Audit

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader has written an article for his Web site chastising the CPA profession for standing by while Wall Street firms "used the latest tricks to cook the books."

Technology is supposed to make our lives easier – that is if we know what we’re using. With a variety of free tools on the market, it’s hard to decipher or find the time to investigate the best of the best. Nicholas Gaffney, a partner at Infinite Public Relations in San Francisco, offers a list of his firm’s top choices of collaboration and productivity tools for all generations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board isconsidering making changes in the standards for audit confirmations after arecent wave of auditing scandals.

As the profession prepares for the transition to adoptingInternational Financial Reporting Standards, the Center for Audit Quality hasfired off a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission offering a seriesof recommendations to improve the regulator's proposed IFRS roadmap.

At least one critic of the proposed changes inmark-to-market and fair value accounting rules is changing his tune and seeingsome positive signs in the final version.

The Texas Society of CPAs warned the Financial AccountingStandards Board that FASB's recently approved changes in fair value accountingstandards could damage the credibility of CPAs in general.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has publishedthe "final" versions of its three controversial FASB Staff Positionsto improve guidance and disclosures on fair value measurements.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released a list of countries abroad where it intends to conduct inspections of auditing firms.

Two auditors from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Indian member firm have been charged in the Satyam accounting scandal.

Canada’s Accounting Standards Board said that it has not yet made a decision on whether to change its fair value standards to match up with U.S. standards.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a series of forums around the country on auditing in the small business environment.

As governments desperately seek all kinds of additional revenue, senior business professionals see the increased possibility of an audit by taxing authorities as the most significant tax risk facing their organizations today, according to a new survey.

Are you able to get what you need from reviewing financial statements? Do you think there are ways to enhance the usefulness of the presentation of the information?If you have ever experienced frustration in your attempts to glean information from financial statements, take note. The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have joined together in a proposal to improve the look and feel of financial statements.

Gen X and Y may reap some big benefits from the bear market, and advisors who target those generations could profit from helping them.

More than half of affluent 60-year-olds are revamping their retirement plans, according to Bell Investment Advisors’ fourth annual Affluent Boomers at 60 Survey of 500 high net-worth 60-year-olds. This represents double the number who reported making such changes a year ago, Of those who have altered their retirement plans in the last six months, two out of three are delaying their retirement, with 34 percent of these planning to work an additional five or more years. Almost 75 percent have reduced spending, and nearly half have changed their investments. The survey shows that some 57 percent of respondents say they feel more financially stressed than they were six months ago. In fact, 76 percent claim they feel less wealthy and 35 percent note they do not have enough money on which to retire. The survey also reveals a loss of confidence in America’s financial system. These boomers indicate they’ve lost the most confidence in government regulators (34 percent) and banks and financial institutions (30 percent). “It is critical for investors to realize that there is no bailout package for retirement,” points out Jim Bell, CFP®, founder and president of Bell Investment Advisors. “The current economic situation is a wake-up call for investors at 60 to have a clear retirement plan that incorporates a sound investment strategy.” Of investors surveyed, 54 percent estimate they will need $1 to $3 million at retirement, but 42 percent have invested or saved less than $1 million. Among respondents who plan to reduce their spending this year, 46 percent are doing so in order to rebuild their retirement savings. More than half (55 percent) of those boomers who have decided to delay their retirement cite the same reason for adding more working years to their plans. When it comes to investing, the majority (56 percent) think the stock market is too risky for people their age. Even more, (61 percent) of those surveyed, plan to make a change in their investment strategy this year, with one-third of them intending to invest more in fixed income investments. Half of those investors who plan to change are taking a “wait and see” attitude about which direction they will go. “Merely increasing savings and working longer will not fill the gap for most Boomers approaching retirement,” says Bell. “Recent stock market volatility has many Boomers reconsidering risk, but it’s critical to keep in mind that when you reduce investment risk you also reduce the upside potential to rebuild wealth. Boomers who choose to wait for a market recovery to decide when to reinvest will miss early gains.” Despite the radical changes this group of boomers is making to their retirement plans, the market downturn of 2008 has not altered their core positive feeling about their lives. Almost all (97 percent) claim they feel great about their lives, as they have in the prior four years Bell has sponsored this survey. Looking forward, 73 percent say they expect the stock market to finish 2009 higher than it started, and 43 percent feel 2009 will be a year where they increase their wealth. Bell Investment Advisors offers investment management, comprehensive financial planning, and career/life planning services to help investors plan and achieve their personal and retirement goals. The firm manages more than $360 million for its more than 600 clients. To learn more, visit www.bellinvest.com.

Two former KPMG managers received prison terms and multimillion-dollar fines in a long-running tax shelter case.

Accounting experts and industry organizations alternately praised and panned the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s decision to loosen the standards for fair value and mark-to-market accounting.

Under pressure from Congress to act quickly, the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to approve substantial changes to fair value accounting.

The Center for Audit Quality plans to award $200,000 in research grant funds to academics working on topics related to auditing and accounting.

Nonprofit software provider Blackbaud Inc. has teamed with online payment concern PayPal to establish BlackbaudNow, a price-friendly Web site-building application to assist small and growing nonprofits publish their own Web sites and begin accepting online donations, manage constituent accounts and record donor giving histories.