Audit

The Financial Accounting Standards Board took up the controversial question of disclosure requirements for loss contingencies at its latest meeting and decided that companies need to make more disclosures.

The IRS said that time is running out for many small businesses that wish to take advantage of the tax breaks in the stimulus bill.

The Small Business Administration and the Commerce Department plan to offer more federal contracts to small businesses, but a small business advocacy group is skeptical.

CFOs and senior-level accountants anticipate spending more of their time five years from now on non-accounting functions, according to a new survey.

IMGCAP(1)] I recently read an article challenging the reader to sum up one’s leadership in six words. I decided to apply this same challenge in describing my experience at the AICPA Leadership Academy. My six words: Amazing professionals. Thought provoking. Life changing.

The SEC has approved rules requiring public accounting firms registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to report events such as legal proceedings and changes in a firm’s contact information within 30 days to the PCAOB, as well as file annual reports on disciplinary matters and other issues.

The Government Accounting Standards Board has drafted proposed standards for local government bankruptcies, and is giving interested parties until August 28 to comment.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board may expand the use of mark-to-market accounting to the loans held by banks.

The American Bankers Association has released a letter and white paper raising concerns over the process taken by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board in their financial instruments projects.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published two lists of accounting firms that have not yet been inspected and jurisdictions in which it has inspected registered non-U.S. firms.

IMGCAP(1)]The Financial Accounting Standards Board took plenty of heat in April for loosening mark-to-market guidelines, a move that critics assailed as a gift to the financial industry and a nod to political pressures.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to draft proposed updates to fair value accounting standards with new disclosure requirements.

CCH has released the latest version of its TeamMate audit management software with enhanced management reportlng and issues-tracking features.

IMGCAP(1)] All too often, professional leadership seminars fail to live up to their potential for lively, intellectually engaging discussions about current issues and those on the forefront. I recently returned from the AICPA’s Inaugural Leadership Academy in Chicago where 28 young CPAs discussed topics affecting accountants everywhere.

The American Bankers Association is objecting to the newest proposed accounting standards for financial instruments, claiming that they would dramatically expand the use of the much-maligned mark-to-market accounting.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published a set of proposals on the classification of rights issues to clarify their accounting treatment when they are in a currency other than the issuer’s.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and XBRL US have completed their work in revising the XBRL U.S. GAAP Taxonomy to reflect the FASB Accounting Standards Codification that was released on July 1.

IMGCAP(1)] The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy called for independent funding of global accounting standard-setters.

Grant Thornton has introduced a service designed to speed companies through the bankruptcy and workout process.

International Accounting Standards Board chairman Sir David Tweedie said that other countries are running out of patience waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to decide on whether to approve a roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards and that the U.S. would need to commit by 2011.