California wealth management firms Kochis Fitz and Quintile Wealth Management said they plan to merge, effective Jan. 1, 2008, with the combined firm to be known initially as Kochis Fitz/Quintile until a new name can be found.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox met with securities regulators from Australia, Canada, China, Israel, Japan and South Korea to discuss the timeline for the implementation of interactive data for financial reporting.

Did you know that women provide the lion's share, up to 70 percent, of the $350 billion AARP estimate of the total value of uncompensated caregiving last year in the U.S.? Yep, according to the National Center on Women and Aging, a majority of those female caregivers are employed, but are often forced to reduce their hours or retire early due to their caregiving responsibilities, which can end up costing them each a staggering average of $659,130 in lost wages, savings, benefits, and pension over a lifetime. To help the estimated 40 million women who will retire over the next two decades to achieve increased financial viability, retirement security, and avoid the negative consequences so often related to care giving, LifeSecure Insurance Company and the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER) have partnered on a consumer awareness and education initiative. LifeSecure's marketing efforts will include special communications targeting female consumers and creating awareness of the issues. In addition, consumers will be directed to the comprehensive library of useful financial planning, caregiving, and related information at WISER's online data center (see www.wiser.heinz.org/portal). "At LifeSecure, we are committed to helping women overcome the extreme financial and other dangers so often associated with informal caregiving,” says Lisa Wendt, president and CEO. “Having a complete understanding and easy access to accurate and relevant information are probably some of the best weapons women can have in dealing with these issues.” Jeffrey Lewis, chairman of WISER, notes of the partnership, "Over the years, we've found that many people--and most women--simply don't have enough information about building a secure retirement or dealing with negative financial impacts of informal caregiving. The solutions they need begin with understanding and education.” WISER works to increase awareness of the structural barriers that prevent women's adequate participation in the nation's retirement systems. Created in 1996 by Teresa Heinz Kerry, chairman of the Heinz Family Philanthropies, its goal is to improve the long term economic security of millions of American women and men. It is an independent 501(C) 3 organization. LifeSecure Insurance Company (www.yourlifesecure.com) offers a new generation of long-term care insurance coverage. The company is focused on providing understandable, affordable coverage, and high levels of customer service and support. The intention behind all this is to help women feel financially secure and knowledgeable enough about a critical financial issue such as the informal caregiving environment.

Sarbanes-Oxley compliance has provided competitive advantages to companies such as Intel, Microsoft, Marathon Oil and WellPoint, according to a newly released study.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided to defer the effective date for FASB Interpretation No. 48, "Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes," for nonpublic entities.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, has sent letters to six media-based ministries asking for information about their expenses, executive compensation and the amenities lavished on their executives to see if they are violating their tax-exempt status.

An expert in global fraud protection, Frank Piantidosi has spent the past two decades on forensic investigations, uncovering illegal financial activity around the world.

The International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, the oversight body for the International Accounting Standards Board, has taken several steps to enhance its governance structure and allow more input from government securities regulators, as well as investors.

Intuit plans to bring a campaign to New York to encourage more people to open their own small businesses.

Internal auditors are finally starting to adapt to the post-SOX era and "rebalancing" some of their priorities as they return to more traditional audit functions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a staff accounting bulletin that revises and rescinds some of the rules for written loan commitments to make them more consistent with recent accounting rules.

Thomson Tax & Accounting released an online tax research service, QuickFinder Tax Manager, aimed at sole practitioners and small accounting firms.

Cash flow management is the major issue facing small business, according to a newly released survey.

Congressional tax writers have issued a subtle warning to charities and other nonprofit organizations: Start placing a heavier emphasis on serving diverse communities, or you may risk losing your tax-exempt status.That was the veiled threat leveled at tax-exempt organizations during a round of hearings before the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee. In announcing the hearing, Chairman John Lewis, D-Ga., noted that while "charitable organizations play a key role in our country's ability to respond to the needs of its communities, those communities are becoming increasingly diverse."

Barry Melancon, president and chief executive of the American Institute of CPAs, and a number of other accounting profession luminaries such as Tim Flynn, chief executive at Big Four firm KPMG, have been named to the Treasury Department's new Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession.The 21-member group will spend roughly a year examining issues facing the auditing profession, including such front-burner topics as audit firm concentration, auditor liability caps, recruiting young people to the profession, the effect of Sarbanes-Oxley and the move toward international standards.

In medieval times, scores of religious contemplatives grappled with such esoterica as how many angels could fit on the head of a pin - comfortably or otherwise. Despite failing religious education for two consecutive years, I don't feel that a theology pedigree is a requirement to ascertain that they probably never reached a consensus on such matters.Fast-forwarding several hundred years, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson recently assembled what he hopes are the best minds to develop recommendations on more practical matters, such as how to sustain a "vibrant audit profession." The committee will spend one year wrestling with that equation, and along the way will tackle ancillary issues like audit firm concentration, audit quality, the process of recruiting and training accountants, auditor independence (not that again!), and the possibility of capping auditor liability in cases of corporate fraud. A 21-member committee, comprised of representatives from business, academic and regulatory circles, will carry out those ambitious marching orders. (For a full roster, see page 3.)

Like many others, we're interested in the work of the Securities and Exchange Commission's recently created advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting. Improvement is something that everybody likes, at least if it doesn't really change very much, and certainly not the important stuff. The committee has some outstanding members, as well as others we don't expect to come up with much new because they've had other, even better, platforms for initiating change but didn't get it done in the past.The chair is Robert Pozen, the non-executive chairman of MFR Investment Management, one of seven American subsidiaries of the Canadian Sun Life Financial group. On the one hand, his affiliation with a mutual fund company is promising because it might mean that Pozen thinks like a financial statement user. However, he is an attorney by training and has been a general counsel in the industry, but never an analyst. Indeed, his present position might make him think more like a statement preparer than a user. Only time will tell which perspective he will apply, although evidence suggests the former will prevail.

Individuals managing their own assets receive no legal guidance on the standards for prudent investing.Fortunately, they can look to the Uniform Prudent Investor Act for guidelines. The act sets forth standards that govern the investment activities of trustees, and is currently the law in almost every state. While those standards do not apply to individuals managing their own assets, they do provide guidance on what the courts consider prudent investing.

SMHG BUYS 25% STAKE IN IPRO ONESanders Morris Harris Group, a financial services holding company, has acquired a 25 percent ownership interest in iPro One, a company that provides CPA practices with investment systems and products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. IPro One has exclusive contracts with more than 1,000 CPA firms that provide investment products and services to clients. The company has signed letters of intent to purchase interests in CPA-affiliated advisory firms in several locations with a total of more than $1.5 billion in assets under management.

The American Institute of CPAs and the Small Business Administration have signed an agreement that will give CPAs more access to the SBA's programs and network of small businesses.