Audit

The Private Company Council that the Financial Accounting Foundation is setting up is intended to serve as the voice of millions of privately held companies during the standard-setting process.

A penny shaved is a trust spurned

A penny shaved is a trust spurned

Half a dozen accounting firms have been selected to help oversee compliance by the five banks that agreed to a mammoth national mortgage settlement.

As we acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are once again in a period of re-examination of the role, relevance and reliability of financial audits in protecting investors and the public interest. This seems to be, in part, a reaction to the financial crisis of the past few years.

Highlights of the previous month in audit and attest

First round of Dodd-Frank-mandated inspections suggests deficiences may be widespread

Recent news from accounting firms across the country

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made available its proposed 2013 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy in XBRL format for public review and comment.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has begun legal proceedings against Ernst & Young Hong Kong for failing to produce work papers and accounting records related to its audits of a former China-based client, Standard Water Limited.

Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, discusses how the inspection process at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board works.

Cindy Fornelli of the Center for Audit Quality talks about the framework that auditors should be using to combat fraud.

Global CEOs and U.S. small business owners would like political leaders and candidates for office to focus more on tax reform, regulation, the size of government and entitlements, and the national debt in order to stimulate economic growth and job creation, according to a new report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently issued rule requiring companies to disclose their use of minerals from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo could be an early indication of a future direction of regulators, prodding companies into providing more disclosures of environmental, social, humanitarian and labor issues.

In her keynote at this year’s Midwest Accounting & Finance Showcase, Illinois CPA Society president and CEO Elaine Weiss highlighted several of the most important issues facing the profession.

Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, discusses the importance of auditors retaining their professional skepticism.

Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, sees the demands increasing for auditors to do a better job of demonstrating independence, objectivity and professional skepticism, especially in the wake of recent financial scandals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requiring companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country, and independently audit the reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted rules Wednesday mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requiring companies engaged in extracting oil, natural gas or minerals to disclose any payments they make to the U.S. government or foreign governments.

A new report from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board indicates that auditing firms have apparently ignored or forgotten the lessons that came out of the Bernard Madoff scandal and similar financial frauds of recent years.