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Accounting & Auditing Update
The "Accounting & Auditing Update" is written by Tammy Whitehouse, a veteran business writer who has been a regular contributor to Compliance Week since 2005. Her work has also appeared in industry journals and periodicals including Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, Compensation & Benefits Review, Inc, Buyside, and myriad others. Whitehouse welcomes questions and comments from readers; she can be reached via e-mail at twhitehouse@complianceweek.com.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Ernst & Young Rebrands to EY
Matt Kelly | July 3, 2013
Consolidation continues at the Big 4 accounting firms—at least among the firms' names, anyway. Fresh off the arrival of a new global CEO last week, the venerable Ernst & Young announced that it will henceforth abbreviate itself to a simple "EY." The firm also announced a new logo, motto, and CEO, Mark Weinberger.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
SEC Names New Top Accountant
Tammy Whitehouse | July 18, 2012
Paul Beswick, the deputy chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission who coined the phrase "condorsement" to suggest a possible U.S. path toward international accounting standards, has been appointed acting chief accountant at the SEC. More inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2013 Reports to Show Progress, Gaps in Internal Control Audits
Tammy Whitehouse | May 20, 2014
The next round of audit inspection reports will show leading audit firms have made progress in their audit of internal controls over financial reporting, but often are still missing the final step in assuring controls are effective, according to Jay Hanson, a member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. More details inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2014 GAAP Taxonomy for XBRL Contains Far Fewer Changes
Tammy Whitehouse | August 30, 2013
Good news: The 2014 U.S. GAAP taxonomy for XBRL that the Financial Accounting Standards Board previewed last week looks a lot like the 2013 GAAP taxonomy. The proposed 2014 taxonomy is now available for inspection, and preparers will be happy to see that it contains far fewer changes than it has in prior years. More details inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2014 Restatements Show Further Declines
Tammy Whitehouse | April 21, 2015
Restatement data for 2014 suggest companies are getting better at financial reporting—producing fewer erroneous reports, with less damaging effects, and correcting mistakes more quickly when they find them, the latest report from Audit Analytics shows. Contrary to all the good news, however, restatements among accelerated filers are not falling. More inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2015 audit inspections show some gains, some blown opinions
Tammy Whitehouse | August 31, 2016
The PCAOB’s earliest 2015 inspection results show some reductions in deficient audits, but also increases in restatements and withdrawn opinions. More from Tammy Whitehouse.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2016 GAAP Taxonomy Ready for Use, Pending SEC Approval
Tammy Whitehouse | December 21, 2015
FASB has released its final update of the 2016 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, pending acceptance by the SEC, to allow public companies to prepare to use it to complete their XBRL filings. The annual update allows FASB staff to make the taxonomy easier to navigate and more effective in reflecting financial information consistently across entities. The 2016 update in particular reflects changes suggested by the banking and insurance sector as well, FASB says.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2016 PCAOB inspection results will deliver mixed results
Tammy Whitehouse | December 7, 2016
When 2016 inspection results are published on the major audit firms next year, they will show an overall reduction in adverse findings, but also a spike in findings for at least one Big 4 firm. Tammy Whitehouse has more.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
75% of S&P 100 report non-GAAP earnings, study shows
Tammy Whitehouse | April 13, 2016
A recent Georgia Tech Financial Analysis study found that 75 S&P 100 companies reported non-GAAP earnings in 2013, with 48 companies making adjustments as a result of gains or losses due to non-recurring events. Income taxes gave rise to 30 adjustments, and 27 adjustments arose from restructuring and productivity-related charges.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
ABA Pleads for Intervention on Fair-Value Plans
Tammy Whitehouse | September 16, 2009
The American Bankers Association is appealing to the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve to stoke the fire over accounting issues at the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh Sept. 24-25, especially regarding proposals to require more use of fair value on bank balance sheets.Edward Yingling, ABA president and CEO, sent...
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Academics: Move to IFRS Won't Boost Reporting Quality
Tammy Whitehouse | July 15, 2009
A group of academics offer some new food for thought in the ongoing debate of when and how to transition the United States to international accounting standards. The professors say the upfront cost of transition won’t necessarily be recouped in lower cost of capital or improved capital allocation because the...
