Audit

Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Leslie Seidman and International Accounting Standards Board chairman Hans Hoogervorst appeared side by side at an AICPA conference Tuesday in a joint appearance to discuss what went awry in U.S. support for International Financial Reporting Standards.

American Institute of CPAs chairman Richard Caturano told an audience of CPAs at the AICPA’s Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments in Washington, D.C., that the Institute is committed to engaging with regulators.

Accounting Today has issued a call for submissions for its 2013 Top New Products report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday it has begun administrative proceedings against the China affiliates of each of the Big Four accounting firms and another large U.S. accounting firm, BDO, for refusing to produce audit work papers and other documents related to China-based companies under investigation by the SEC for potential accounting fraud against U.S. investors.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman is planning for a multilateral way of working with the International Accounting Standards Board in the future, even as her term approaches an end next year.

A recent report from the federal accounting industry watchdog agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, found that the incidence of deficient audits performed by the Big Four accounting firms doubled in 2010, reaching a horrifying 33 percent.

Hewlett-Packard Co.’s directors and auditors, along with Autonomy Corp. founder Mike Lynch, were sued by investors over alleged misstatements related to last year’s purchase of the British software maker.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chairman James Doty told an audience of auditors that the public is expecting more from the audit profession and warned firms against skimping on audit quality.

The American Institute of CPAs has assembled a set of training courses and online resources to help auditors implement its new clarified auditing standards, which take effect next month.

The increasing reliance of the Big Four accounting firms on their consulting and advisory practices may threaten the independence of their audit practices, according to some auditing experts.

GMI Ratings has compiled a second “Black Swan Risk List” identifying 40 North American companies with the highest risk of major drops in share prices within the next six months.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update aimed at clarifying the scope of transactions that would be subject to disclosures about offsetting of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet.

Mike Lynch, who founded the British software company accused by Hewlett-Packard Co. of falsifying finances, said that while he may have used some of the contested accounting and sales methods, they were all legal.

Recent network memberships, awards, new Web sites and more

The BDO network of accounting firms said Tuesday that annual revenue grew 6.11 percent worldwide for its member firms compared to last year.

Jeremy Friehling, the 23-year-old son of Bernard Madoff’s former auditor, David Friehling, has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

U.S. investors expect the country will eventually support International Financial Reporting Standards, but the process will take time and require substantial investment in staff and training, according to new research from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Recent network memberships, awards, new Web sites and more

The parent organization of the International Accounting Standards Board has opened its first regional office abroad, choosing Tokyo as the location of the London-based IFRS Foundation’s Asia-Oceania office.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice have released A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a 120-page guide providing a detailed analysis of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including the accounting provisions, and closely examining the SEC and DOJ approach to FCPA enforcement.