While audit regulators churn away on promised revisions to Auditing Standard No. 2, their chief auditor is imploring those in the field to heed earlier guidance, use more judgment, and lighten up on excessive testing and audit procedures. In a speech to the 25th annual SEC and Financial Reporting Institute Conference in Pasadena, Calif., last […]
Accounting & Auditing
Posted inAccounting & Auditing
As Global Rules Grow, GAAP Falls Behind
Once upon a time, the idea of a single, global set of accounting standards seemed like a visionary concept—one that emanated from the United States to the rest of the world. That movement—which started as an effort to export U.S. standards and ultimately became a complicated, conciliatory game of “convergence”—seems to have tilted squarely in […]
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FASB Ducks Intangibles Rule, Hits Repair Costs
The Financial Accounting Standards Board, flummoxed by accounting complexity of its own making, decided last week to bail out of a plan to provide new guidance on how to account for certain intangible assets. “They’re going to let practice work itself out,” says Kim Kushmerik, a technical manager with the American Institute of Certified Public […]
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Conflicting Formulas Emerge On Pension Reforms
Now that accounting rulemakers are planning to require companies to move their pension obligations from the footnotes to the balance sheet, companies are appealing for a new measurement formula to determine what they will report as a pension liability—one that would lower the value of the reported cost. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed […]
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FASB On Insurance; New Auditing Standards; More
Accounting rulemakers are planning a look at the insurance accounting rules that put American Insurance Group into trouble with securities regulators. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an invitation to comment, looking for ideas on how companies should be required to break apart insurance contracts to better distinguish between true insurance and financing arrangements. […]
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When Security And Securities Laws Collide
In an unprecedented move, the Bush Administration has given its director of national intelligence the authority to exempt corporations from making certain disclosures required by federal securities laws. The revelation, first reported by Business Week in May, surprised several securities lawyers who spoke with Compliance Week, although many say it’s to be expected in the […]
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On The Road To Global Governance Standards
With Nasdaq announcing its acquisition of nearly 25 percent of the shares of the London Stock Exchange, and the concomitant pressure on the NYSE to make a comparable foreign exchange acquisition, it’s now readily apparent that we’re moving toward global, and away from national, capital markets. In more prosaic terms, what this means is that […]
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Adverse Reports Fall, But Small Cos. Struggle
Ernst & Young audited more accelerated filers and issued fewer adverse opinions last year than any other Big 4 firm, according to a recent analysis of internal control filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. At the opposite end of the spectrum, KPMG audited the second-lowest number of accelerated filers, yet showed the highest rate […]
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Auditor Filings Eyed; AICPA Data Missing
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is pushing new disclosure rules for CPA firms, which could ultimately force auditors to alert regulators when they—or their clients—encounter numerous types of governance woes. Under new rules proposed last week, the PCAOB wants to be notified within 14 days if an audit firm withdraws a public company’s audit […]
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FASB Acts On Taxes; Japan Rebukes PwC
The Financial Accounting Standards Board is planning to finalize its position on how companies should present uncertainties about tax issues in a way that gives companies some more flexibility than originally planned. At a recent board meeting, members wrestled with how a company should show the financial impact of a position they are taking with […]
