Regulatory actions and programs

To mark Small Business Week, the Internal Revenue Service is highlighting the tax benefits and resources available to small businesses this year.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board appears to be once again on the slow path to convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards, but it will probably get there in the end.

The Securities and Exchange Commission provided information Tuesday on filing financial statements in Extensible Business Reporting Language for public companies that will soon be required to file in the XBRL format.

Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Chairman James Doty plans to unveil a new model for the auditor's report and said he wanted to see disciplinary proceedings for auditing firms to be made public.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a study recommending that the existing auditor attestation requirement in Sarbanes-Oxley be kept in place for companies with a public float of between $75 million and $250 million.

The National Association for the Self-Employed advised small business owners who have put off doing their tax returns not to panic.

The American Institute of CPAs has joined up with the White House on a new initiative aimed at helping veterans and their families who want to start or grow a small business.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has struck a cooperative agreement with Swiss regulators that will allow the U.S. and Switzerland to establish a cooperative framework for supervisory oversight of auditors that practice in each country.

On Dec. 6, 2010, Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Schapiro spoke to several thousand assembled accountants at the annual SEC/Public Company Accounting Oversight Board/American Institute of CPAs conference in Washington, D.C. By tradition, the chair's annual remarks are usually not very newsworthy because they mainly assure the profession that the chair understands that accountants and accounting issues are important to securities regulation.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been doing outreach to gauge the views of investors and others on potential changes to the auditor’s reporting model and plans to propose changes as soon as this summer.

As the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board move forward with plans to produce converged standards in areas such as leasing, revenue recognition and financial instruments, companies are expecting the new standards to have a major impact on their businesses, according to a new survey from PwC.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued a research note cautioning U.S. registered accounting firms that their audits of companies with operations outside of the U.S., particularly in China, may not be in accordance with PCAOB standards if the company accessed the U.S. capital markets through a reverse merger transaction.

IMGCAP(1)]The recent financial crisis reminded us that financial reporting still needs improvement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted the 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board intends to hold seven forums across the country to discuss auditing issues in the small business environment.

The New York State Society of CPAs is getting behind the efforts of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board to clarify the guidance for auditing the valuations of complex or illiquid financial instruments, such as derivatives.

I once knew a slightly free-spirited ex-boxer turned street brawler who, despite his fearsome exploits against mortal men both in and out of the ring, once found himself in a seedy watering hole facing no less than seven angry men wielding baseball bats.

European Union Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier plans to introduce draft legislation in November to curb the increasing concentration of auditing work among the Big Four firms.

James Doty, the newly appointed chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, believes auditors need to be doing a better job of detecting suspicious patterns and practices at the companies they audit, and to do a better job of communicating their concerns.

The leaders of four of the largest international accounting and auditing firms told the European Commission on Wednesday that they are ready for more official intervention in the audit market to forestall another financial crisis and they support more competition in the market.