Audit

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board published revised proposals Monday for revenue recognition as part of their continuing efforts at convergence.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved new rules that will make it more difficult for foreign companies to go public on the three major U.S. exchanges through a reverse merger with a U.S. shell company.

The International Federation of Accountants’ Small and Medium Practices Committee has released the third edition of its Guide to Using International Standards on Auditing in the Audits of Small- and Medium-Sized Entities.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added two new projects to its agenda aimed at improving financial reporting by not-for-profit organizations.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is proposing to defer some of the changes it required earlier this year in the presentation of other comprehensive income on financial statements after hearing objections from various quarters.

Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant James Kroeker criticized the American Institute of CPAs’ resolution of disapproval against the Financial Accounting Foundation’s proposal to set up a Private Company Standards Improvement Council, calling it a “clear threat to the independence of the FAF.”

The worst is over for accounting firms, said Allan D. Koltin, chief executive of Koltin Consulting Group, in his keynote address at the Thomson Reuters Users’ Conference for Professional Tax & Accounting Firms.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Financial Reporting Executive Committee has published a working draft of a new AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guide, “Testing Goodwill for Impairment.”

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a set of improvements in financial reporting on consolidations that would affect all companies required to evaluate whether they should consolidate another entity.

Value pricing, also known as fixed-fee billing, is attractive on some levels to both accountants and their clients: accountants, because they get their fee up front, normally at a premium above their time-based billing; and clients, because it provides them with certainty about the services they will receive and the fee they will be billed.

The Financial Accounting Foundation plans to host a series of three public roundtables early next year and a live webcast later this month to give constituents an opportunity to provide their feedback on its recent proposal to create a Private Company Standards Improvement Council.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has agreed to cooperate with Israeli financial regulators on exchanging confidential information about auditing and accounting firms.

The head of a British accounting group is warning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board against pursuing a so-called “condorsement” approach to International Financial Reporting Standards.

IMGCAP(1)]In mid-2011, the American Institute of CPAs established a Service Organization Controls reporting framework in hopes of providing the public and CPAs with a clearer understanding of the reporting options for service organizations.

Accounting Today handed out the awards for the Best Accounting Firms to Work For 2011 at the Accounting Today Growth & Profitability Summit in Las Vegas.

U.S. and Hong Kong accounting organizations have inked a five-year mutual recognition agreement that would allow reciprocity between U.S. and Hong Kong CPAs.

More than half of global businesses are unaware of pending lease accounting changes that would virtually eliminate the use of off-balance sheet leases, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman gave a cautious thumbs-up to the so-called “condorsement” approach to incorporation of International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S., while defending FASB’s authority over private company accounting standards.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has launched a new Web site, CPAverify.org, that provides a central database of state licensee information about CPAs practicing across the U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to hold its inaugural roundtable in the Financial Reporting Series on “Measurement Uncertainty in Financial Reporting.”