment and excise deposits due on or after April 14, 2007, and on or before April 30, 2007, so long as the deposits are made by April 30.

After learning that more than 450,000 federal workers and retirees owe a whopping $3 billion to the Internal Revenue Service in back taxes, the Senate Finance Committee is urging the president to step up efforts to collect from those delinquent employees.According to the Washington Post, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and ranking Republican member Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter to President Bush requesting that he remind the delinquent federal employees and warn them of the consequences of non-compliance.

Don’t know whether you saw this, but Schwab Institutional has released the findings of the “Independent Advisor Outlook Study,” a new semi-annual survey of independent investment advisors that measures their views on the geopolitical landscape, economy and investments. By the end of last year, there were more than 15,000 RIAs across the country, managing some $1.8 trillion of U.S. wealth, says Cerulli, and that nearly 1400 independent investment advisors with some $347 billion in assets under management participated in the study.So, what did they have to say?