Audit & Accounting

Thanks to some fast footwork by regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, accounting firms and many of their smaller audit clients gained an additional 45 days of breathing room to comply with complex new Sarbanes-Oxley Act internal control reporting rules.

Officials at the Public Company Oversight Board unveiled an aggressive agenda for the coming year that may result in as many as 11 new standards for auditors in areas ranging from corporate fraud detection and reporting, to wrestling with related-party transactions.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is wrapping up a year in which it has been simultaneously returning to basics and promulgating specifics - both of which include projects of long-term significance to government financial operations.

Concerns that the outsourcing of finance and accounting functions impedes the ability to control key processes related to compliance and governance appear to have abated, according to a survey commissioned by Accenture.

Following a review of Fannie Mae's accounting practices, the Securities and Exchange Commission said that the mortgage concern didn't comply with two major accounting rules and asked it to restate past earnings.

At long last, the Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued its final rule mandating that companies expense at fair value the stock options that they grant to their employees.

Despite acknowledging the impact of higher producer prices, chief financial officers expect higher capital and technology spending at their companies during the next 12 months, according to a recent survey.

Big Four firm Deloitte & Touche LLP has named 26-year veteran Brian Derksen to the post of deputy chief executive.

Time Warner Inc. reached a $210 million settlement with the Justice Department to end a probe into whether its America Online unit improperly booked ad sales, and proposed a $300 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to end an investigation into accounting irregularities at AOL.

While fewer chief executives of America's fastest growing companies are optimistic about the U.S. economy's prospects over the next 12 months, they continue to predict a healthy increase in their own company's revenue growth over the next year, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers.