House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he anticipates an exemption for small and midsized public companies from Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b) requirements for independent audits of their internal controls to remain in the final version of the financial regulatory reform bill.

Thirty-seven percent of U.S. CFOs 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, consistent with a forthcoming proposal from the Financial Accounting Standards Board regarding the presentation of financial instruments.

In an effort to draw a wider population of qualified people into the accounting profession, members of the American Institute of CPAs’ governing council unanimously approved revisions to expand its membership categories.

Members of the American Institute of CPAs heard an update from the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Panel, the task force charged with addressing how GAAP accounting standards can best meet the needs of users of private company financial statements, at the AICPA’s Spring Council meeting.

Redefining the landscape is the mantra here at the American Institute of CPA’s Spring Council and president and chief executive Barry Melancon hit that message home during his report to members on Monday.

IMGCAP(1)]Let’s be honest. Between the thousands of quality audits done every day by diligent CPAs and the headline-grabbing debacles like Madoff and Enron, which do you think sticks out more in the public’s mind? We all know the answer to this.

The American Institute of CPA is teaming up with the Society for Human Resource Management to create a national award that recognizes employers who offer financial education programs for their staff.

A professor of accounting at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College is the 2010 recipient of the Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award from the AICPA.

The American Institute of CPAs recognized Birmingham-based Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith with a public service award during its 2010 Spring Council on Sunday.

IFAC TO BEEF UP ACCOUNTING EDUCATION STANDARDS

UBS AND E&Y SETTLE HEALTHSOUTH LAWSUIT

In the years I have opined on these pages, I've devoted a fair amount of space to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Whether it was critiquing a regime change, calling for a bigger budget or trying to comprehend the regulator's vacillating stance with regard to adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, the commission has served as a rather convenient editorial subject.

We begin by repeating this Feb. 24, 2010, quote from the American Institute of CPAs' Barry Melancon: "Our increasingly global economy makes it clear that the U.S. should move toward a single set of high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards for public companies."

More than a decade ago, my wife and I lugged ourthen-small offspring for a number of weekends one summer on car-shoppingexcursions.

The Center for Audit Quality and the Council of Institutional Investors are protesting two proposed amendments to the financial regulatory reform bill that would exempt smaller public companies from compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404(b) audits of their internal controls.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board continues to encounter resistance in inspecting foreign accounting firms that audit the books of non-U.S. companies whose stock trades on U.S. exchanges.

Trust in financial institutions has been severely eroded by the financial crisis, but a new survey has found that the majority of Americans find statements by spokespeople from accounting firms believable.

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the digital edition of the May 24, 2010, issue of Accounting Today by clicking here.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance on the recently passed health care reform bill to clarify that small businesses receiving state health care tax credits can still qualify for the full federal health care tax credit, and they can receive the health care tax credit not only for regular health insurance but also for add-on dental and vision coverage.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published a proposed set of changes in the accounting standards for financial liabilities to address what it calls the “counter-intuitive” effects of fair value measurement.