Audit

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is closing in on a proposed new audit standard governing engagement quality reviews by accounting firms.That standard, which appears on track to be advanced during 2006, is part of an ambitious agenda of audit standard-setting activities for the coming year that was outlined by PCAOB staffers during a recent meeting of the board's Standing Advisory Group.

According to a recent report, NASA has failed to fix the majority of the 45 accounting and financial management problems cited by the Government Accountability Office in previous audits.

Big Four firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and its global network reported combined member firm revenues of $20.3 billion for the year ended June 30, 2005, a nearly 17 percent rise in U.S. dollars versus the previous year.

Hiring expectations, personal finances and job satisfaction concerns, among a number of other factors, caused confidence among accounting and finance workers to dip in October, according to the Hudson Employment Index.

Personal exemptions and standard deductions will rise, tax brackets will widen and individuals will be able to make larger tax-free gifts in 2006, thanks to inflation adjustments announced today by the Internal Revenue Service.

A federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $225 million settlement between KPMG and law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP.

Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, and chair of the House Financial Services Committee, whose surname represents half of the most famous hyphenate in the history of accounting reform, will retire from the House after 25 years in Congress.

In a joint statement, the American Institute of CPAs, the Securities Industry Association and the Bond Market Association said they would start anew discussions on auditor due diligence.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will begin random annual visits to investment advisors, instead of its usual five-year visits, a ccording to published reports.

KPMG LLP announced that it has admitted 166 new partners for 2005, the largest class of audit, tax and advisory partners in the firm's history.

In mid-October, accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP was contacted by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board about its role as auditor of Refco Inc.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations, the private sector group working to improve the financial reporting process, has issued a draft to help small filers comply with internal controls requirements on a cost-effective basis.

Big Four audit firm KPMG and its global network reported combined member firm revenues of $15.65 billion for the year ended Sept. 30, 2005, a 16.4 percent rise in U.S. dollars versus the prior year.

Since the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley more than three years ago, more than half of public and private companies participating in a survey revealed that they have changed their respective revenue recognition policies as a result of the sweeping reform act.

Computer equipment and telephone lines don't fall within a reasonable definition of brokerage and research services that investment managers may charge to their clients, according to proposed guidance issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission on the use of "soft dollars."

In a unanimous voice vote, the governing Council of the American Institute of CPAs agreed to refocus the mission of its Center for Public Company Audit Firms.

President Bush has nominated economic advisor Ben Bernanke to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who will retire January 31, after 18 years at the helm of the Fed.

STUN GUN MAKER SWAPS AUDITORS: Three months after restating its 2004 earnings, stun gun manufacturer Taser International Inc. said that it had fired Big Four firm Deloitte & Touche as its auditor.In May, Taser said that miscalculated tax amounts related to employee stock options had led to the restatement of its 2004 earnings - amounting to a penny per share.

In several sports, especially golf, tennis and baseball, a player occasionally makes contact with the ball in the exact right place on the club, racket or bat.Hitting it on the "sweet spot" brings about the maximum transfer of energy under full control. Last June's report out of the Securities and Exchange Commission on off-balance-sheet financing really hit a sweet spot by pointing out several areas for improvement in financial reporting practice.

Roughly two thirds of companies in the S&P 500 have exceeded analysts' estimates on earnings per share dating back to the first quarter of 2004 -- a signal that companies have become more conservative on their earnings guidance.