Accounting & Auditing Update

Investor confidence in auditors and in capital markets in general fell in 2018, according to the annual poll by the Center for Audit Quality.

As audit firms disclose who performs public company audits, gender diversity is emerging as the first major concern regarding audit engagement leadership.

Treasury and the IRS have issued proposed new regulations on how to calculate global intangible low-taxed income under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

As the true effects of tax reform unfold, enthusiasm is waning in corporate boardrooms, according to a recent poll.

Audit regulators remain mum on when, if ever, they will publish a report on their 2016 inspection of Big 4 audit firm KPMG.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is planning a number of updates to accounting standards around all three of its major new standards on financial instruments.

Nearly 300 companies and associations signed a letter to the U.S. Treasury asking for guidance to edit what they call drafting errors in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Big 4 firms are meeting with FASB and SEC staff to sort out how to report certain effects of tax reform when clarity on provisions within the tax law is still elusive.

Companies now have new guidance on how to account for the costs of implementing certain cloud computing service arrangements.

GAAP now contains a shorter list of disclosure requirements for fair-value measurements and defined benefit plans, along with a reprised definition of materiality.

The PCAOB has issued more guidance to auditors about how they should comply with requirements to add new information to audit reports.

SEC enforcement actions against accountants have tapered off the past few years, according to a new analysis, while PCAOB actions jumped and remained high.

Companies are getting a little more clarity from the IRS on how to interpret provisions under tax reform affecting executive compensation.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is proposing some amendments to the pending new standard on credit losses.

Audit regulators are inviting feedback on a slimmed-down strategic plan, giving stakeholders a chance to influence how to regulate public company auditing.

FASB has issued a new accounting standard that revises the reporting around long-duration contracts for insurance companies.

FASB has taken another step to make the adoption of the huge new standard on lease accounting a little simpler—this time for lessors.

The AICPA is digging into new rules on credit losses and suggesting some implementation approaches with two draft documents open for public comment.

Half of the largest public companies saw SOX-related audit costs rise in 2017, driven by regulatory pressure, M&A activity, and new accounting rules.

To help figure out what to do to improve segment reporting, FASB is looking for public companies to participate in a study.

The IRS and Treasury have issued proposed regulations on how they envision implementing tax reform rules around repatriation of foreign earnings.

A pair of new poll results suggest anxiety is growing at public companies that have five months remaining until new lease accounting rules take effect.

FASB has finalized an enormous simplification of the pending new lease accounting standard, permitting companies to forego historic presentations.

As a new crop of college graduates joins the audit profession, U.S. audit leaders issued a joint statement to sell them on the viability of their career path.

Accountants globally have new rules to follow around offering or accepting inducements, and they’re a little more explicitly stated than those for U.S. accountants.