Audit & Accounting

The Internal Revenue Service has been doing a better job of auditing small corporations in recent years, according to a new government report, but potential quality concerns remain.

IMGCAP(1)]Many of us on the Blue Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies believed we were on the verge of an historic change that would have relieved millions of private companies of accounting standards geared more to the needs of public companies and their financial statement users.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will delay its eagerly anticipated decision for a few more months on whether or not to incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards into the U.S. financial reporting system.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has struck a deal with Dutch regulators to carry out joint inspections of auditing firms.

BDO International said Friday the worldwide revenue of its network of accounting firms increased 7.36 percent for the year ended Sept. 30, 2011, to $5.672 billion, mainly due to growth in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

SEC WARNED AGAINST CONDORSEMENT APPROACH

IMGCAP(1)]It's difficult to regulate good management practices, yet those in power - Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and various self-governing standards bodies - are bound to continue to attempt to make good management practices the rule, rather than the exception.

'Wow" would be sort of an understated onomatopoeia to describe the past year in terms of events, changes and headlines within the accounting profession. As this is my 11th end-of-the-year column, I'll again foolishly predict that 2012 could not possibly top the previous year, despite a decade of being proved wrong. Perhaps this is why I rarely gamble while attending various events in Las Vegas.

Your November coverage of the Chartered Global Management Accountant accreditation, in addition to your, "AICPA, CIMA Plan Push for New Management Credential," (AccoutingToday.com, October 18) sheds light on the critical role management accountants play in today's competitive global marketplace. What this article fails to share is that there are, in fact, gaps with regard to the testing, assessment and measurement of critical skills during the first three years of this venture.

IMGCAP(1)]The Financial Accounting Standards Board recently approved a revised accounting standard that requires contributing nongovernmental employers to provide more information about their financial obligations to multiemployer pension plans.