All CAQ articles – Page 3

  • Article

    Hosting a Related-Party Transaction About to Get Much Harder

    2015-10-20T11:45:00Z

    Image: Companies preparing year-end financial disclosures, beware: Auditors will be poring over related-party transactions to make sure those parties don’t get too wild. The new Audit Standard 18 pushed auditors to be more skeptical about transactions, so expect them to push you (and your audit committee) to be more diligent ...

  • Article

    Hosting a Related-Party Transaction About to Get Much Harder

    2015-10-20T11:45:00Z

    Image: Companies preparing year-end financial disclosures, beware: Auditors will be poring over related-party transactions to make sure those parties don’t get too wild. The new Audit Standard 18 pushed auditors to be more skeptical about transactions, so expect them to push you (and your audit committee) to be more diligent ...

  • Blog

    CAQ Echoes Regulatory Warnings for Year-End Audits

    2015-10-13T12:15:00Z

    Image: The Center for Audit Quality has issued an alert to auditors advising where they should focus their audit attention this year. First up is professional skepticism and internal control over financial reporting, followed closely by risk assessments, cyber-security, revenue recognition, and related parties. “These alerts reflect the public company ...

  • Article

    Trying for More Clarity on Work of Audit Specialists

    2015-08-18T11:15:00Z

    Image: Another question on the way to a better corporate audit: whether audit firms need new rules to scrutinize the work of specialists, crucial players in producing fairly stated financial statements. The PCAOB wants to end confusion over specialists, which should help auditor and client company alike. “If you look ...

  • Blog

    Audit Committees Get Fresh Tips on Evaluating Auditors

    2015-06-03T13:45:00Z

    Image: The Audit Committee Collaboration, backed by seven groups with various missions around corporate governance and investor advocacy, has updated its External Auditor Assessment Tool, tips to help audit committees conduct their evaluation of external auditors. Cindy Fornelli, executive director of the Center for Audit Quality, says the tool “can ...

  • Article

    Audit Relations Continue to Be Strained

    2015-05-27T16:15:00Z

    Image: Tensions over the audit of internal controls over financial reporting were in focus at the Compliance Week 2015 conference last week, with many saying corporate audit committees will ultimately need to resolve the problem. “We hear the concerns, even frustrations, from company officials over the level of audit work ...

  • Article

    Audit Voices Try to Calm Tensions on Evidence

    2015-03-17T13:45:00Z

    Image: Leaders of the auditing world are calling for a truce in arguments between internal and external auditors over how much evidence external auditors should collect themselves while scrutinizing internal controls—and are calling on audit committees to intervene earlier to prevent such disputes. “Essential value will be lost if external ...

  • Blog

    Ford Feels Venezuela Pinch With $800 Million Charge

    2015-01-27T14:00:00Z

    Ford Motor Co. is taking a one-time $800 million charge to earnings in its 2014 fourth quarter because of continued currency problems with Venezuelan operations. In a filing with the SEC, the company said the currency woes have constrained parts availability, which makes normal production difficult to maintain. Details inside.

  • Blog

    SEC Warns on Foreign Business vs. Joint Venture

    2015-01-23T08:30:00Z

    Be careful what you call a “foreign business.” The Securities and Exchange Commission says it is seeing too many instances of companies trying to call their joint ventures “foreign businesses” for financial reporting purposes. Perhaps that’s because the reporting requirements might be easier to meet. See inside.

  • Article

    Frameworks and Leadership on Cyber-Risks

    2014-12-09T11:00:00Z

    As cyber-security attacks become everyday news, companies are racing to identify and mitigate their risks. Some of that is “pure” IT security; much of it is about applying a control framework smartly to new technologies—and empowering the right person to oversee these risks. “Companies ... for the most part are ...