Audit

KPMG has agreed to pay $8.2 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the firm violated rules requiring auditors to remain independent from the public companies they’re auditing to ensure they maintain their objectivity and impartiality.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has launched the FASB Outlook, a new quarterly e-newsletter designed to keep people informed about FASB’s current projects and activities.

Chinese affiliates of the four largest accounting firms were barred for six months from leading audits for U.S.-listed companies after failing to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission orders for documents at the heart of a series of accounting fraud probes.

The European Commission has appointed the French accounting firm Mazars and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to team up on a report assessing the effects of using International Financial Reporting Standards in the European Union.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released an updated print edition of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s FASB Accounting Standards Codification, the authoritative source of U.S. GAAP for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations.

The International Federation of Accountants, a global organization for the accounting profession with 179 members in 130 countries, has issued a Call for Nominations for the IFAC Board and Committees in 2015.

3PAO Accreditation, rebranding and more...

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been making progress on reducing its backlog of remediation submissions dating back to 2010 from auditing firms that have been addressing the problems found by PCAOB inspectors, according to a new report.

Vin Colman is PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. Assurance Leader and a member of PwC’s U.S. Leadership Team. He began running the firm’s Assurance practice, which includes audit and other services, last July when the firm reorganized its management ranks.

The top vendors listed on travel expense reports last year in terms of the percentage of receipts included Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, Avis and Marriott, according to a new report by travel and expense management software developer Certify.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a pair of updates Thursday to U.S. GAAP to provide alternatives for private companies on the subsequent accounting for goodwill and for interest rate swaps.

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to offer accountants in Singapore a pathway to the Associate Chartered Accountants designation.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the International Integrated Reporting Council have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to collaborate more closely to advance corporate disclosures of sustainability efforts to investors.

The accounting profession's expectations for economic growth wobbled slightly, but remained positive for the fourth month in a row, according to the January edition of Accounting Today’s Accountants Confidence Index.

The International Valuation Standards Council has released a guide that aims to raise awareness of audit procedures among professional valuers in response to heightened scrutiny by regulators of valuations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed until July 1, 2014, the date on which the first set of municipal advisors will be required to register under final rules issued by the commission.

The Rainmaker Companies has announced a transition in ownership. The group, which provides training, consulting and networking to accounting firms, will be led by newly appointed CEO Dan Brooks and president Angie Grissom.

Top firms to intern, Ronald Blue consolidates and more…

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants are commemorating the second annual CFO Month, with a technology-focused theme to mark the rise of the “techno-finance chief.

The International Federation of Accountants is reiterating its call for global policymakers to focus on regulatory convergence, arguing that their failure to do so is stifling business confidence, economic stability and ambitions for a sustainable recovery.