Accounting standards

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants reported a 5.5 percent increase in membership over the past year as it faces renewed competition from the AICPA.

Organizations are finally starting to prepare for the new lease accounting standard that will be taking effect in 2019, but as they do they’re running into some unexpected complexities.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Financial Reporting Executive Committee has released several more working drafts of industry-specific guidance related to various implementation issues involving the revenue recognition standard and is asking for feedback on them.

Moses Kgosana, who withdrew from taking the post as chairman of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Ltd. in the wake of allegations related to his tenure as chief executive officer and senior partner at KPMG South Africa, said he offered to step aside from the position.

Moses Kgosana, who was due to take the role of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Ltd. chairman at the end of August, withdrew from the position after allegations emerged related to his tenure as chief executive officer and senior partner at KPMG South Africa.

Accounting standards -- and accountants -- are struggling to achieve relevance in the 21st century

The U.K. Financial Reporting Council opened an investigation into PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s audits of BT Group Plc over three years following an accounting scandal in the carrier’s Italian unit that led to a writedown of 530 million pounds ($687 million).

KPMG South Africa failed to raise the issue when businesses controlled by the Gupta family—friends of President Jacob Zuma—diverted the equivalent of $3.3 million of public money to pay for a family wedding and their auditing firm, documents show.

International organizations are the ERP platform provider's fastest growing customer base.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is continuing to uncover problems with auditor independence during recent inspections of auditors of brokers and dealers.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board released guidance Wednesday to create a single approach to accounting for and reporting state and local government leases.

Many companies are lagging behind on preparations for the new lease accounting standard as they are still working on the revenue recognition standard, according to a pair of new surveys.

The lobbying group for Hollywood’s top studios is auditing China’s box-office figures amid concern that ticket sales have been reported inaccurately, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Auditing firms will be required to disclose the names of other firms that participated in an audit, starting Friday.

The French company that claims to hold the trademarks of the former Big Five accounting firm Arthur Andersen & Co. sent Accounting Today a copy Friday of the lawsuit it filed against Andersen Tax over the rights to the Andersen brand, alleging the use of forged documents and an attempt to obtain court rulings using forgeries.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed an accounting standards update to reduce the cost and complexity of financial reporting related to the consolidation of variable interest entities, based on recommendations from FASB’s sister organization, the Private Company Council.

Already reeling from a $4.5 billion bill to save its ailing No. 1 lender, Ukraine is now bracing for an even costlier rescue, and says audits by PwC’s local office were instrumental in the bank’s failure.

Auditors are increasingly taking responsibility for fraud detection and cybersecurity at companies, whether they like it or not.

Proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co. blasted Toshiba Corp.’s board for poor governance amid repeated scandals and recommended investors vote against all directors at the company’s shareholders meeting later this month.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s recently proposed rules on auditing accounting estimates and using the work of specialists indicate the PCAOB wants auditors to view management bias more skeptically.