Audit & Accounting

The accountant who signed off on phony audits of Bernard Madoff’s firm for decades became the fourth person tied to the $17.5 billion fraud to avoid prison after aiding prosecutors.

The U.S. Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has released a study criticizing the quality of employee benefit plan audits performed by CPAs, finding that serious deficiencies in 39 percent of the audits are putting the benefit plans and 22.5 million participants and beneficiaries at risk.

Claire Ighodaro, a board member of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants, sees a need for firms to promote an ethical culture by setting a tone at the top levels of the organization.

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed a set of enhancements to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a proposed accounting standards update to simplify the accounting for measurement-period adjustments in business combinations.

The Center for Audit Quality has premiered an online video series, “Profession in Focus," featuring interviews with leaders in the profession, starting with Deloitte’s new CEO, Cathy Engelbert.

We can see a bigger picture and look further out into the future than those of you who fight your daily battles down in the trenches.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Deutsche Bank AG with filing misstated financial reports during the height of the financial crisis that failed to take into account a material risk for potential losses estimated to be in the billions of dollars, and Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $55 million penalty to settle the charges.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has released nine new and updated practice advisories that provide guidance to internal auditors and chief audit executives on sustaining a comprehensive quality assurance and improvement program.

BDO grabbed the most new SEC audit clients among large firms in the first quarter of 2015, while RBSM led in overall gains.