Audit & Accounting

The American Institute of CPAs and the Financial Accounting Foundation, which oversees the Financial Accounting Standards Board, are setting up a “blue-ribbon panel” to discuss how U.S. accounting standards can best meet the needs of users of private company financial statements.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has decided to re-propose seven auditing standards and amendments that would change the requirements for assessing audit risks.

Nearly three-quarters of finance professionals believe their company could be more efficient in the implementation of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act dealing with the outside audit of internal controls, according to a new survey.

The case of Bernard Madoff’s former auditor, David Friehling, has cast the ethics of the accounting profession into a harsh light and forced his state CPA society to take action.

AICPA, FEI OBJECT TO FEDERAL ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD

New York-Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James Kroeker said that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board should proceed with efforts to converge U.S. and international accounting standards, even though the SEC has not yet formally approved the proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards.

Earlier this year, I was asked to participate in a sort of town-hall-style forum to discuss a number of profession-centric issues. The session was slotted for one hour and, as is my custom, I hoped to make enough cogent points to not only fill the time slot, but also to keep the attendees interested (read: awake) and in their seats, and not just hanging around long enough to earn CPE - but we hardly had enough time to cover the critical events that surfaced in 2009 and will remain there to greet the profession in 2010.

Japan’s Financial Services Authority has decided to permit voluntary domestic use of International Financial Reporting Standards, putting added pressure on the U.S. to follow suit.

The employment outlook in accounting and finance is expected to stabilize in the first quarter, according to a new survey of CFOs, although the hiring environment remains challenging for now.

The American Institute of CPAs joined with over a dozen other accounting organizations around the world to call for a single standard for climate change reporting.