Audit

Companies paid a bit more in audit fees in fiscal year 2008 compared to the previous year, according to a new survey.

The Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the question of whether the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board as established under Sarbanes-Oxley violates the separation-of-powers doctrine and appointments clause of the Constitution. It’s not likely this is going to be one of those controversies that nominee Sonia Sotomayor will have to worry about discussing at great length during her confirmation hearings, but how about after she gets confirmed? One can only imagine how the transcript of the oral arguments might go.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published draft guidance to try to settle the controversial issue of fair value measurement and calm some of the recent political pressure.

Three former senior finance executives with medical supply company Cardinal Health have agreed to pay $245,000 in civil penalties to settle SEC charges that they engaged in a fraudulent earnings and revenue management scheme.

Proposed contract-based standards for revenue recognition are attracting some support, but also raising questions, according to a new survey.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released FASB Statement No. 165, “Subsequent Events,” setting standards for the disclosure of events that occur after the balance-sheet date, but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has introduced a bill that would ensure that small business government contracts go only to small businesses instead of the subsidiaries of large companies.

Members of the international Financial Crisis Advisory Group warned at a meeting in London that political pressure on accounting standard-setters posed a threat to “the very existence of international accounting standards.”

IMGCAP(1)] Think you know what young CPAs want from their firms? Think again. In November 2008, a group of 15 young staff from Chicago area firms got together for the Fourth Annual Rosenberg Associates Staff Forum to get candid about what it’s really like to be young and just starting out in an accounting firm. Here are some of the key realizations from that meeting:

Americans today are being forced to review their retirement planning goals with greater scrutiny. No one knows that more than Robert Fishbein, vice president and corporate counsel with Prudential Financial, Inc. He has now offered tips on how to get through this economic turmoil.

The Internal Revenue Service commemorated Small Business Week this week by calling attention to some recently enacted tax breaks for small businesses.

Three out of four audit committee members say they have increased their hands-on involvement with management, and are reassessing risk management and oversight as a result of the economic crisis, according to a new survey.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners wants top executives at public companies to open up their finances to scrutiny by auditors and regulators.

Employment search provider Monster Worldwide agreed to pay the SEC $2.5 million in penalties to settle stock option backdating charges.

Among the tragedies inflicted on thousands of victims by Bernard Madoff was that perpetrated on a tiny accounting firm in New City, N.Y., a hamlet some 30 miles north of New York City.

Over the last several years, a substantial number of highly complex professional auditing and accounting standards have been issued by numerous standard-setters.

Customers are best served and protected when they have many competitive alternatives. We are suspicious of self-serving monopolies. Of course, as sellers, we all want to be monopolies, with little competition, and the ability to charge high prices, bar entry to potential competitors, be able to rest on our past successes, and not have to perform the difficult job of constant innovation and experimentation where value is determined by the external customer, not internal industry standards, credentials or ineffective government regulations.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made changes in two of its standards related to off-balance-sheet items to require companies to make more disclosures of special-purpose entities, and to practically eliminate the exemption for qualifying special-purpose entities.

Over a third of U.S. CPAs said they want to become more familiar with international accounting standards, but most of them don’t know how much the standards will cost their companies to implement.

Five trade groups representing banks, financial service firms and insurance companies sent a joint letter to Congress registering continued displeasure with fair value and mark-to-market accounting and impairment rules, despite recent changes.