Audit

The profession's confidence in the U.S. economy moderated somewhat last month, according to the April edition of Accounting Today’s monthly Accountants Confidence Index.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has filed a complaint against Tunney & Associates, an accounting firm with offices in Hammond, Ind. and Orland Park, Ill., and Michael Tunney, its sole owner and a CPA licensed in Illinois and Indiana, claiming he failed to properly audit a client registered with the CFTC.

International Accounting Firm News:

Former Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Robert Herz has written a new book on his experiences chairing the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the challenges he faced during the financial crisis.

A proposed Integrated Reporting Framework unveiled by the International Integrated Reporting Council this week is attracting some early support.

The promise of integrated reporting that combines financial reporting with a host of other factors, including sustainability, governance and community involvement, finally appears to be on the horizon.

The International Integrated Reporting Council has issued a consultation draft of its International Integrated Reporting Framework, which aims to create the foundations for a new reporting model that will enable a business to provide a concise communication of how it creates value over time.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Private Company Council have released an invitation to comment on their proposed decision-making framework for determining when exceptions to accounting standards should be made for privately held companies.

A new study indicates that despite calls for greater auditor independence, investors prefer companies to be audited by the same firm that also provides it with tax services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the former partner in charge of KPMG's Pacific Southwest audit practice and his friend with insider trading on nonpublic information about firm clients.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to host six forums across the country on auditing in the small business environment, starting in June.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted unanimously to adopt rules requiring broker-dealers, mutual funds, investment advisers, and certain other entities regulated by the agency to adopt programs to detect red flags and prevent identity theft.

New accounting class-action lawsuit filings declined sharply last year after a spike in 2011, according to a new report, but settlement amounts in such cases have grown since 2011.

The European Union has been considering an overhaul of the audit profession that could have a far-reaching impact on the Big Four.

KPMG has resigned from its audits of the nutrition company Herbalife and footwear retailer Skechers after one of its senior auditors was discovered to be involved in insider trading.

Members of the Accounting Standards Advisory Forum held their inaugural meeting in London on Monday and Tuesday and signed a joint memorandum of understanding under which the standard-setters from around the world will provide advice to the International Accounting Standards Board.

The Internal Revenue Service is planning an 18 percent reduction in its audits of large businesses in the current fiscal year, according to a new report.

The former president and treasurer of the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors has been accused of embezzling over $30,000 from the organization.

An audit by the Government Accountability Office of the Securities and Exchanges Commission’s Investor Protection Fund financial statements for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 found two areas of significant deficiency in the SEC’s internal controls.

The Securities and Exchange Commission reminded corporate filers Friday that the forthcoming release of its EDGAR financial statement database will support 2013 U.S. GAAP Taxonomy, but not the older 2011 taxonomy.