All articles by Tammy Whitehouse – Page 45
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Blog
FASB Proposes Gross-Net Guidance on Revenue Recognition
FASB has proposed an update to its revenue recognition standard to clarify when an entity is acting as the principal in its interaction with a customer or when it is an agent for some other entity, helping a company determine if it should recognize revenue on a gross or net ...
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Article
Feel the Churn: Big 4 Get Squeezed on Audit Engagements
Image: The Big 4 audit firms have lost more audit clients this year than they have gained, and second-tier firms seem to be picking them up. That churn is probably due to a variety of factors, from cost to PCAOB inspection reports to ease of working relationship, but the overall ...
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Blog
FASB, Congressman Dispute Lease Standard’s Economic Effect
Image: FASB is pressing on with its planned fourth-quarter release of the final new accounting standard on leasing despite House Financial Services Committee member Brad Sherman’s (left) plea to FASB Chairman Russ Golden to consider analysis that says the standard will exact a heavy toll on the U.S. economy. Golden ...
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Blog
Audit Fee Data Reveals New Departure from Non-Audit Services
According to a recent Audit Analytics study of fees paid in 2014 by 2,300 accelerated filers, 80.3 percent were focused on the integrated financial statement internal control audit; fees for non-audit services dipped to 19.7 percent of the total bill from the audit firm, a drop from 20 percent during ...
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Blog
Study Shows Better Audit Reports Lead to Better Audits
Expanded audit reports and audit committee reports have led to better audits in the United Kingdom, according to new research, perhaps because expanded reporting has given auditors more leverage over financial statement assertions. The authors of the study said the new U.K. reporting requirements led to better-quality audits, as measured ...
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Article
More Questions, and Evidence, on Undisclosed Control Weaknesses
Image: Fresh data from the PCAOB is raising awkward questions about whether companies and audit firms really are disclosing all the weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires. PCAOB board member Jeanette Franzel presented the data in a recent speech that should prompt some soul-searching ...
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Blog
SEC Action Suggests Focus on Valuations, Experts Say
A new study from valuation firm NERA Consulting suggests that the SEC is renewing its interest in pursuing valuation-related accounting issues. The findings are based on an enforcement action against Miller Energy Resources and certain officers for inflating oil property values. “Reporting entities are well advised to make full disclosures ...
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Blog
PCAOB to Air Corporate Angst Over Internal Control Audits
Image: The PCAOB will convene its Investor Advisory Group in September to explore criticisms that the regulatory approach around internal controls is out of step with risk. Specifically, the group will address a recent letter from Tom Quaadman, vice president of the Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness at the Chamber ...
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Blog
IIA Reports Calls Internal Auditors to Better Leverage Technology
Image: A recent report from the Institute of Internal Auditors found that nearly 40 percent of audit departments worldwide are getting their arms around technology at what they consider to be appropriate levels. However, the study also found only one in 10 internal auditors entering the profession has education in ...
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Article
Trying for More Clarity on Work of Audit Specialists
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 ...
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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
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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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 ...