Regulatory actions and programs

Accounting firm Crowe Horwath has created a Web-based system to help state and local agencies that receive federal funding from the economic stimulus package comply with the complex reporting requirements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a draft of a five-year strategic plan that calls for “a single set of high-quality global accounting standards.”

Seventy percent of CFOs and other finance professionals support approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s roadmap for adopting International Financial Reporting Standards, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has expanded the use of interactive data-tagging technology in its official FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has again delayed the deadline for small public companies to begin providing an audited assessment of internal controls over financial reporting, but said this will be the last time.

IMGCAP(1)]Today, more than three years since it was issued, FIN48 remains the bane of many tax departments’ existence.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has delayed the effective date of its new rules requiring accounting firms to report on events such as litigation so it can resolve technical issues with the Web-based system it plans to use for receiving the reports.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and its global counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board, hope to stay in lockstep on standards, but oftentimes it’s not so easy.

The author of a new book on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s recently released GAAP Codification said CPA firms could be exposed to litigation risks unless they deploy the new codification rapidly.

Many accounting firms are doing a good job of following new standards for conducting risk-based audits of internal controls, but others are not applying the standards properly, according to a new report by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., chair of the House Committee on Small Business, has proposed legislation to extend several expiring Small Business Administration lending programs.

Accountants have mixed feelings about the Obama administration’s proposed financial regulatory overhaul, according to a new survey.

The American Institute of CPAs testified before Congress in favor of exempting CPAs from oversight by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, arguing that CPAs are already highly regulated.

The SEC is expected to turn its attention once again this fall to the question of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards now that the financial crisis has eased.

A group of securities regulators from around the world is defending the need to safeguard the independence of the accounting standard-setting process.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has levied a $3 million penalty against Charles Johnson Jr., the former CEO of PurchasePro, a now-defunct business-to-business online exchange company that was involved in an accounting fraud case with AOL.

SEC Chief Accountant Jim Kroeker told a group of CPAs that accounting standard-setters should avoid a “race to the bottom” when working on convergence.

IMGCAP(1)]It’s easy for managers to overlook risks. Financial risk managers may ignore nonfinancial risks. Business managers responsible for a particular line item (such as costs) may downplay risks unrelated to their particular line item. Firms often manage their risks compartmentally — for example: the treasury department for foreign exchange and interest rates; the procurement department for commodity purchases; and the insurance department for catastrophic risks.

The House has passed a bill to examine the impact of the bank bailout on lending to small businesses.

The group overseeing the International Accounting Standards Board has written to President Obama and the other G-20 leaders saying it is following the G-20 recommendations for dealing with fair value accounting for loans, after banking interests charged that it was not.