Audit & Accounting

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has revised its accounting standards to provide greater consistency in the treatment of various types of debt restructuring.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sanctioned five India-based affiliates of PricewaterhouseCoopers that formerly served as independent auditors of Satyam Computer Services Limited for repeatedly conducting deficient audits of the company’s financial statements and enabling a massive accounting fraud to go undetected for several years.

Baseball aficionados know the frustration of their favorite teams promising "wait until next year," at the tail end of yet another season that even the best PR spin could only be described as "rebuilding."

On Dec. 6, 2010, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro spoke to several thousand assembled accountants at the annual SEC/Public Company Accounting Oversight Board/American Institute of CPAs conference in Washington, D.C. By tradition, the chair's annual remarks are usually not very newsworthy because they mainly assure the profession that the chair understands that accountants and accounting issues are important to securities regulation.

The American Institute of CPAs has introduced a new course of study leading to a Certificate of Educational Achievement in International Financial Reporting Standards, demonstrating IFRS competency to employers, firms and clients.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Financial Reporting Executive Committee has published a working draft version of a revised practice aid for valuing equity securities issued as compensation for executives at private companies.

Thomson Reuters has introduced a consulting service to help accounting firms comply with new requirements for review engagements.

The Internal Revenue Service increased its audits of high-income taxpayers last year by as much as 75 percent.

More than three-quarters of oil and gas finance executives said transfer pricing was the most important tax issue they are facing, according to a survey by Ernst & Young.

BDO, the fifth largest network of independent public accounting firms, has added a new member firm in Brazil, which formerly belonged to the Crowe Horwath network, while BDO’s former member firm in Brazil is jumping over to KPMG’s network.