Senate Republicans united in blocking a vote on legislation to provide tax breaks to small businesses along with a $30 billion lending fund.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published a proposed set of changes to insurance contract accounting in an effort to impose a single standard upon all insurers in all jurisdictions that would apply to all types of insurance contracts on a consistent basis.

SEC settlements with top companies over financial misstatements have declined since 2007, and nearly three quarters of SEC settlements with companies over misstatements are for no money, according to a group of economic consultants.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has unveiled some new changes to the Small Business Jobs Act, in an effort to win more support for the bill.

The American Institute of CPAs has written a letter to members of the House and Senate asking them to repeal the section of the new health care law that requires businesses to report to the Internal Revenue Service any purchase from a vendor of goods or services worth $600 or more during the calendar year.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a new set of standards aimed at improving the transparency of financial reporting by companies that hold financing receivables, which include loans, lease receivables, and other long-term receivables.

AICPA PROPOSES REVISIONS TO PEER REVIEW

Thirty-seven percent of U.S. chief financial officers and senior controllers believe that a balance sheet should display both the fair value (exit value) and amortized cost of assets, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton.

Managers of the nation's largest stock funds have called on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board to open a direct line of communication between independent auditors and corporate shareholders.

The current financial environment has placed increased pressure on both accountants and their clients, which in turn can lead to increased risk of liability.

Recently, we came across this observation by H.L. Mencken, a noted cynic from the 1920s: "There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible and wrong."

One set of accounting standards for the whole world. This is a great idea!

The Financial Accounting Foundation has appointed Mark Schroeder, a recently retired senior partner at Deloitte & Touche, to a new position as post-implementation review leader of accounting standards.

Bank of America has fessed up to having shifted billions of dollars in debt off its balance sheet at opportune times in its fiscal calendar over the past three years, showing that the kinds of repurchase transactions that helped sink Lehman Brothers were not altogether uncommon.

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the digital edition of the July 19 issue of Accounting Today.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued an alert cautioning audit firms about using work performed by others outside the United States.

PricewaterhouseCoopers said the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board should slow down the pace of their standard-setting work, even though the two boards have recently extended the timeline for exposing new standards to the public.

Firms headquartered in counties where residents report that religion is important in their daily lives exhibit less aggressive financial reporting, according to a study by three professors from Texas A&M University.

Koss released restated earnings for 2008 and 2009 after the headphone manufacturer’s vice president of finance was found to have embezzled about $31.5 million.

Even though the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board technically lost a Supreme Court ruling Monday, the board is likely to emerge stronger now that the element of uncertainty has been removed.