Audit

Nearly one-third of public companies have no plans to use Extensible Business Reporting Language technology for their financial filings, despite an SEC mandate requiring XBRL use by 2011.

Global business consulting and internal audit firmProtiviti Inc. released a new version of its Governance Portal for InternalAudit, adding a synchronization management engine that allows auditors to workeven when they are disconnected from the network.

President Barack Obama has ordered the establishment of two interagency task forces on federal contracting opportunities for small businesses and for veterans small business development.

A class-action lawsuit by former shareholders of Lehman Brothers has been amended to add the defunct investment bank’s auditing firm, Ernst & Young, as a defendant.

XBRL US and the Financial Accounting Foundation have inked a three-year agreement to conduct joint research on further developing interactive data tags for financial statements.

The Center for Audit Quality, the CFA Institute, and the Council of Institutional Investors have written to leaders of the Senate Banking Committee asking them not to exempt smaller public companies from Sarbanes-Oxley internal controls audit requirements in the financial regulatory reform legislation.

New research has raised doubts about the ability of auditors to ferret out earnings management.

The Institute of Internal Auditors’ Internal Audit Standards Board has proposed several changes to the standards for internal auditors, including what should happen when giving an opinion on an audit, and the role of outsourced service providers.

The American Institute of CPAs is keeping a close watch on financial reform legislation as the Senate is expected to begin debate on the bill within the next week.

Americans seem to hold a generally favorable view of accountants, according to a new survey.

SEC APPROVES PCAOB FOREIGN INSPECTION DELAY

Washington, D.C.-A series of freshly reconstituted riskassessment audit standards proposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board have come under fire from the Government Accountability Office.

Chief audit executives and internal audit directors and managers are noticing improvements in staffing and budgets this year after a brutal 2009, according to a new survey.

IMGCAP(1)]Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Auditing Standard No. 5 were issued, momentum continues to shift towards continuous monitoring or automation solutions.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have published a report detailing their progress to date on achieving convergence of U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards.

The kickoff meeting of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies showed there isn’t a lot of agreement among privately held companies and their accountants on exactly what constitutes generally accepted accounting principles.

IMGCAP(1)]While Congress and accountants continue to fight the Sarbanes-Oxley 404 requirements for small filers on what seems like an annual basis, those in the private sector continue to deploy SOX-related policies and procedures as best practices. This trend will continue as the cost of compliance becomes more efficient.

A “blue ribbon panel” looking to improve the accounting standards for private companies wants to find out why so many are not strictly complying with GAAP.

The American Institute of CPAs is encouraging more CPA firms and college professors to teach forensic accountants the skills they need to ferret out financial chicanery.