Audit

Thomas Wilson, chief operating officer of the Charlotte, N.C.-based accounting firm, Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP, died on June 19.

International Firm News:

The newly inaugurated chairman of the California Society of CPAs hopes to strengthen the relationship between CalCPA and California accounting firms.

The average salary and total compensation for management accountants reached their highest levels last year, the Institute of Management Accountants reported, after accounting salaries saw a decline in 2011 for the first time in 23 years.

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India has opened an office in Washington, D.C., its ninth overseas center.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued for public comment a proposed concepts statement that would guide GASB when establishing standards regarding the measurement of assets and liabilities for U.S. state and local governments.

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised exposure draft containing proposals for changing the accounting for insurance contracts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a China-based company and its CEO with fraudulently misleading investors about its financial condition by touting cash balances that were millions of dollars higher than actual amounts.

The House Financial Services Committee has unanimously passed legislation prohibiting the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board from mandating the automatic rotation of a public company’s independent external auditor.

The European Commission has extended its cooperation agreement with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, allowing the PCAOB to continue exchanging confidential information with European audit regulators.

The accounting profession was slightly more optimistic this month than last, according to the June edition of Accounting Today’s monthly Accountants Confidence Index.

Less than nine months after uncovering the $215 million financial fraud at Peregrine Financial Group, Confirmation.com said that its electronic audit confirmation service was used to uncover another case of financial fraud.

As G8 leaders met in Northern Ireland for a summit focused on increasing financial transparency and tax information exchange, 150 business leaders and investors also gathered in Germany to advance a market-led solution to financial transparency.

The New York State Society of CPAs has expressed concern that an International Audit and Assurance Standards Board proposal that aims to make auditor reporting more transparent and improve users’ understanding of audited financial statements goes too far in expanding the scope of auditor responsibilities.

The current accounting rules for accounting for loan losses were in part responsible for the failures of community banks in the wake of the financial crisis, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office.

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon has written to the leaders of the state CPA societies in response to an announcement from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy urging private companies not to use the AICPA’s recently unveiled Financial Reporting Framework for Small and Medium-sized Entities.

For anyone evaluating the principles of the new service organization controls (SOC), particularly SOC 2, BrightLine CPAs & Associates principal and SOC reporting practice leader Greg Miller describes the five key principles and how to select the right one.

Surveys, office relocation and more...

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has advised private companies not to use the American Institute of CPAs’ recently released Financial Reporting Framework for Small and Medium-sized Entities.

The International Integrated Reporting Council has signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Intellectual Capital Initiative to ensure that "intellectual capital" is reflected as a crucial and essential source of an organization's value creation within integrated reporting.