The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporate Finance has issued new guidance allowing public companies to provide equity-based financing to employees through a program involving loans without violating Sarbanes-Oxley, with some help from former Congressman Michael Oxley himself.

A top official at the U.S. Small Business Administration prodded lawmakers at a congressional hearing to extend a debt refinancing program that provided a lifeline to thousands of struggling small businesses before expiring last year.

CollegeFrog’s National Meet the Firms Week, Deloitte’s exclusive arrangement with The WSJ and more…

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has introduced an online version of its Governmental Accounting Research System, GARS Online, providing online access to accounting standards and related literature for state and local governments.

Fitch Ratings is warning that approval of a Financial Accounting Standards Board proposal on the treatment of credit losses for loans and other financial assets could eventually force U.S. banks to book expected losses early, putting pressure on their reserve levels and reported earnings.

The International Accounting Education Standards Board has issued a set of revised standards for the initial professional development of accountants emphasizing that practical experience plays a key role in developing the competence of fledgling accountants.

The chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, Dave Camp R-Mich., released a set of proposals Tuesday discussion draft aimed at reforming the tax laws for small businesses.

Editor-in-chief Dan Hood gives an executive summary of our 2013 Top 100 Firms & Regional Leaders report.

Accounting Today has released its Top 100 Firms and Regional Leaders report for 2013, ranking the largest firms in the U.S. and in regions across the country.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released an updated print edition of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification, and appointed some new members to its advisory committees.

ADP has introduced ADP SmartCompliance, a set of outsourced services to assist organizations with tax, employment and payroll compliance.

The Group of 20 finance ministers, along with the European Commission, are calling for improved accounting standards in the public sector.

Tax bills, tools and tweaks to products and programs topped this week's tech news, which by the way is now coming to you twice per week.

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

Awards, new tax blog and more...

The profession's confidence in the U.S. economy is growing even more strongly than before, according to the March edition of Accounting Today’s monthly Accountants Confidence Index.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board released previously nonpublic portions of two of its inspections of PricewaterhouseCoopers on Thursday, saying the firm had failed to address the PCAOB’s quality control criticisms.

A Texas lawmaker who also operates a CPA practice has introduced a pair of bills in the Texas legislature that would exempt CPAs who prepare financial statements for small businesses from the state’s mandatory peer review program, and ensure at least two sole practitioners are represented on the Texas State Board of Accountancy.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published revised proposals for loan loss provisioning as part of the financial instruments project that it has been working to converge with the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, but the two proposals still take different approaches.

The top concerns of global accounting leaders, according to a new survey, included the needs of small- and medium-sized practices and small- and medium-sized entities and the reputation and credibility of the profession.