All Accounting & Auditing articles – Page 97
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Blog
Companies Continue Shift Toward Restricted Stock Awards
Large public companies continue their shift away from stock options toward restricted stock in 2014, according the latest annual analysis by PwC of stock compensation assumptions and disclosures.
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Blog
Internal Control Audits Improving, to a Point
Image: Audits of internal control over financial reporting are starting to improve, but it’s still too early to say if audit practice has turned the corner as fully as regulators want, according to PCAOB Member Jeanette Franzel. Franzel said internal control over financial reporting continues to be the most frequent ...
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Article
Taxing Times Ahead on Revenue Standard
Among the many issues companies must address as they adopt the new revenue recognition standard, tax consequences are gaining more attention. The IRS is seeking comment on how burdensome tax reporting might become, and the standard’s fundamental shift in recognizing revenue could make the burden quite heavy. “There’s a lot ...
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Blog
FASB Proposes Fixes to Narrow Hedge Accounting Issues
FASB is proposing some changes to hedge accounting rules to help companies apply the rules consistently. One proposed update would try to resolve varied approaches around a four-step decision sequence to determine whether certain instruments should be treated as embedded derivatives; another addresses questions about whether a change in counterparty ...
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Blog
CAQ Names Senior Director of Professional Practice
The Center for Audit Quality has hired Catherine Nance as senior director of Professional Practice. In her new role, Nance will lead the CAQ’s regulatory and public policy initiatives and activities. Details inside.
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Blog
Deadline Nears to Weigh in on New Operating Activities Presentation
Image: FASB has issued three sets of frequently asked questions about its proposal to alter the presentation of financial statements for not-for-profits. The proposal would “dramatically change” several areas of reporting, especially around operating activities, says Beth Paul, a partner with PwC. “Given FASB has similar projects on the agenda ...
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Blog
AICPA Moves Closer to Audit Data Standards
Image: The AICPA has finalized two audit data standards for sub-ledgers, focused on order to cash and procure to pay. Companies that voluntarily adopt such standards, which provide a framework covering data fields and files commonly requested by auditors, could find the work to fulfill auditors’ file requests trimmed from ...
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Article
Auditing Anti-Corruption Efforts: Best Practices Take Shape
Image: More anti-corruption efforts by compliance departments means more auditing of those programs by internal audit, and a vanguard of businesses (many of them, admittedly, stung by misconduct violations in the past) are pioneering better auditing techniques on that point. Tom O’Reilly, director of internal audit at Analog Devices, says ...
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Blog
FASB Adopts Fixes to Employee Benefit Accounting
FASB has finalized its accounting standards update with a three-part fix to simplify accounting for employee benefit plans. The first part allows companies to measure the value of fully benefit-responsive investment contracts at the contract value rather than fair value; part two cuts disclosure requirements for certain individual investments; and ...
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Blog
Report Highlights New Scrutiny Around Controls at Third Parties
Outsourced service providers are getting more attention as a possible source of risk, according to the latest research from Financial Executives International. Insight on Outsourced Service Providers, published by the Financial Executives Research Foundation, says companies are beefing up their scrutiny of outsourced service providers after implementing the 2013 COSO ...
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Resource
Google EU User Consent Policy: Are You Compliant?
Google recently announced it will be implementing a new user consent policy. Essentially, this new policy requires all websites serving EU visitors, including those not based in the European Union, to comply with the EU Cookie Directive.The EU Cookie Directive has led to a concerted effort by regulators to set ...
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Blog
IASB Proposes Updates on Revenue Standard
The International Accounting Standards Board has floated a few ideas to help clarify the new revenue recognition standard, and is asking for public comment on the proposals. All three clarifications address performance obligations under the new standard and seek to clarify questions such as who is a principal or agent, ...
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Blog
FASB Finalizes Simpler Way to Measure Some Inventory
The Financial Accounting Standards Board has finished its simplification of the accounting requirements around measuring inventory, although the simplification is not as broad-based as first intended. The update says when performing subsequent measurements of inventory under either the first-in, first-out, or the average costs methods, companies should measure inventory at ...
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Blog
Conducting a Practical Compliance Risk Assessment
Risk assessment is standard fare for a mature compliance program. The challenge for compliance officers is to ensure that their assessment works well, finding the right risks and generating information they can use to improve their program. This week, columnist Jose Tabuena identifies steps for conducting a meaningful compliance risk ...
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Blog
10 More Things Related to Revenue Recognition
One year ago, CW columnist Scott Taub offered 10 initial thoughts on the then-brand new standard for revenue recognition. After working with companies to implement the standard and participating in FASB’s Joint Transaction Resource Group, Taub says he remains optimistic about revenue recognition. Now he has 10 more thoughts on ...
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Article
Hertz Restatement Drives Home Top-Level Control Issues
Image: Car rental kingpin Hertz Corp. is nearly finished with its sweeping restatement of several years’ worth of financial statements, and it’s giving compliance and audit executives plenty of cautionary tales to read. Its latest annual report outlines—in frank detail—more than a dozen failures, most of them in senior leadership. ...
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Blog
PCAOB Sanctions Small Firms for Quality Reviews
Audit regulators have disciplined seven small audit firms and some of their employees for lapses in internal reviews of audit engagement reviews. The PCAOB censured the seven firms, from across the country, together with seven individuals and the companies for their violations of Auditing Standard No. 7: Engagement Quality Review. ...
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Blog
New Executive Director Named for IIA-Canada
The Institute of Internal Auditors–Canada, has appointed Shelley Pelkey as IIA–Canada’s executive director. In her new role, Pelkey will oversee services for IIA members in Canada and coordinate programs with 12 Canada IIA chapters. Details inside.
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Blog
IASB Follows Suit on Deferring Revenue Recognition One Year
Image: The International Accounting Standards Board has decided to delay the effective date of its revenue recognition standard by one year, just as FASB pushed out its required implementation date to 2018. IASB is delaying the standard because it is working on clarifications to help implementation and because it “keeps ...
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Blog
Trimble Navigation Selects MetricStream for SOX and Conflict Minerals Compliance
Trimble Navigation, a maker of GPS and survey equipment, has selected MetricStream SOX Compliance Management App to strengthen internal controls, as well as ensure compliance with all SOX compliance requirements. It also has selected its Conflict Minerals Management App to streamline their conflict minerals program and reporting requirements. Details inside.