Regulatory actions and programs

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board heard testimony from a series of high-profile auditing experts on the advantages and disadvantages of requiring companies to rotate their auditing firms on a regular basis.

A bill advertised as creating jobs at small businesses and increasing their access to capital from the public markets would also knock down many of the auditing controls protecting investors.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has decided against undertaking a separate project to revise a controversial standard to account for uncertainty in income taxes.

James R. Doty has served for over a year as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and in that time, the board has made progress in its efforts to inspect auditing firms in other countries, although China remains a sticking point.

The Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have extended a set of expiring tax credits for wind energy, biofuels, energy efficient homes and other tax breaks.

The world's largest accounting and auditing firms, known as the Big Four, have been pumping more money than ever before into U.S. lobbying and political campaigns as they confront new challenges from their regulator and Congress.

Regulators are seriously seven major changes in financial reporting that could be game changers for accountants.

A federal judge has approved the settlement of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s complaint against headphone maker Koss Corporation and its CEO and former CFO Michael Koss.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to hold a series of meetings to discuss a proposal to require mandatory audit firm rotation.

The New York State Society of CPAs expressed its support for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s proposals for improving communications between auditors and audit committees, but objected to several of the new requirements.

The financial services industry has always had pretty specific rules about testimonials, recommendations and advisory.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added a new project to its agenda to re-examine the definition of a “nonpublic entity,” as part of its efforts to reach out more to private company constituents.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued its latest inspection report on BDO USA and found several audit failures and deficiencies.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to host forums for auditors of small businesses and smaller broker-dealers.

Daniel Goelzer has been a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board since the board was first established under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and he is completing his second and final term this Friday.

WHERE'S MY REFUND?

In a rare sign of bipartisanship, Congressional Republicans and Democrats are moving forward with a group of jobs bills with bipartisan support, aimed at improving capital formation for small businesses and spurring the growth of startups.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voted Tuesday to issue for public comment a proposed auditing standard on related-party transactions, and to amend standards on significant unusual transactions and auditors of broker-dealers.

The International Valuation Standards Council has begun a project with the goal of bringing greater consistency to how financial derivatives should be valued, even as the International Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board continue to tinker with their financial instruments accounting standards project.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to hold an open meeting on Tuesday to consider issuing a proposed auditing standard on related parties and to amend other auditing standards to address significant unusual transactions and broker-dealer auditors.