Employee benefit plan administrators have a lot to consider when hiring a financial statement auditor. Here’s what to look for when seeking a firm for this important service.
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What do public companies disclose about auditor relationships?
Proxy reports filed by U.S. public companies often discuss how nonaudit services may affect independence, according to a new report. But other elements of relationships with auditors are disclosed less often.
PCAOB may soon require naming of engagement partner
PCAOB Chairman James Doty hopes the board will complete a standard early next year that will require the naming of the engagement partner and other firms participating in U.S. public company audits.
Minimum essential coverage, other health care reform guidance issued
The IRS issued final regulations and other guidance on how to determine whether taxpayers have minimum essential health care coverage and listing hardship exemptions for purposes of the individual mandate.
Rules updated for transit fare smart cards and qualified transportation fringe benefits
The Internal Revenue Service issued new rules on the tax treatment of smart cards and debit cards used to purchase transportation for employees.
GASB gives preliminary views on leases, fiduciary responsibilities
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued “Preliminary Views” statements proposing changes for the way state and local governments account for leases—and for activities in which they have a fiduciary responsibility.
Alert focuses on independence rules for auditors of certain nonissuers
The Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and the AICPA on Wednesday issued a joint alert to provide audit firms with an overview of SEC and PCAOB independence rules that apply to financial statement audit and attestation engagements for certain nonissuers. The alert is intended for auditors of: SEC-registered, nonissuer broker-dealers;
GASB member gets vice chair position
GASB member Jan Sylvis has been named the board’s vice chair, a position that existed early in GASB’s history but recently was retired. The appointment, which takes effect Jan. 1, was announced Wednesday by the board of trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF), which oversees GASB and FASB. FAF
FASB publishes new rules for pushdown accounting
New accounting rules published Tuesday by FASB establish whether and at what threshold an acquired business or not-for-profit organization can apply pushdown accounting. Pushdown accounting occurs in an acquisition when an acquired organization uses the acquirer’s basis of accounting to prepare its financial statements. A lack of guidance in GAAP
Internal auditors’ job satisfaction higher with incentive pay, survey finds
Internal auditors who receive incentives based on profits or revenue report higher job satisfaction and loyalty to their organizations without having their objectivity compromised, according to a new survey report. Among the 1,600 internal auditors who responded to the survey conducted in North America, about 50% of chief audit executives,
IRS finalizes rules on relief from failure to file GRAs
The IRS finalized proposed regulations to update the rules that apply to U.S. taxpayers that fail to file gain recognition agreements (GRAs) when they transfer certain property to foreign corporations in nonrecognition transactions (T.D. 9704). The rules change the standards under which transferors are required to recognize gain on the
G-20 leaders commit to automatic exchange of tax information
“Profits should be taxed where economic activities deriving the profits are performed and where value is created”—so said the leaders of the G-20 major economies as they endorsed the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) global standard for automatic exchange of tax information at the G-20 summit in Brisbane,
Defining roles in prevention of financial reporting fraud
There is no way to guarantee that an organization will not experience financial reporting fraud. But research shows that fraud-resistant organizations share three traits: A tone at the top that encourages an ethical culture. The presence of skepticism. Engagement of all participants in the financial reporting supply chain. That’s according
Ingredients of an effective audit committee
The audit committee is a fundamental part of the corporate governance structure. But with changing demands being placed on it, what steps can companies take to ensure that the committee effectively safeguards stakeholders? A popular panel at the 2014 World Congress of Accountants in Rome explored the issue. Here are
Evolving role of finance among top issues at World Congress of Accountants
Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, held a small blue globe in her hand for the audience to see as she presided over the closing ceremony of the World Congress of Accountants on Thursday. The globe, manufactured by CGMA staff using a 3-D printer at the Rome meeting, was more than an
IRS fills in details of one-a-year IRA rollover rule
The IRS clarified how the recently announced change in how it interprets the statutory one-rollover-per-year rule for individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) will affect 2014 rollovers and how the rules will apply starting in 2015 (Announcement 2014-32). Sec. 408(d)(3)(A)(i) permits a tax-free rollover of funds in a taxpayer’s IRA as long
Regulations finalize rules on all-cash D reorganizations
On Monday, the IRS finalized temporary regulations regarding the determination of the basis of stock or securities in all-cash D reorganizations where no stock or securities of the issuing corporation is issued and distributed in the transaction (T.D. 9702). The regulations clarify that in these transactions, only a shareholder that
Former AICPA chair named IFAC president
Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, a member of the AICPA’s governing council and former chair of the AICPA board of directors, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the board of the International Federation of Accountants, a global organization dedicated to strengthening the accounting profession. IFAC announced the
Final rules determine how E&P is treated in corporate reorganizations
New rules under Sec. 381 will change which corporation succeeds to the tax attributes, including the earnings and profits (E&P), of the transferor or distributor corporation in certain acquisitions. T.D. 9700, issued on Friday by the IRS, also finalizes other related proposed regulations under Sec. 312 clarifying that, in certain
A hidden reason women struggle to make it to top leadership roles
While accounting firms have made advances in diversity and inclusion in recent years and women have pushed harder to be promoted into senior leadership positions, research shows that one alarming factor still keeps women from getting to the top leadership positions: a lack of distinct, critical leadership experience in key
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