Audit & Accounting

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says small public companies should start getting ready to comply with the stricter auditing rules of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but left open the possibility of another deferral of the requirement.

Huron Consulting Group has acquired Callaway Partners for $60 million in cash to add Callaway's finance and accounting project management expertise to Huron's financial and consulting services.

You might be surprised what qualifies as an unforeseen circumstance for the partial exclusion of gain on the sale of a personal residence. Under this special rule, taxpayers are allowed to exclude gain up to a reduced maximum exclusion amount under Section 121(c) if the sale is due to a change in place of employment, health, or unforeseen circumstances even though it was used for less than two of the five preceding years as the personal residence.

Two-thirds of investors would be concerned about any easing of Sarbanes-Oxley rules, according to a national survey by the Center for Audit Quality, released in conjunction with the five-year anniversary of the legislation.

Three academics from the U.K. who have written a book about auditing, and a Virginia professor who has developed a taxation education curriculum, will receive awards from Deloitte & Touche’s not-for-profit Deloitte Foundation.

Carol Stacey, former chief accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance, has become vice president of The SEC Institute, an organization that holds conferences and workshops around the country to explain SEC and PCAOB rules and regulations.

Cougar Mountain Software released Version 12 of its CMS Professional Accounting, Fund and Point of Sale products.

Accounting firm Lovoy, Summerville & Shelton has acquired Granberry & Associates, allowing the firm to expand its client base beyond its home town of Birmingham to Granberry's turf in the Auburn-Opelika area of Alabama.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released its report on its 2006 inspection of KPMG's auditing work, outlining a number of deficiencies.

My friends at the Aurora Financial Group, especially Roccy DeFrancesco, clued me in on what they consider the seven deadly sins of many financial advisors. They say they have seen over the past 40 years a weakness in the advice that any advisors have given. And, here they are: Sin 1: Failing to look at the biggest asset: the house. Most of the financial advisors, Aurora says, are comfortable talking about all the rest of the clients’ assets and investments but when it comes to their mortgage, they note that their eyes glaze over. Sin 2: Failing to advise clients that they could better protect the equity in their house from litigation, natural disaster, downsizing of employment, or down turns in property values. Sin 3: Exposing themselves to possible litigation for not advising clients of all the best investments in terms of their risk tolerance and particular needs. Sin 4: Specializing in areas such as business insurance, college planning, retirement planning, health plans, business continuation, et al, without looking at the big picture for the client that requires a global review of the client’s situation. Aurora says it is vital that advisors surround themselves with people and companies that they can trust so that they can address the bigger picture for all of their clients. Sin 5: Not keeping up with and understanding all the concepts that could be a benefit to the client. Surely, the biggest concern that most clients have is adequate planning for retirement so that there are enough funds for a successful plan, but how many people have adequately planned? Clearly, not enough. Sin 6: Chasing the whale but overlooking the mainstream clients. As Aurora likes to put it, you are more likely to build a successful business on the principles of working with the masses than trying to close the china egg, which may never happen. Sin 7: Not earning the hearts of the clients to the point of getting referrals to be a simple and automatic process. Aurora points out that clients have more choices and have better business acumen that they had in the past. So, they are looking for the value added of working with someone. Keep in mind that people today are able to access more current information by use of search engines and the Internet. Accordingly, financial advisors really need to work hard and to focus on that value added concept.