Fund balance is an important measure that represents the difference between a fund’s assets and liabilities. The overall objective of fund balance reporting is to isolate that portion of fund balance that is unavailable to support the following period’s budget. Because governmental funds’ measurement focus is the flow of financial
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TOPICS
Management accounting
Enterprise Risk Management
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) published a document to help boards of directors strengthen their oversight of enterprise risks. The four-page paper, Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors, calls attention to COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management—Integrated Framework (2004) and its definition
Small Public Companies Have Six More Months to Meet SOX Internal Controls Requirement
The SEC on Friday announced that the smallest public companies have six more months to provide audited assessments on the effectiveness of their internal control over financial reporting. Under section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, public companies and their independent auditors are each required to report to the public on
Optimism Grew Again in Q3, Spread Across Industries
Heightened optimism among CPA financial executives seems to indicate the worst of the recession is in the past, but the consensus is growing that the U.S. economy is still a ways off from achieving a full recovery. While optimism about the economy continued to improve and spread across most industries
The U.S. Economic Crisis: Root Causes and the Road to Recovery
Many attribute the beginning of the financial crisis to the collapse of the housing market. While the housing bust indeed plays an important role, particularly in the health and stability of the banking sector, the real problem is deeper. The fluctuations observed across real estate markets over the last decade
COSO Emphasizes Board’s Role in Overseeing Risk
The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) on Tuesday published a document to help boards of directors strengthen their oversight of enterprise risks. The four-page paper, Effective Enterprise Risk Oversight: The Role of the Board of Directors, calls attention to COSO’s Enterprise Risk Management—Integrated Framework (2004) and
IFRS Risk Planning and Controls Execution
Conversion to IFRS will be far more than a technical accounting exercise. Implementing IFRS will impact many, if not all, aspects of your business operations, including information technology. It may bring companywide changes that will spawn new risks. These include system changes, modifications to processes impacting employees’ day-to-day duties, and
Get Ready to Restructure
Coping with a downturn often means restructuring for companies. Every restructuring has many moving parts—including layoffs, impairments, asset revaluations and debt relief. To engineer a favorable outcome, stay ahead of events, says Scott Davis, a partner in the Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services practice at Grant Thornton. He offers these
Understanding Internal Control and Internal Control Services
This white paper written by Thomas A. Ratcliffe and Charles E. Landes and prepared by the AICPA Audit and Attestation Standards and Professional Publications teams seeks to clear up confusion among practitioners relating to the concept of internal control over financial reporting. It describes the concepts of internal control (specifically
ERM: Opportunities for Improvement
As the result of fallout from the ongoing economic crisis, failures associated with existing risk management processes are already generating calls for reform and increased regulatory scrutiny. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said in an April 2009 speech to the Council of Institutional Investors that “the Commission will be considering whether
CFO 101: Five Prerequisites
To climb the ladder in most finance organizations, CPAs hone their skills in making accounting judgments, closing the books, accurately preparing financial statements and other reports and filing them on time. But current CFOs agree that to reach the top—the CFO position—another skill set is required. Unfortunately, these additional skills
Assessing the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Calculating estimates of the collectibility of accounts receivable and auditing those estimates is difficult. This article describes three techniques for assessing allowance for doubtful accounts estimates and complying with Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) no. 57 and AU section 342, Auditing Accounting Estimates, which suggest auditors compare prior accounting estimates
Economic Optimism Continues to Improve Among CPA Executives
Heightened optimism among CPA financial executives seems to indicate the worst of the recession is in the past, but the consensus is growing that the U.S. economy is still a ways off from achieving a full recovery. While optimism about the economy continued to improve and spread across most industries
Four Options for Measuring Value Creation
In casual, everyday language, it is often said a corporation’s primary role is to generate profits. However, the primary role of a corporation is not to generate profits; it is to create shareholder value. When corporations focus their internal performance measurement systems on short-term profits or accounting returns—not shareholder value—bad
Banking
The FDIC issued a final rule that prevents banks that are less than well-capitalized from soliciting deposits at interest rates that significantly exceed prevailing rates. The new regulation, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2010, permits insured institutions that are less than well-capitalized to offer the “national rate” plus 75
Highlights
President Barack Obama presented a plan for regulatory reforms that would consolidate banking regulators, create new government agencies and give new powers to the Federal Reserve. One proposal of particular interest to the accounting profession includes three recommendations addressed to accounting standard setters. The plan echoes the Group of 20’s
Defined Contribution Plans for Nonprofit Organizations
When it comes to qualified retirement plans, the 403(b) has long been the default alternative for nonprofit organizations. The lack of nondiscrimination testing for elective deferrals and no plan audit requirement as well as the ability to avoid Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) regulations have traditionally been the biggest
Securities Class Action Filings Decline
Federal securities class action activity declined in the first half of 2009, according to a report released Monday by the Stanford Law School’s Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and Cornerstone Research. Eighty-seven federal securities class actions were filed in the first half of 2009, a 22.3% decline from the 112 filings
OCC Names New Chief Accountant
Kathy K. Murphy was named chief accountant for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on Monday. As chief accountant, she will be the OCC’s authoritative source for bank accounting and financial reporting, providing accounting counsel to examiners, the banking industry, and the accounting profession. Murphy joined the
Government
GASB released a statement that incorporates accounting and financial reporting guidance, which was previously only contained in the AICPA’s auditing literature, into GASB’s financial reporting literature for state and local governments. Statement no. 56, Codification of Accounting and Financial Reporting Guidance Contained in the AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards,
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FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
Right-sizing risk management
Sole practitioner or small firm? Risk management doesn’t have to be “one size fits all.” Learn how to help protect your practice without adding unnecessary admin time.
From The Tax Adviser
July 31, 2026
Current developments in S corporations
July 31, 2026
