Audit

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released for public comment a staff consultant paper on standard-setting related to auditing accounting estimates and fair value measurements.

A post-implementation review conducted by the Financial Accounting Foundation of a 2004 accounting standard on share-based payment transaction said that it achieved its purpose and provides useful information to financial statement users.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added five more projects to its agenda for simplifying accounting standards, including short-term projects related to debt and tax accounting.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released a new report showing that auditors of brokers and dealers who were inspected last year continued to have a high number of problems with independence and audit deficiencies.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants has proposed to strengthen the auditor independence standards in the ethics code to address long associations with audit and assurance clients.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was fined $25 million after sanitizing a report to regulators on sanctions and money-laundering controls for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd., New York’s top bank regulator said today.

Governments that default on their sovereign debt could be falling victim to the absence of accrual accounting in most public sector entities, and the International Federation of Accountants wants to change that.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., after announcing an average of two acquisitions a month this year, is learning the importance of doing your homework.

Many banks are unprepared for changes in accounting standards next year on how to calculate losses on their loans and leases, according to a new survey.

Is the time now right to use a financial reporting language that transcends national boundaries? This question continues to cause division in some countries, particularly in the United States.

Ian Mackintosh, vice-chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, described some of the failures of the convergence process with the Financial Accounting Standards Board in a speech Wednesday, insisting that wholesale adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards is preferable to convergence.

Young accountants entering the profession and small firms may both be missing a huge opportunity, according to leading consultant Darren Root.

Registration for CCH's User Conference 2014 is filling up fast; industry studies by BDO and the AICPA are out, office closures and relocations...

The International Accounting Standards Board has released a new document describing some of its most recent tentative decisions from the first half of the year on the standards for lease accounting, including what appears to be an about-face on how leases should be categorized, opening up a new gulf between it and the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The American Institute of CPAs has launched an initiative to improve audit quality at private companies

Hans Hoogervorst, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, reportedly told an audience in Singapore last week that full convergence is no longer an achievable project.

XBRL US, a nonprofit organization that helps develop Extensible Business Reporting Language data tags in the U.S., is offering free data quality tools to help companies improve their XBRL financial filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and avoid "Dear CFO" letters.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has proposed a set of enhancements to its International Professional Practices Framework, which encompasses all the authoritative standards and guidance for internal auditors promulgated by the IIA.

A roundup of recent audit & attest news

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against the CEO and former CFO of a Florida-based computer equipment company for misrepresenting to external auditors and the investing public the state of its internal controls over financial reporting.