Audit

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White said the SEC is considering a recommendation from SEC chief accountant James Schnurr that would allow for the supplemental use of International Financial Reporting Standards by U.S. companies in addition to their U.S. GAAP financials.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has established a consultative group that will offer advice to the board on setting financial reporting standards for government entities.

The Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent organization of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Private Company Council, has elected Charles H. Noski as its new chairman, succeeding Jeffrey J. Diermeier, whose term ends on December 31.

The Private Company Council is calling for the removal of the effective dates of four accounting standards updates.

Japan’s Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended fining Toshiba Corp. about 7.37 billion yen ($60 million) for falsifying earnings, the largest financial penalty ever sought by the watchdog.

Litigation against accounting firms appears to have subsided for now, according to one legal expert, but is showing signs of reviving as the Securities and Exchange Commission turns its attention back to accounting and audit enforcement cases.

A new international survey ranks Zurich, Switzerland as the highest-paying city for accountants, with another Swiss city, Geneva, in second place.

North American employees and managers are missing out on more than $10.7 billion of unclaimed expenses every year, according to new estimates.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed accounting standards update to improve the effectiveness of the disclosure requirements for fair value measurements.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released a report on the firm’s efforts to improve audit quality.

Grant Thornton has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle charges that the firm and two of its partners disregarded red flags and fraud risks during audits of two publicly traded companies that ultimately faced SEC enforcement actions for improper accounting and other violations.

Check out the digital edition of the December 2015 issue of Accounting Today.

The auditing process is mechanical in its function but requires a curious mind to prevent and detect misstatements that can hurt a business.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board released an implementation guide Tuesday to help public companies in the U.S. identify, understand and report on the sustainability topics most likely to be material to investors.

A recent report from the Institute of Internal Auditors focuses on how internal auditors view the value they bring to their organizations, even while many of their organizations have no performance measures in place for the internal audit function.

I was asked to provide advice to people starting out in accounting and am sharing my thoughts here. I get many requests to speak, write and comment on all sorts of areas of practice management. Here is one of such interview that hopefully you might find interesting and insightful.

For the fourth quarter in a row, Top 10 Firm BDO USA led large audit firms in new Securities and Exchange Commission audit clients, with 13 new engagements and a net gain of eight in the third quarter of 2015.

In the modern marketplace and competitive landscape, one of the most common questions, complaints and areas of focus for management is the concept of adding value.

Deloitte is advising corporate clients to be careful about their holiday gift giving so they don’t run afoul of laws like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

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