Audit

Japan’s Financial Services Authority has decided to permit voluntary domestic use of International Financial Reporting Standards, putting added pressure on the U.S. to follow suit.

The employment outlook in accounting and finance is expected to stabilize in the first quarter, according to a new survey of CFOs, although the hiring environment remains challenging for now.

The American Institute of CPAs joined with over a dozen other accounting organizations around the world to call for a single standard for climate change reporting.

James Leisenring, a member of the International Accounting Standards Board, told attendees at an accounting conference in New York to disregard the board’s recently issued standard for recognizing and measuring financial instruments, acknowledging that political pressures had forced the board to publish the standard.

The CFA Institute expressed its support for Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz’s statements on the need to “decouple” accounting standard-setting from bank regulation.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is facing an uncertain future after several justices on the high court appeared to side with the accounting firm and conservative group that hope to prove the board is unconstitutional.

FASB Chairman Robert Herz and AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee Chairman Jay Hanson separately acknowledged that many assets and financial instruments do not need to be measured at fair value on the balance sheet.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James L. Kroeker told leaders of the accounting profession that independent auditors will be expected to consider the interests of the “investing public” — not just their audit clients — when performing their duties.

Audit committee members are more likely to support the auditor over management in an accounting disagreement when the compensation of members of the board audit committee includes long-term stock options, according to a new study.

The Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, said they are seeking nominations to identify a successor to IASB Chairman Sir David Tweedie.

A new online poll by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services found that 27.4 percent of executives reported cuts in their companies’ compliance and internal audit departments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against a health care financial services company after it allegedly provided investors with forged financial statements and audit reports to lure them into a $75 million investment scheme.

Officials from the Security and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board cautioned a group of auditors against placing too much reliance on specialists hired for their expertise in areas such as fair value measurement.

Looking forward to 2010, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is bracing for a surge in litigation from the targets of its enforcement staff, a series of new regulatory responsibilities triggered by the Madoff Ponzi scheme, and corner-cutting by accounting firms squeezed by the ongoing economic crisis.

The dispute between Overstock.com and Grant Thornton heated up after the Internet retailer’s chief accused the firm of “inconsistencies and inaccurate statements.”

For the first time, the Securities and Exchange Commission has distributed more than $2 billion in a single calendar year to injured investors as a result of SEC enforcement actions and proceedings.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has published a paper questioning how financial statements can provide more information about the long-term sustainability of current government programs.

CCH and Grant Thornton have teamed up to produce IFRS Tax Manager, an online guide to International Financial Reporting Standards, aimed at helping tax, audit and accounting professionals comply with tax accounting and reporting standards under IFRS.

CaseWare IDEA and Houston-based Audimation Services have launched SymSure for IDEA continuous auditing and monitoring risk management software.

XBRL US Labs has issued a call for research partners to expand the research and development projects it already has underway and named its first three research fellows.