The Governmental Accounting Standard Board has published a Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 44 on the Statistical Section.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued final regulations regarding Sections 401(k) and 401(m) related to designated Roth IRA contributions.

Larry E. Bergmann, senior associate director in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Market Regulation, will retire from the regulator in January to join the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

In a report, Australia's auditor-general has criticized poor accounting methods in the country's Defense Department for making it impossible to vouch for more than $4 billion in financial statements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has told a federal judge the Justice Department was too lenient in striking a plea deal with the former chief executive of Gemstar-TV Guide International.

NASD, the regulator for the brokerage industry, said that fines as a result of disciplinary actions it meted out have risen 21 percent, to $125.4 million versus the prior year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed more than a dozen current and former Delphi executives to testify about improper accounting at the bankrupt auto supplier, according to published reports.

Regulators are considering liquidating a unit of brokerage firm Refco Inc. that isn't under bankruptcy-court protection.

Timothy P. Flynn, chairman and chief executive of Big Four firm KPMG, has been appointed to the board of the Financial Accounting Foundation.

Lawrence A. West, associate director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, will depart the regulator to become a partner at the Washington office of Latham & Watkins.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, the standard-setting body of the International Federation of Accountants, is seeking a chairperson for a three-year term beginning in January 2007.

Joseph Nacchio, the former chief executive of Qwest Communications during the telecommunications company's multibillion-dollar accounting scandal, was indicted on 42 counts of insider trading for allegedly illegally selling more than $100 million in stock.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox recently met with representatives of the accounting and financial reporting software industry to express support for integrating interactive data capabilities into existing accounting and financial reporting software.

A CPA with radio personality Howard Stern's accounting firm has settled insider trading charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The accounting support fees imposed on corporations by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board will be slashed by nearly 20 percent next year, under the organization's recently released 2006 operating budget.In announcing the new budget plan for the coming year, PCAOB officials said that the board will charge publicly traded companies a total of $109.3 million in accounting support fees during 2006 - down from the $136.1 million assessed in 2005.

FIRST VIRTUAL DISMISSES PWC: Video software concern First Virtual Communications Inc. dismissed auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and subsequently engaged Squar Milner Reehl & Williamson as its new independent accountant.In January, First Virtual filed for Chapter 11 protection. In August, the company filed a liquidation plan that proposed a reverse merger, whereby First Virtual Communications would acquire the assets of newly formed U.S. Dry Cleaning and change its name to U.S. Dry Cleaning Corp.

GLOBAL BENCHMARK EN ROUTE FOR FINANCIAL PLANNERS: The upcoming International Standards Organization's 2222 standard is now in a final ballot, with the objective of achieving and promoting a globally accepted benchmark for individuals who provide the professional service of personal financial planning. This would be the first truly non-technical service standard for financial services.According to Stuart Kessler, managing director of RSM McGladrey Inc. and the chair of the ISO's blue ribbon committee on financing planning, "ISO 2222 will specify the ethical behaviors, competences and experience required of a professional personal financial planner. It describes and addresses the various methods of conformity assessment and specifies requirements applying to each of them."

Roth 401(k) accounts will - with the blessing of the Internal Revenue Service - make their debut effective Jan. 1, 2006.Unlike the 401(k), which is funded with pretax dollars, the Roth 401(k) is funded with after-tax dollars from the employee. Any employer match would remain taxable.

Financial planning is usually not a static process. When your clients ask you for advice in investing their resources, one of the more difficult tasks is getting them to make decisions on not only what their ultimate investing goals are (besides becoming wealthy or wealthier), but just how much risk they want to take along the way.As a client's economic and life conditions change, often their goals do as well. Many successful planning professionals find that periodic re-analysis of each client's holdings is a good idea. By examining how well a client's investment portfolio is performing and what progress is being made towards meeting a client's ultimate and near-term goals, you are best serving your clients, and very possibly generating additional fees for your practice.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced it has selected deputy chief auditor and former KPMG partner Thomas Ray as its chief auditor.