Audit

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.

Members of an advisory council to accounting rulemakers say that revenue recognition should be the Financial Accounting Standards Board's top priority.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released the third in a series of staff questions and answers to help auditors and issuers in the implementation of PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 2, regarding audits of public companies' internal control over financial reporting.

Companies may be spending millions to comply with it, but more than two years after its passage, the majority of workers and investors don't know what Sarbanes-Oxley is, according to a poll by staffing firm Hudson.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said that its fiscal 2004 aggregate net revenues climbed nearly $2 billion to $16.3 billion, an increase of 6 percent in local currencies and just over 13 percent in U.S. dollars.

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.

A controversial tax return inspection provision contained in a Bush administration budget bill for fiscal 2005 will be removed before the legislation is sent to the White House for the president's signature.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is angling to improve quality control over corporate audits by encouraging accountants to blow the whistle on financial reporting violations by their audit clients and by their own firms.

Internal Revenue Service enforcement activities brought in a record $43.1 billion in fiscal 2004, up 15 percent, or $5.5 billion, over 2003, the agency reported.

French technology consulting and outsourcing giant Cap Gemini refuted a report that it is mulling the sale of its North American business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred Enron North America's former chief accounting officer from practicing before it for four years.

KPMG LLP has named Timothy R. Pearson, global managing partner and vice chair for marketing and communications, to the additional role of managing partner of the firm's Montvale national services center.

529 college savings plans continue to increase in popularity, as assets in the plans grew to an estimated $45.1 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to data released by the nonprofit College Savings Foundation.

As expected, the Securities and Exchange Commission this week postponed for a year the final phase-in period for rules that would shorten the amount of time that larger companies, known as "accelerated filers," have to file their quarterly and annual reports.

Executive compensation and internal audit compliance issues rank as the top concerns of corporate directors, according to a survey by the Columbia Business School Executive Education Division.

The Financial Planning Association has been awarded a $94,500 grant by the American Red Cross to support its pro bono September 11 Recovery Program.

Officials at the Public Company Oversight Board unveiled an aggressive agenda for the coming year that may result in as many as 11 new standards for auditors in areas ranging from corporate fraud detection and reporting to wrestling with related-party transactions.

Fannie Mae said that it won't file its third quarter earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of this week because its independent auditor, KPMG, wouldn't sign off on its financials until issues related to the SEC's investigation into the company's accounting are resolved.

As expected, the Securities and Exchange Commission this week postponed for a year the final phase-in period for rules that would shorten the amount of time that larger companies, known as "accelerated filers," have to file their quarterly and annual reports.