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Restatements Rise Among Accelerated Filers for Third Year
Tammy Whitehouse | May 13, 2014
Restatements among accelerated filers rose for a third straight year in 2013, with 290 such companies disclosing a need to restate financial statements, although the average dollars-and-cents impact hit an all-time low in the same year. Overall, 846 companies filed restatements in 2013, just a slight increase from the 838 restatements filed in 2012. More details inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accountant Gets First Ever IRS Whistleblower Program Award
Tammy Whitehouse | April 8, 2011
The Internal Revenue Service has paid a $4.5 million whistleblower reward to an in-house accountant who reported a $20 million tax liability at a Fortune 500 financial company. The whistleblower's lawyer says his client got 22 percent of the tax recovery, the first such payment since the IRS bounty program began more than four years ago.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accountants Consider Job Changes As Economy Recovers
Tammy Whitehouse | July 24, 2009
Nearly one-fourth of accountants are getting antsy in their current positions, even plotting a job change if and when the economy begins mounting a recovery, according to a recent survey by Ajilon Finance and the Institute of Management Accountants.The two groups polled 458 accountants during a recent webinar series and...
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accountants tally Brexit effect in financial statements
Tammy Whitehouse | September 16, 2016
To prepare for Brexit, companies need to consider how they might be exposed to new risks, assuring they are reflected in accounting and financial reporting. Tammy Whitehouse analyzes a new PwC report that discusses what near- and long-term issues companies can expect.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting Boards Split on Rule for Financial Instruments
Tammy Whitehouse | July 19, 2012
U.S. and international accounting rulemakers have deadlocked on a new standard on accounting for bad bank loans, a blow to supporters of a converged world. The Financial Accounting Standards Board wants to do yet more research on the proposal for impaired financial instruments, prompting Hans Hoogervorst of the International Accounting Standards Board to say he is "very worried ... that the whole thing is going to unravel again."
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting class actions rise again in 2015, analysis shows
Tammy Whitehouse | April 19, 2016
Accounting-related class-action settlements jumped to $2.6 billion in 2015, with 86 percent of the cases involving allegations of internal control weaknesses, according to the latest analysis by Cornerstone Research. The largest increase in settled cases in 2015 involved cases where investors raised allegations of internal control weaknesses but the company did not announce any such weaknesses. In terms of filings, the number of accounting-related cases containing internal control allegations has increased steadily since 2012, notes Cornerstone.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting Class-Action Settlements Rise Slightly in 2013
Tammy Whitehouse | April 30, 2014
The number of U.S. accounting class-action settlements increased slightly in 2013 to 47, up from 46 in 2011, with an average settlement amount of $26.6 million. The number of cases still remained relatively low compared with the past decade, according to an analysis of securities class-action cases. More inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting estimate audit risks get uneven scrutiny, study says
Tammy Whitehouse | May 4, 2017
Auditors are scrutinizing the risk of management bias in arriving at accounting estimates, but not so much when it comes to the risk of measurement imprecision.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting leaders advocate looking at non-GAAP accounting measures
Tammy Whitehouse | July 28, 2016
As the Securities and Exchange Commission continues its focus on use of non-GAAP accounting measures, accounting experts are advising companies to take a look at their internal controls and assure they are appropriate. Tammy Whitehouse reports.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting, Finance Staff Still in Demand, Bonuses Intact
Tammy Whitehouse | May 1, 2009
Despite heavy job losses in certain sectors, accountants and finance professions are still in demand, and their pay is fairly steady. The nature of the job is changing, though, focusing more on cost-cutting and risk avoidance.According to staffing firm Ajilon Finance, accounting and bookkeeping in general added 1,600 new jobs...
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting, Valuation Leaders Collaborate on Fair Value
Tammy Whitehouse | March 11, 2014
Setting the stage for greater harmonization of valuation and accounting standards, the International Accounting Standards Board and the International Valuation Standards Council have issued a "statement of protocols" to cooperate on fair value rules.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Accounting-Related Class-Action Lawsuits Jump in 2014
Tammy Whitehouse | April 1, 2015
A Cornerstone Research report says securities class-action filings involving allegations of accounting improprieties jumped sharply from 47 in 2013 to 69 in 2014. Senior adviser Laura Simmons said Cornerstone expected the SEC’s increased focus on financial reporting issues might lead to an increase in class actions with these issues. “Finally, this year we see that come to fruition,” she said. Details inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Adopting the 2013 COSO framework: fiscal 2015 update
Audit Analytics | June 1, 2016
Data gathered by Protiviti and Audit Analytics from fiscal 2015 annual reports show that the implementation of the COSO framework for audited internal control over financial reporting is almost complete: 96 percent of companies reviewed used the 2013 Framework, in comparison to 82 percent for fiscal 2014. Tammy Whitehouse reports.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Adverse internal control findings tapered off in 2016
Tammy Whitehouse | November 6, 2017
For the first time since 2012, a slightly smaller number of companies in 2016 reported adverse findings on internal control, according to a new analysis.
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