The U.S. Senate confirmed Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, putting the former U.S. attorney in charge of an agency that has failed to satisfy critics with its response to the financial crisis.

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

An audit by the Government Accountability Office of the Securities and Exchanges Commission’s Investor Protection Fund financial statements for fiscal years 2011 and 2012 found two areas of significant deficiency in the SEC’s internal controls.

Product enhancements, partnerships, and pounding of the proverbial chest were abound over the past week -- all of this just as conference season is about to get into full swing, right after tax season of course.

The Securities and Exchange Commission reminded corporate filers Friday that the forthcoming release of its EDGAR financial statement database will support 2013 U.S. GAAP Taxonomy, but not the older 2011 taxonomy.

Accounting services and technology consultancy Armanino has selected to move its small business outsourcing clients from their current accounting platforms to Xero, making them the largest firm thus far to do so.

Find out what accounting firm switched to the feline marketing craze…

Spending on outsourcing of accounting and finance functions is expected to reach over $25 billion around the world this year, according to a new report.

Cloud accounting software maker Kashoo has released Version 2.1 of its accounting iPad app, which includes, among other things, mobile printing and client-ready invoice templates.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has named Iowa Auditor of State David A. Vaudt as the next chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, succeeding Robert Attmore.

Helen Brand, chief executive of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, discusses how the ACCA is growing around the world.

A report from the Securities and Exchange Commission clears companies to use social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to announce key information, provided that investors have been alerted about which social media will be used.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is proposing improvements to financial reporting about discontinued operations of major business lines or major geographic areas of operations.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a new implementation guide for the Extensible Business Reporting Language. This guide, the fifth in a series, focuses on modeling other comprehensive income transactions in XBRL.

CPA firms may be struggling to properly assess risk and document IT risk assessments, according to information compiled by the American Institute of CPAs from recent peer reviews.

A new Canadian accounting and business organization, Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, officially became operational Monday.

We are republishing some classic Spirit of Accounting columns while we're extra-busy with a new major project. We selected this one because (alas!) several of its points are just as valid today as they were when it was printed in October 2002

Accounting firm REDW, one of the Top 10 Regional Leaders in the Southwest, has joined forces with Phoenix-based RCG Plan Administration LLC, a third-party administrator and record-keeper for small and midsized business and native American retirement plans.

The Ministry of Finance of Singapore announced its approval of a plan to phase out the Certified Public Accountant of Singapore designation in favor of the new “Charted Accountant of Singapore,” starting in July of this year.

Accounting software maker Cougar Mountain Software has added three new business accounting packages based on their Denali product that are designed to work with various stages of a business’ growth.