If an individual delays claiming Social Security benefits until after she reaches full Social Security retirement age, her benefits may be increased for two reasons.First, there is a delayed retirement credit that increases the benefits for each month that retirement is delayed beyond full Social Security retirement age. Second, additional earnings (wages or self-employment income) may also increase the benefits that will be received after retirement.

Accounting for derivatives has never been easy, but the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proffered some thoughts on how it might be done, and 85 concerned industry professionals generally agreed - but not completely.GASB project manager Randy Finden said that the bulk of the board's complex preliminary views document could be boiled down to two sentences: "Put all derivatives in the balance sheet at fair value. Fair-value changes will be reported as gains and losses in income, except for hedging gains and losses, which will be reported on the balance sheet as deferrals."

The selection by an entity of its company structure, its fiscal year and its method of accounting are the three main mechanisms that a company can employ in performing substantial tax planning, according to Nicholas Crocetti, CPA, a partner in CBiz Accounting Tax & Advisory."The concept of an accounting method is much broader than what many people believe," he said. "Most companies employ a number of accounting methods. First, they have an overall method of accounting - for example, the cash method, accrual or some form of hybrid method. Additionally, companies need accounting methods for every timing item they encounter in their business, such as how to account for inventory, bad debts, vacation pay and self-insured medical expenses."

A previous article discussed several of the new terms that the new risk assessment standards have introduced to the audit process (Sept. 4-17, 2006, page 36). The following discussion expands on that by addressing in more detail some of the more significant differences between the requirements of the new risk assessment standards and past audit practice.* Audit plans and programs. The audit program is now called the audit plan, but it is still required. The auditor must develop an audit plan in which the auditor documents the audit procedures to be used. The audit plan is more detailed than the audit strategy, and includes the nature, timing and extent of audit procedures to be performed, including risk assessment procedures and planned further audit procedures.

As part of the recently signed pension bill, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service will have to better define what constitutes "good" condition for donations of clothing or household items.The IRS can deny deductions for donated items such as furniture, appliances, linens or electronics if the items aren't in appropriate condition.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a standard providing guidance for using fair value to measure assets and liabilities.

Billionaire tycoon Ricardo Salinas Pliego and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement last week, marking the end of the first lawsuit against a foreign company under the corporate governance rules of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The newly released 2006-2007 Internal Revenue Service Priority Guidance Plan, designed as the agency's own blueprint for its guidance projects during the coming year, ranges in scope from consolidated returns to tax-exempt bonds.The Guidance Plan contains 10 more projects than last year's plan, and includes projected rulings on corporations and shareholders, employee benefits, executive compensation, excise taxes, exempt organizations, estate and gift taxes, partnerships, S corporations, and international issues.

In another lifetime, I lived and worked in Rome. It was quite an adventure and last week I returned to the city after an absence of some 30 years. Unfortunately for me, Thomas Wolfe is definitely right.

The man who oversaw Freddie Mac's earnings restatement, as well as its financial reporting improvements, has joined the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

A recently released exposure draft from the American Institute of CPAs contains two different interpretations under the institute's independence rules.

A new accounting bulletin from the Securities and Exchange Commission addresses how prior year misstatements should be considered when quantifying a current year's misstatement.

The AFL-CIO wants to know more about the role that the major accounting firms might have played in the handling of stock options grants the government is now investigating.

It isn't the acts of a single executive, or the misses of a particular audit team, that most concern Public Company Accounting Oversight Board member Charles Niemeier when he reflects back on the corporate scandals that resulted in the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

It's not every accounting conference that the attendees have a chance to come away with a bit of horticulture knowledge.

In a move to keep the United States ensconced as the financial capital of the world, a newly formed commission will recommend changes to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other regulatory mandates it judges to encumber domestic capital markets from remaining competitive.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, part of the Labor Department, is seeking comment on its plans to update guidance on the independence of accountants who audit employee benefit plans.

The Canadian government has pledged $1 million over the next five years to the International Federation of Accountants' board that governs public company accounting.

The estate of Enron Corp's late founder has agreed to pay $12 million to settle claims brought by participants in the failed energy company's pension plans.

The fact that the Securities and Exchange Commission last week filed a 46-page legal brief supporting the constitutionality of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to me was not as surprising as the fact they had to do it at all.