Audit

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking for public comments on a proposal from Nasdaq to require Nasdaq-listed companies to establish an internal audit function no later than Dec. 31.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance has issued new guidance allowing public companies to provide equity-based financing to employees through a program involving loans without violating Sarbanes-Oxley, with some help from former Congressman Michael Oxley himself.

The internal audit function has a greater opportunity to deliver value to businesses outside its traditional focus areas, according to a new survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers, but before it can contribute to businesses in a more meaningful way, it must keep pace and continue to evolve its focus.

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The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has introduced an online version of its Governmental Accounting Research System, GARS Online, providing online access to accounting standards and related literature for state and local governments.

Fitch Ratings is warning that approval of a Financial Accounting Standards Board proposal on the treatment of credit losses for loans and other financial assets could eventually force U.S. banks to book expected losses early, putting pressure on their reserve levels and reported earnings.

In the past four years, the quantity of financial restatements from SEC public registrants has leveled off and their severity has remained low, according to a new report by the research firm Audit Analytics, but restatements have increased from accelerated filers for the third straight year.

Accounting Today has released its Top 100 Firms and Regional Leaders report for 2013, ranking the largest firms in the U.S. and in regions across the country.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released an updated print edition of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification, and appointed some new members to its advisory committees.

The Group of 20 finance ministers, along with the European Commission, are calling for improved accounting standards in the public sector.

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The profession's confidence in the U.S. economy is growing even more strongly than before, according to the March edition of Accounting Today’s monthly Accountants Confidence Index.

Even as top executives at failing companies dump their shares, auditors of those same companies often fail to issue a going concern opinion to warn other investors of the precarious nature of the corporation’s finances.

Audit and risk management product maker ACL has released version 4 of its Analytics Exchange (AX) product —formerly ACL AuditExchange – with enhancements designed to enable adjacent departments, including finance, risk and compliance, to identify control deficiencies such as fraud and revenue leakage.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released previously nonpublic portions of two of its inspections of PricewaterhouseCoopers on Thursday, saying the firm had failed to address the PCAOB’s quality control criticisms.

A Texas lawmaker who also operates a CPA practice has introduced a pair of bills in the Texas legislature that would exempt CPAs who prepare financial statements for small businesses from the state’s mandatory peer review program, and ensure at least two sole practitioners are represented on the Texas State Board of Accountancy.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published revised proposals for loan loss provisioning as part of the financial instruments project that it has been working to converge with the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, but the two proposals still take different approaches.

The top concerns of global accounting leaders, according to a new survey, included the needs of small- and medium-sized practices and small- and medium-sized entities and the reputation and credibility of the profession.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board may be changing its rules on business segment reporting or issuing additional guidance in response to questions raised during a post-implementation review of a 16-year-old standard.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reappointed Public Company Accounting Oversight Board members Steven B. Harris and Jay D. Hanson for five-year terms.