Big Four firm KPMG led the pack among large and national firms in the market for Securities and Exchange Commission audit clients in the first quarter of 2013, with a net of seven new clients.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is looking for comment on proposed structural changes to the U.S. GAAP Taxonomy.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have released for comment a revised exposure draft proposing significant changes to the standards for accounting for leases.

Top 100 Firm Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co. announced the opening of KLR Emerging Business Center. The center will provide co-working office space and accounting services to start-up and emerging companies.

Fifteen of the largest banks in the U.S. have written a letter to the chairmen of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board encouraging them to resolve their differences over the standards for credit losses in their financial instruments convergence project.

Compliance costs for Sarbanes-Oxley and external audit fees both increased last year, according to a new survey, but for most organizations the cost of SOX compliance remains at a manageable level.

The Center for Audit Quality has written to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to offer its perspectives on audit quality indicators in preparation for a meeting later this week of the PCAOB’s Standing Advisory Group.

The American Institute of CPAs has a number of high-profile items on the agenda for its Spring Meeting of Council next week, including re-evaluating its recognition of the International Accounting Standards Board as a standard-setter, changing the definition of attest services and globalizing more of its credentials.

The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board on its priorities and agenda, is asking for suggestions on what FASB’s future agenda should be.

Representatives of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan met Thursday and Friday in Tokyo to discuss their new relationship through the recently established Accounting Standards Advisory Forum as their one-to-one meetings come to an end.

Surveys, sponsorships and more…

Intacct has unveiled Flex Reporting, a new tool designed to allow strategic CFOs to manage performance, look at financial metrics -- particularly accounting measures-- and performance related information unique to an organization.

A new academic study funded by the Center for Audit Quality scrutinizes the role of the external auditor in fraudulent financial reporting and found that the top areas cited by the Securities and Exchange Commission were failure to gather sufficient competent audit evidence, failure to exercise due professional care, and insufficient level of professional skepticism.

Mueller Prost PC has combined its CPA and business advisory firm with Accurate Business Results.

The tax, accounting and business consulting firm Habif, Arogeti &Wynne LLP has agreed to merge in JRZ LLC.

The Private Company Council voted Tuesday to move forward with proposed alternatives within U.S. GAAP to improve financial reporting for private companies.

The City of Harrisburg, Pa., has settled securities fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the first-ever case in which the SEC has charged a municipality for misleading statements made outside of its securities disclosure documents.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has reproposed for public comment its related-parties auditing standard along with related amendments to other standards to address areas that have been contributing factors in financial reporting frauds.

CFOs who are hiring accounting and finance staff are looking beyond accounting skills, according to a new survey.

Check out the digital edition of the May 2013 issue of Accounting Today.