Audit

Eli Mason, whose career in public accounting spanned more than seven decades as a practitioner, and a proponent of the profession, has died after a long illness.

General Electric has agreed to pay $50 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company reported false and misleading results in its financial statements.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, reassured attendees at the American Accounting Association’s Annual Meeting that he had no intention of legislating accounting standards.

BDO Seidman said the firm’s national director of accounting, Ben Neuhausen, has passed away after a prolonged illness.

More than two out of five business executives said in a recent poll that an accounting standard on business combinations is causing them to reassess their strategy for M&A deals.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has created an Investor Advisory Group to solicit input from investors on how to carry out the board’s responsibilities in overseeing public auditing firms.

Switching to International Financial Reporting Standards could prove to be a costly move for many companies’ IT departments, according to a new report by Ernst & Young.

IMGCAP(1)]It is widely believed that the U.S. financial system needs asystemic risk regulator to help prevent future financial crises. Thedebate is centered not on whether we should have such a regulator, butwhich agency should be anointed and what powers it should have.

BDO Seidman said its revenue for the fiscal year ended June 30 fell 5.9 percent to $620 million from last year’s revenue of $659 million.

The U.S. Small Business Administration needs to take additional steps to reform its disaster loan program and improve the application process, recommends a new report.

House Committee on Small Business chairwoman Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., has written to the chairmen of two other House committees asking for changes in health care reform legislation to reduce the burden on small businesses.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has voted to adopt a new auditing standard on engagement quality review and to issue a concept release on requiring the engagement partner to sign the audit report.

The Financial Crisis Advisory Group has published a report concluding that accounting standards are not to blame for the economic crisis.

IMGCAP(1)] As a new or young accountant there are a number of responsibilities and challenges on your plate.

Daniel L. Goelzer was named acting chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and will take office August 1.

New York State CPAs are facing a Sunday deadline to register with the State Education Department under a recently passed law.

Slightly more than half of small and midsized businesses prefer to have a separate set of accounting standards for private companies, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled an open meeting next week to discuss making changes in engagement quality auditing and sign-off requirements.

Ernst & Young will have to pay $10.2 million in damages after a Florida jury determined that the firm was negligent in its audits of the now-defunct Sovereign Bank.

The International Accounting Standards Board has issued amendments to its rules for companies adopting International Financial Reporting Standards for the first time to allow some exemptions.