Accounting standards

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he did not plan to have Congress suspend fair value accounting rules.

The Securities and Exchange Commission held the first of two roundtable discussions on fair value accounting standards, receiving input from accounting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Grant Thornton, along with other organizations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to hold its annual forum on small business capital formation on Nov. 20 at its headquarters.

“An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. (acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech—Ed.) The emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new ‘clothes.’ During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, ‘But he has nothing on!’ The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession.”

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board said it is getting close to completing an 18-month project aimed at making audit standards more understandable.

Finance and accounting staff will receive an average salary boost of 3.4 percent next year despite the economic downturn, predicts recruiting company Robert Half International.

Leaders of six business associations have written a joint letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission complaining that recent guidance about the use of judgment in fair value accounting "has the potential to cloud transparency."

Accounting regulators from more than 15 countries plan to gather at a forum in Boston next week hosted by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy.

Bank of America's audit committee has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to replace KPMG as the auditor for its recently acquired Countrywide Financial unit.

The dispute between the American Bankers Association and the Financial Accounting Standards Board heated up as ABA president Edward Yingling called for a new accounting oversight board that would hold sway over FASB.

More than half of internal auditors say they are not familiar with new technology that provides interactive data tags for financial statements, according to a new survey.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan tried to explain his version of the reasons for the global economic crisis to a congressional panel, while expressing shock and disbelief that the problems had spread so far.

Fifty-five percent of the 688 CFOs and senior controllers surveyed by Grant Thornton said U.S. companies should be permitted to use International Financial Reporting Standards instead of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

The New York State Society of CPAs and its Foundation for Accounting Education plan to hold an auditing conference on Oct. 27.

Barry Melancon, president and chief executive of the American Institute of CPAs, opened his annual remarks regarding the state of the profession at the Fall Meeting of Council and Members by addressing the current economic crisis and the controversy around fair value accounting.

Nearly half of U.S. companies have made no preparation to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards, according to a new survey.

Two recent reports suggest that the movement to register tax return preparers will continue.

Getting a handle on 2008 year-end tax planning is especially challenging this year because of several areas of uncertainty.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to hold the first of two roundtable discussions on mark-to-market accounting and current market conditions on Wed., Oct. 29, at 9 am ET.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is considering delaying implementation of its controversial standard on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes for private entitiies.