Audit & Accounting

The American Institute of CPAs said that it backs the creation of a monitoring board that would link the International Accounting Standards Board to government regulators in different countries.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are working together on resolving the knotty problems involved in lease accounting.

No matter how much money your client has, it’s crucial to have a basic estate plan simply to ensure that the financial goals of the client are met after the client dies.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has raised the aggregate 2009 fee it assesses to public companies and other issuers to $157.4 million from $151.8 million.

The Internal Revenue Service says that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 can use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years. The IRS says it will work to issue refunds within 45 days or less “to the degree possible.”

Lawmakers continue to apply pressure to the Securities and Exchange Commission to reinstate a Depression-era rule that prevents traders from short-selling stocks whose share prices are falling.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a pair of proposed fair value staff positions written to provide additional guidance regarding measurements and impairments of securities, after coming under pressure at a congressional hearing to ease mark-to-market accounting standards.

David Friehling, the accountant who ran the tiny auditing firm that serviced Bernard Madoff’s broker/dealer firm, has been arrested and charged with securities and investment advisor fraud.

“A threat and an opportunity!” is how most firms in Practical Accountant’s upcoming survey of regional firms termed this recession. An opportunity because clients will need them more than ever, and a threat for obvious reasons.

CPA firm Hill, Barth & King has acquired Stikelether & Associates of Fort Pierce, Fla., expanding the firm’s presence on the state’s “Treasure Coast.”