The Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that the U.S. GAAP 2012 Taxonomy is now available for use in the SEC’s EDGAR online database, along with the Mutual Fund Risk/Return Summary 2012.

Like Katniss Everdeen, the young heroine of the hit movie “The Hunger Games,” auditing leaders are facing their own test of survival.

Congress approved legislation Tuesday intended to spur investment in small businesses and help them access the capital markets, despite criticisms that it would weaken audit safeguards and investor protections.

The second day of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s two-day public meeting on its proposal for mandatory audit firm rotation had its share of drama, with accusations that the Big Four firms are monopolizing the audit market at the expense of minorities, and a demand from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that the PCAOB shelve the proposal because of “mission creep.”

Firm News -- March 23

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board heard testimony from a series of high-profile auditing experts on the advantages and disadvantages of requiring companies to rotate their auditing firms on a regular basis.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added a new item to its agenda to revise the accounting standards for repurchase agreements in response to the problems that led to the collapse of MF Global.

The International Federation of Accountants has published a paper calling for enhanced financial management transparency and accountability in the public sector, especially in the midst of the sovereign debt crisis.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has published a learning guide for the FASB Accounting Standards Codification system to help accountants learn their way around the relatively recent system for organizing U.S. GAAP standards.

A bill advertised as creating jobs at small businesses and increasing their access to capital from the public markets would also knock down many of the auditing controls protecting investors.

The accounting scandal at snack maker Diamond Foods in recent months may have shocked shareholders and some California walnut farmers.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided against undertaking a separate project to revise a controversial standard to account for uncertainty in income taxes.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released a revised standard for compilation engagements, specially enhanced for the needs of small and midsized entities.

James R. Doty has served for over a year as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and in that time, the board has made progress in its efforts to inspect auditing firms in other countries, although China remains a sticking point.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has proposed new financial reporting standards for state and local governments to help them account for government combinations such as mergers, acquisitions and transfers of operations, along with disposals such as sales and transfers of government operations.

Firm News - March 16

The Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have extended a set of expiring tax credits for wind energy, biofuels, energy efficient homes and other tax breaks.

LinkedIn has recently launched a special group for accountants that is already attracting a growing group of accountants.

The world's largest accounting and auditing firms, known as the Big Four, have been pumping more money than ever before into U.S. lobbying and political campaigns as they confront new challenges from their regulator and Congress.

Regulators are seriously seven major changes in financial reporting that could be game changers for accountants.