Audit

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Auditing Standard No. 16, Communications with Audit Committees, as well as amendments to other standards from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

A dose of this week’s office moves, tools, industry reports and charity updates.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a proposal for comment to improve reporting on expected credit losses on loans and other financial assets held as investments by banks, financial institutions and other public and private organizations.

Interactive Data Corp., a provider of evaluated pricing, valuation and reference data services, has released a new set of enhancements to its fixed income transparency tool Vantage, which are designed to effectively meet requirements of both the buy-side and sell-side in the evaluated pricing process.

Losses due to fraud are estimated to increase 20 percent during the U.S. holiday season, according to a new survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

The International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators has released a global survey of audit inspection findings, identifying some of the most common problems that regulators have identified at auditing firms around the world during their inspections.

The New Mexico Finance Authority has completed its probe of fake audits and said it was reforming its accounting practices as a result.

New going concern warnings appear to be reaching a 12-year low among companies, according to new research from Audit Analytics, but the number of companies improving well enough to shed their going concern status is also the lowest observed in the past 12 years.

The International Accounting Standards Board has settled on its future agenda and priorities following a public consultation.

The International Federation of Accountants has released a document highlighting the best practices for business accountants to follow in terms of effective governance, risk management and internal control.

Organizations are struggling to understand the implications of environmental and social factors in their finances, operations and strategy, according to a new report from the Prince of Wales’s Accounting for Sustainability Project.

KPMG International announced annual combined revenues of $23.03 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2012, a 4.4 percent increase in local currency terms over the previous year, and a 1.4 percent increase in U.S. dollar terms.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the Center for Audit Quality issued a summary Wednesday of observations from two forums on disclosure effectiveness.

A new report from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales urges the International Accounting Standards Board to “end the era of convergence,” and give all listed companies around the world the option of applying International Financial Reporting Standards.

The majority of chief audit executives anticipate that the resources and budgets for their internal audit departments will either increase or stabilize next year, according to a new survey.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released a report Monday in which it identified widespread problems at eight major accounting firms with their audits of internal control over financial reporting.

The Private Company Council held its inaugural meeting on Thursday to discuss how accounting standards should be adjusted for privately held companies.

CONNECTICUT

The Financial Accounting Foundation’s board of trustees has appointed four new members to the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council and six new members to the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued a staff audit practice alert to remind auditors of their requirement to exercise professional skepticism throughout their audits.