Audit

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a new auditing standard that aims to toughen the requirements for concurring reviews of the work of audit teams.

Many companies are getting a jump on preparing for adoption of interactive data-tagging technology on their financial statements, even before they are subject to SEC requirements.

A group of top central bank governors is calling for accounting standard-setters to develop a provisioning approach for troubled loans based on an expected-losses model rather than fair value.

The Internal Revenue Service plans to audit Harvard University and about 39 other colleges as part of an overall review of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published two sets of staff questions and answers to provide guidance about a registered auditing firm’s obligation to report certain events to the PCAOB in special reports, and the process through which a firm can succeed to a predecessor firm’s registration status.

IMGCAP(1)]As I have performed over 700 SAS 70 audits, I should find that each SAS 70 audit is similar to the previous one I just performed. The good or bad news, depending upon how you look at it, is that they are not, and 2010 looks to be an even more challenging year to stay on top of the changes.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued a new standard on compilation and review engagements that represents one of the biggest changes to its Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services since 1978.

Financial analysts who cover the insurance sector are generally dissatisfied with the current financial reporting framework for the insurance industry.

Washington, D.C. - In a case that carries the potential to reshape the regulatory landscape of the accounting profession, the U.S. Supreme Court last month heard oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board - with several justices appearing to take the plaintiffs' side in the case.

KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute has provided a list of the top 10 “to-do’s” for audit committee members this year.

Call it what you like, but the first decade of the millennium has passed with many a whimper.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued final standards on postemployment benefits and municipal bankruptcy.

Public companies in Argentina will be required to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards starting in 2012.

The California Board of Accountancy is requiring CPAs licensed in California to take additional ethics education classes starting in the New Year, and all accounting firms in the state will be subject to peer review.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed accounting standards update on its subsequent events standards, amending certain recognition and disclosure requirements to avoid a conflict with the SEC.

Overstock.com has engaged KPMG as its new outside auditor, but not without a parting shot at its previous auditing firm, Grant Thornton.

Everybody has to have a Top 10 list around the New Year, and looking back over the past year, we found that WebCPA readers clicked the most on stories about taxes and accounting firm rankings.

Business consulting and internal audit firm Protiviti has begun publishing “Board Perspectives: Risk Oversight,” a new monthly newsletter aimed at corporate boards of directors.

IMGCAP(1)]Silver bells and major snow storms aside, I am struggling to get into the holiday spirit.

President Obama urged a group of leaders of community banks to increase their lending to small businesses.