Audit

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday and will vote on finalizing two rules proposed in December and March. One rule deals with auditor independence and tax shelters, while the second concerns weak internal controls.

Already with a lengthy to-do list before adjourning for its August recess, reports have Congress moving to address the future of the estate tax soon.

CPA2Biz has developed an Audit & Control Technology Store to provide valuable product guidance, reviews and discounted technology tools to CPAs and financial managers.

Senate lawmakers indicated they could hold confirmation hearings as early as next week for nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A California judge sanctioned accounting firm KPMG last week for hiding documents in a $50 million accounting malpractice suit brought by computer case and accessory supplier Targus Group International Inc.

The American Institute of CPAs has produced a toolkit for government audit committees, the third in a series.

The Norwegian branch of KPMG International was ordered to pay $100 million in damages Friday, after Oslo's district court found that the accounting group was negligent in auditing the books of Finance Credit. KPMG International has said that it will appeal.

Republican leaders have said that movement on President Bush's plans to overhaul Social Security is unlikely to happen until after Congress' August recess.

According to the Association of Government Accountants, federal accountability and reporting is trending upwards.

Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. said Wednesday that its new auditor, KPMG, will need more time to review the company's financial statements for 2002-2004.

The U.S. Department of Labor reached an agreement Monday to set aside $356 million from the sale of Enron's assets to cover some of the bankrupt energy company's retirement and pension plan benefits.

Patrick Conroy was named vice chairman and national managing principal of the consumer business practice for Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

California Rep. Christopher Cox, President Bush's nominee for chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, disclosed his stock, mutual fund and other assets on Tuesday, the value of which could range from $2.7 million to $5.9 million.

PricewaterhouseCoopers will pay $41.9 million in civil penalties to settle claims that it over-billed the government for travel-related expenses.

After nearly two years of deliberation, the Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed an administrative proceeding against two former partners of Arthur Andersen & Co. last week.

The executive stock option settlement initiative launched in February has received a strong turnout, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The initiative provided corporate executives and their companies a means to resolve an abusive tax transaction involving the transfer of stock options to family controlled partnerships.

Accounting firm Marcum & Kliegman LLP has launched a Risk Management & Corporate Advisory Services Group.

Buoyed by strong growth in its five business sectors, consulting giant Accenture Ltd. posted third quarter profits of $484 million, compared with $368 million in net income from the year-ago third quarter.

The board of KPMG LLP elected Timothy P. Flynn as chairman and chief executive, succeeding Eugene O'Kelly, who will step down to deal with a recent diagnosis of advanced-stage cancer.

Better than one in every eight U.S. corporations that have undergone the more rigorous audits mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act during the past year have been flagged for ineffective internal controls over their financial reporting, officials at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board disclosed during a recent meeting with the organization's Standing Advisory Group.