Audit & Accounting

A new industry group is looking to make inroads in building support for its policy positions in Washington.Launched on Tuesday, the Center for Audit Quality will focus on topics such as auditor protection from lawsuits, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how companies report financial information.

Canadian public accounting firms of all sizes need to do more to improve audit quality and adhere consistently to internal and professional standards, the Canadian Public Accountability Board said.

Fannie Mae’s chief executive received a compensation bump of about 25 percent in 2006 -- including salary, stock and bonuses.

The American Institute of CPAs and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are gearing an expanded version of their 2003 Privacy Framework towards a broader business audience.

There are only two conferences for accountants that my colleague, Jeff Stimpson, and I never miss attending. Winning Is Everything, presented by the Advisory Board, is one of them.The Advisory Board’s members are four of the leading consultants to accounting firms -- Jay Nisberg, president, Jay Nisberg & Associates; Allan Koltin, president and CEO, PDI Global.; Gary Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting; and Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G Financial Services and co-founder of the Leading Edge Alliance.

Teams of accounting students from 22 colleges have accepted an invitation to participate in the inaugural KPMG National Audit Case Competition.

A board within the International Federation of Accountants has issued revised standards to increase the clarity and usability of International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

Successful filing of electronic tax returns, as well as meeting the accounting requirements of FIN 48, are the biggest challenges facing corporate tax professionals in 2007, according to an informal survey by Thomson Tax & Accounting.

CMS DISMISSES E&YCMS Energy Corp., a Jackson, Miss.-based electric and natural gas company, dismissed its auditor, Big Four firm Ernst & Young, and named PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new independent accountant.

In today's financial services landscape, it is becoming more important for accountants to evaluate the health of their current practices and to implement certain necessary changes to remain competitive. With consolidation happening almost on a weekly basis, financial services firms are becoming the one-stop shop for clients. And if you poll your clients, you'll find out that that's exactly what they want - one trusted place to have all of their financial matters attended to.Accountants are also seeing pressure from the proliferation of low-cost accounting software, companies that are giving away tax preparation services for free or at an extremely low cost, and the fact that the Internet is providing clients access to information that was once the private domain of accountants.