Audit & Accounting

Buoyed by strong growth in its five business sectors, consulting giant Accenture Ltd. posted third quarter profits of $484 million, compared with $368 million in net income from the year-ago third quarter.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., the studio behind "Shrek" and "Shark Tale," announced on Monday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into trading of its stock and the release of its first quarter results in May.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. named Douglas R. Muir, a consultant to the company since December 2004, as the company's new chief accounting officer on Friday.

The board of KPMG LLP elected Timothy P. Flynn as chairman and chief executive, succeeding Eugene O'Kelly, who will step down to deal with a recent diagnosis of advanced-stage cancer.

Courts look unkindly at CPAs who advise clients beyond their qualifications - for instance, by dispensing legal advice (if they're not attorneys as well). Knowing where to stop and refer clients to other professionals, as well as how to manage the other specialists in a client's financial life, are critical skills for effective investment advisors.

* FIRM UNVEILS FINANCIAL CONCIERGE PROGRAM FOR PRO ATHLETES: Piascik & Associates, a Richmond, Va.-based CPA and financial planning firm, has rolled out a financial concierge program for its professional athlete clients. The program is designed to keep professional athletes on a managed budget with automatic, on-time bill payment and advice on making high-dollar purchasing decisions on tangibles such as cars, jewelry and houses.

Do you know the best ways you as an investor can get cheated?

Assets in Section 529 college savings plans rose to an estimated $55.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, according to data released by the nonprofit College Savings Foundation. The quarterly asset total was up 6 percent from an estimated $52.3 billion at the end of 2004, and up 38.6 percent from the first quarter 2004 total of $40.0 billion.

Chief financial officers' optimism about the economy and their own companies' prospects is the lowest it has been during the past 12 months, according to a survey of Financial Executives International members.

Better than one in every eight U.S. corporations that have undergone the more rigorous audits mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act during the past year have been flagged for ineffective internal controls over their financial reporting, officials at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board disclosed during a recent meeting with the organization's Standing Advisory Group.