Disclosure took center stage in modern accounting last year, as regulators and investors pushed for more details about all sorts of costs—and for assurances that companies have proper, effective internal controls to make such disclosures. From Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404 to pensions, taxes, and fair-value accounting, companies had a barrage of new standards come at […]
Tammy Whitehouse
Posted inRegulatory Enforcement
New AS2 Would Curb Auditor Reach
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has proposed a series of new standards and rule changes that would steer auditors in a new direction for the controversial audit of internal control over financial reporting. At a Dec. 19 meeting, the board voted unanimously to propose a new standard to replace existing Auditing Standard No. 2. […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
‘Catch Up 10-K’ Backdating Help To Come
For companies numbed by the prospect of multiple restatements because of problems with historical stock option grants, the Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to offer instructions on an alternative: a catch-up 10-K disclosure that creates an escape from daunting restatements, but not the long arm of enforcement officers. In an address to the American […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Derivative Disclosures; Pension Rules; More
T he Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed statement that would lead to new and clearer disclosures about derivatives and their impact on a company’s financial statements. FASB says the draft statement would address shortcomings of Financial Accounting Standard No. 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities, to provide information about derivatives […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Dig Deep To Ensure FIN 48 Tax Compliance
Calendar year-end companies preparing to close the books should be digging deep into tax documents today to comply with a new tax-reporting rule that effectively goes into force with the end of fiscal 2007, according to recent professional accounting guidance blessed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial Interpretation No. 48, which becomes effective in […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
PCAOB May Stall Pace Of Audit Inspections
In a public admission that it may not be able to live up to its responsibilities, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is considering whether it should reduce the frequency of audit inspections for firms that audit fewer than 100 public issuers. The PCAOB made an 11th-hour addition to its meeting agenda for today, Dec. […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Help On FAS 157, FIN 48; PCAOB Budget
Speaking at the XBRL International Conference last week in Philadelphia, Chairman Robert Herz told the crowd that Financial Accounting Standard No. 157, Fair-Value Measurement, is meant to be “a new kind of standard … that acts more as a repository for what we mean by fair value,” since the concept crops up in multiple accounting […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Secret Out: New AS2 Eases Opinions
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to unveil a proposal for a dramatic revision of Auditing Standard No. 2 next week, promising to clear up vexing confusion over what opinions auditors are supposed to give and to what extent they should study management’s internal control assessment process. The PCAOB has scheduled a public meeting […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Still Few CPAs On Audit Committees; More
A lthough they are growing in number, accountants on the audit committee are still an anomaly for the majority of public companies, according to a recent study by Huron Consulting Group. In 2002, only 5 percent of all audit-committee members were accountants. By 2005, the figure had grown to 11 percent, the study said. The […]
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
Now It’s Crunch Time For Accelerated Filers
Crunch time is getting closer for accelerated filers approaching year’s end. The sprint to a compressed, 60-day process to close the books and meet filing deadlines for the largest and most complex public companies will begin in a few short weeks. The long-foretold 60-day close process falls in the same year thatcompanies also must address […]
