All Accounting & Auditing articles – Page 110
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Auditor Evaluation Report: Peer Benchmarking, Auditor Profile and Risk Indicators for the Audit Committee
There are two truths about corporate compliance: No universal solution exists for all businesses, and everyone wants to know what everyone else is doing. As part of our effort to better serve the compliance community, we are pleased to introduce Compliance Week Data & Research Division. With this report, we ...
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Blog
Creating Order in World of Data Chaos
The massive accumulation of information can overwhelm companies, creating compliance risks and vulnerability to privacy breaches, while also driving up the cost of e-discovery. To meet the challenge of information governance, companies are mapping out existing systems where data resides and may be managed. Inside, columnist Jose Tabuena looks at ...
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Blog
KPMG Alliance With Flexera Helps Companies Improve Software License Management
KPMG this week entered into an alliance with Flexera Software, a provider of software license optimization solutions, to offer holistic software asset management and license optimization software and services to enterprise customers. The alliance will help companies improve their operational capability, effectively manage their software license estate, help optimize spend ...
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Article
With Americans Living Longer, Pension Changes May Be Needed
Image: Faced with compelling new evidence that Americans are living longer, companies may have to reflect potentially big cost increases associated with pension and retiree medical benefits in their financial statements. The Society of Actuaries has released data showing longevity rates increased at least two years on average. “This will ...
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Blog
SEC Preparing End to IFRS Speculation
The Securities and Exchange Commission may be preparing to put an end to the uncertainty about possible adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards in the United States. SEC Chief Accountant James Schnurr said at a recent conference that he plans to make a recommendation to the full Commission in the ...
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Retirement Benefit Trend; SEC Rulemaking Concerns; More
Coming in the Nov. 11 edition of Compliance Week: CW’s Tammy Whitehouse looks at how many are considering new mortality rates in estimating retirement benefit costs; also next week, what companies have to say about long-awaited, most-anticipated, SEC rulemaking.
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Blog
FASB Studies Possible Deferral for Revenue Recognition
Image: Title: KroekerFASB plans to consider in early 2015 whether to give companies more time to adopt the new revenue recognition standard. Although the board has received numerous requests for more time, at a recent meeting FASB Vice Chairman Jim Kroeker indicated little sympathy for delayed action. “To those who ...
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Blog
BDO Acquires SS&G
BDO, a professional service organization, announced today that it has acquired accounting and consulting firm SS&G. The acquisition means that BDO has expanded its Midwest presence with the addition of more than 375 staff, including 36 partners, from SS&G. Details inside.
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Blog
FASB Finalizes Rules on Shares With Embedded Derivative Features
The Financial Accounting Standards Board has finished its hedge accounting guidance meant to eliminate the use of different accounting methods when companies raise capital by offering shares that include embedded derivative features. The new guidance will help sort out whether the host contract of a hybrid instrument issued as a ...
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ArticleAccounting and Audit Suffering a Talent Shortage
With the improving economy and increased regulatory burden, accountants and auditors are in high demand once again, and the resulting labor crunch is pushing up audit costs. To make matters worse, long hours, the threat of litigation, and regulatory pressure are pushing some accountants out of the profession. “Turnover is ...
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Blog
Study Says CFOs Still Control Audit Fees at Many Companies
Image: Title: MauldinNew academic research suggests the CFO, not the audit committee, still often negotiates the audit fee, despite Sarbanes-Oxley Act provisions meant to put audit committees in the driver’s seat. “At many companies it is still primarily the CFO who calls the shots,” says Elaine Mauldin, professor at the ...
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e-Book: Employment Compliance & Payroll: Wrapping Up 2014
As 2015 fast approaches, getting a handle on new and existing employment tax compliance and payroll is as daunting a task as ever before. In this e-Book, produced by Compliance Week in cooperation with ADP, you will learn what companies can do to navigate a regulatory and accounting minefield that ...
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Blog
Netwrix Auditor 6.5 Helps Detect Insider Threats
Netwrix, a provider of change and configuration auditing software, recently announced the release of Netwrix Auditor 6.5. This new offering provides comprehensive monitoring and auditing capabilities that help to streamline compliance, strengthen security, and simplify root cause analysis across the entire IT infrastructure, including file servers and shares. Details inside.
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Article
Audit Staffing Concerns; Conflict Minerals Update; More
Coming in the Nov. 4 edition of Compliance Week: Internal audit staff shortages are causing a rise in audit fees and placing more demands on the IA function; also next week, CW’s Joe Mont provides a look at where companies stand in preparing for year two of conflict minerals compliance.
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Blog
Companies Need to Consider New Mortality Data in Pension Costs
Companies that sponsor retirement plans have some new, hard-to-ignore information to consider that promises to increase the cost of their plans. The Society of Actuaries has released updated mortality tables that show pension plan participants are living longer. The SOA estimates that could produce a 4- to 8-percent increase in ...
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Blog
OECD Completes FATCA-Like Regime With More Reporting Obligations
Image: Title: PlowgianThe Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development has finished the Common Reporting Standard to govern the exchange of tax information among more than 50 countries. While the United States is not a participant, says KPMG principal Michael Plowgian, subsidiaries or branches of U.S. entities will need to comply ...
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Blog
Goodwill Impairment Drops to Five-Year Low
Public companies reported the lowest levels of goodwill impairment last year since the financial crisis touched off a downward spiral in corporate values beginning in 2008. According to Duff & Phelps’ annual study, public companies recorded writedowns totaling $21 billion in 2013, down nearly 60 percent from the $51 billion ...
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Blog
Proponents Say IFRS Will Benefit EU Moving Forward
Image: Title: HoogervorstOct. 29—The heads of two groups charged with overseeing the International Financial Reporting Standards have told the European Commission that using the single set of financial reporting standards has benefited the European Union and will continue to do so. IFRS Foundation Board of Trustees Chairman Michel Prada and ...
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Blog
Keeping Reporting Overseers on the Same Page
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board have several formal and informal channels to compare notes and exchange ideas. Still, some wonder if a forum to discuss the reporting system as a whole and the long-term health of that system ...
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Article
Reducing Systems and Risks in Purchase-to-Pay
Most companies maintain several systems within their procurement and accounts payable functions, especially if they have grown through acquisition. But several systems can create risks, including low supplier visibility. Fewer systems can help, but it’s not a cure-all. Many companies find they need to take steps to reduce the risks ...