The Financial Accounting Standards Board has taken a step back on previous plans to require companies to report all of their financial instruments at fair value.

The European Commission said it would recognize the equivalence of the audit oversight systems of the United States and nine other countries, laying the foundation for greater international cooperation on the supervision of auditors and auditing firms.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released the 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, pending final acceptance by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released a set of proposals to address the growing need for robust international standards for services that can be used by entities that are either not required or do not elect to be audited.

The AICPA has posted a sample client letter that accountants and tax practitioners can download, personalize and use to inform their clients about how the legislation extending the Bush-era tax cuts could affect them.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has inked a cooperative agreement with the Professional Oversight Board in the United Kingdom to facilitate cooperation in the oversight of auditors and public accounting firms that practice in the two regulators’ respective jurisdictions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed James R. Doty as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and Jay D. Hanson and Lewis H. Ferguson as members.

JANUARY

The American Institute of CPAs, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, and Prometric launched the new Uniform CPA Examination on Wednesday, which now includes questions on International Financial Reporting Standards and other significant changes.

Check out the digital edition of the January 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

FASB, GASB STANDARDS UNDER REVIEW

Welcome back.

2011 KICKOFF

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued a new accounting statement Thursday aimed at incorporating accounting guidance issued by outside standard-setters that is applicable to state and local governments.

The Small Business Administration has redesigned its website and is providing a new tool to personalize the site’s resources for particular types of businesses.

The past year witnessed plenty of head-spinning developments in the worlds of accounting and taxes, and AccountingToday.com (along with its predecessor site WebCPA) was there to chart the latest developments.

The start of the New Year ushers in a series of new regulatory, compliance and legislative changes that could potentially affect every small business.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has published an alert warning auditors of the risks involved when auditing loss contingencies from litigation arising from mortgages and other loans, especially in cases where mortgage servicers have been accused of “robosigning” foreclosure notices.

In a recent speech, a senior European Commission official warned accountants that a drastic tightening of auditing rules in the European Union is under consideration in Brussels, including possible segregation-of-service rules on client auditing and accounting services, and requiring auditors to give "an unencumbered opinion of a situation", as opposed to the current "historical review."

Canada's transition to International Financial Reporting Standards, while improving transparency and comparability of Canadian companies, will likely not affect credit ratings, according to a new report from Moody's Investor Service.