Audit & Accounting

With nearly 70 percent of audit fraud occurring at non-public companies, and multi-billion-dollar international scandals such as Parmalat and Satyam resulting in massive investor losses and lawsuits, a panel of experts at an accounting conference advised attendees on the red flags that CPA firms need to monitor, and new technologies that can help reduce audit risks and strengthen the confirmation process.

Last week, Accounting Today hosted an international visitor from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the discussion eventually turned to the regulatory subject de jour - auditor rotation.

Sage North America unveiled a new Sage Accountants Network program Thursday aimed at helping practitioners that serve nonprofit and governmental organizations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday to consider adopting certain rules to implement expanded oversight and inspection for registered accounting firms’ audits of brokers and dealers.

Publicly held companies paid an average of $3.3 million in audit fees in 2010, a slight 2 percent rise over the prior year, while public company audits averaged 12,540 hours , roughly the same as the year-ago period.

Check out the digital edition of the June 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

Check out the digital edition of the June 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

Two reports from the Maryland Association of CPAs and Grant Thornton paint different pictures of whether accountants favor a separate standard-setting board for private company accounting.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board could begin requiring public companies to rotate their auditing firms on a regular basis to reduce conflicts of interest.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has begun a new educational webcast series that will provide continuing professional education credit to those who participate in the live broadcasts