Audit

A new industry group is looking to make inroads in building support for its policy positions in Washington.Launched on Tuesday, the Center for Audit Quality will focus on topics such as auditor protection from lawsuits, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how companies report financial information.

Canadian public accounting firms of all sizes need to do more to improve audit quality and adhere consistently to internal and professional standards, the Canadian Public Accountability Board said.

The American Institute of CPAs and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants are gearing an expanded version of their 2003 Privacy Framework towards a broader business audience.

There are only two conferences for accountants that my colleague, Jeff Stimpson, and I never miss attending. Winning Is Everything, presented by the Advisory Board, is one of them.The Advisory Board’s members are four of the leading consultants to accounting firms -- Jay Nisberg, president, Jay Nisberg & Associates; Allan Koltin, president and CEO, PDI Global.; Gary Boomer, CEO of Boomer Consulting; and Gary Shamis, managing director of SS&G Financial Services and co-founder of the Leading Edge Alliance.

Teams of accounting students from 22 colleges have accepted an invitation to participate in the inaugural KPMG National Audit Case Competition.

A board within the International Federation of Accountants has issued revised standards to increase the clarity and usability of International Public Sector Accounting Standards.

CMS DISMISSES E&YCMS Energy Corp., a Jackson, Miss.-based electric and natural gas company, dismissed its auditor, Big Four firm Ernst & Young, and named PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new independent accountant.

A $170-million malpractice suit against BDO Seidman kicked off in a Miami court last week.

A recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed more than 1,400 accountants left the country to work overseas permanently last year, according to Australia’s Daily Telegraph.According to experts in the industry, that trend is only likely to worsen in the common years as the rest of the world adjusts to the International Financial Reporting Standards, which have been in place in Australia since January 2005. Those standards are set to be widely adopted in 2008.

The Texas State Board of Public Accountancy has stayed its license suspension of KPMG LLP in connection with the Big Four firm’s sales of questionable legal tax shelters.In a consent order approved by the board, KPMG’s license was suspended for five years -- although the stay order means that the firm will be placed on probation for the next three years.

Everybody and his dog seem to have checked in with their so-called golden rules for a successful retirement. In fact, some have five key rules; some have 15. If you added all of them up, you would probably find yourself with 65 different rules, a bit much.However, Ron Roberts, founder and president of Roberts Retirement Group based in Jackson, Calif., has come up with an even dozen, 12 if you will, that are most enticing.

Robert H. Herz has been reappointed to a second five-year term as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

Top 100 Firm Blum, Shapiro & Co. PC announced that it has acquired Glastonbury, Conn.-based Scully & Wolf LLP.

A new report from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board summarizes how practitioners have been implementing interim standards relating to auditor responsibility to detecting fraud.

Speaking at a New York State Society of CPAs conference earlier this week, Conrad Hewitt declined to speak in absolutes when it came to across-the-board implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s infamous Section 404.The Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant avoided absolutes when speaking on the question of compliance for micro-cap companies -- the first time that I’ve heard a federal regulator hedge their bets on implementation that’s currently planned for 2008. It would be far from the first deferral for companies will market capitalizations under $75 million -- but the first ray of hope for those small companies since the SEC declined to strongly move forward on a number of recommendations outlined last year by an advisory committee.

Texas law firm Andrews Kurth will pay Enron's estate $18.5 million to settle potential malpractice claims stemming from legal advice the firm allegedly offered concerning the energy giant’s asset transactions.

There have been calls by financial statement users for increased transparency with regard to financial statements. It seems the regulators are taking those demands seriously, not just by enacting standards aimed at increasing transparency, but also by ensuring that the standard-setting process is more transparent.

So, what makes a top-notch advisor? It looks as though MainStay Investments may have given us the answer.

Deloitte & Touche LLP announced the formation of its Center for Banking Solutions, which will address new ways to solve issues affecting the competitiveness of banks operating in the United States.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has unanimously voted to move forward in implementing new rules that require public companies to take a more structured approach in reporting uncertain tax positions on their financial statements.