Audit & Accounting

Financial Executives International's Committee on Taxation has written to congressional leaders encouraging them to include more tax relief provisions for businesses in the economic stimulus package.

Indian outsourcing company Satyam Computer Services has chosen Deloitte and KPMG to help restate financial statements audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Indian affiliate, Price Waterhouse, after Satyam's chairman admitted to a massive accounting fraud.

Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Co. has merged with another New York accounting firm, Miller Ellin & Co., expanding RSSM's ability to service its audit, tax and consulting clients.

In these tough economic times, as in others, there are many news items on companies declaring bankruptcies and announcing substantial staff cuts. What is different this time is that I am also reading about a number of cost-cutting strategies that are gaining in popularity and aimed at reducing expenses without disrupting business operations or laying off staff.

Fitch Ratings predicts that 2009 will be a pivotal year for accounting, particularly in terms of fair value measurement and standards convergence.

The American Institute of CPAs has released an alert warning about audit risks from the economic crisis.

The latest economic stimulus plan advanced by the incoming administration may approach $1 trillion, with $300 billion in tax cuts or refunds.

The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to discuss some of the problems that led to deferring controversial rules for accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board said the financial statements of non-public broker-dealers now need to be certified by PCAOB-registered auditing firms.

College students attending an Ernst & Young tax career event acknowledged they are seeing more interest on campus in accounting as jobs in the financial industry dry up.