Associations

Challenging the institute membership to rally behind such profession-centric issues as International Financial Reporting Standards, sustainability and reform, Robert Harris, the 2009-2010 chair of the AICPA, told attendees at the organization’s fall meeting of council here that they “must set a course around, and sometimes through, uncharted waters,” amidst a current of economic and regulatory uncertainty.

As the SEC resurrects its focus on the roadmap to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards, the 30-plus year debate over a GAAP for private companies has progressed somewhat but remains on the back burner amidst legislative and standard-setters’ priorities for global convergence

IMGCAP(1)]A broad review of both proposed and existing measures emanating from the nation’s capital that would profoundly impact the accounting profession, accompanied by a continued focus on the inevitable meshing of U.S. and international reporting standards, headlined the opening sessions at the AICPA’s Fall Meeting of Council, here.

American Institute of CPAs president and CEO Barry Melancon said there should be a permanent, independent funding mechanism for the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, the governing body of the International Accounting Standards Board, with some of the money coming from companies in the U.S.

The American Institute of CPAs has scheduled Jan. 1, 2011 as the official launch date of CBT-e, a more technologically modern version of the Uniform CPA Examination.

Among the revenue proposals detailed in the administration’s fiscal 2010 budget are some provisions that might negatively affect small businesses and tax preparers. The American Institute of CPAs has weighed in on a number of these, including the codification of the economic substance doctrine, information reporting on payments to corporations, increasing the level of the information penalties, and expanding the requirement for electronic filing by return preparers.

Crowe Horwath International has appointed Crowe Horwath RCS as its new member firm in Brazil and selected WanLongAsia as its lead firm in China.

The American Institute of CPAs, the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, and the Retirement Security Project have joined the nonprofit Alliance for Investor Education.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has declared Sept. 13 to 19 to be Virginia Certified Public Accountants Week.

The American Institute of CPAs has released a new book to help businesses conduct fraud inquiries.

Claims that a world economic recovery is underway are based on fragile evidence and recovery could be a year away, according to a survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

The American Institute of CPAs has written to the IRS asking the service to rely on the existing Circular 230 penalty structure for regulating CPA tax preparers rather than impose a new one.

The American Institute of CPAs criticized overly broad and disproportionate tax penalties levied on both tax preparers and taxpayers in a report submitted to Congress’s tax-writing committees, the Treasury Department and the IRS.

The U.S. International Qualifications Appraisal Board and the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants have entered into a five-year mutual recognition agreement that establishes the basis for reciprocity between the U.S. and New Zealand accounting professions.

The American Institute of CPAs has published a report on the reliability and independence of CPAs, as seen from the perspective of commercial bankers.

John Dunleavy, who led both the California CPA Education Foundation and the California Society of CPAs, has died.

The Institute of Management Accountants has formed a new XBRL Advisory Committee to focus on the untapped market needs created by interactive data-tagging technology.

The American Institute of CPAs has named Robert Dacey, of Washington, D.C., Thomas H. McTavish, of Lansing, Mich., and Lena Ellis, of Ft. Worth, Texas, as the 2009 recipients of its Outstanding CPA in Government Award.

The Association for Accounting Marketing has moved its headquarters and replaced its management company in an effort to take the organization to the next level, executives said.

The Institute of Management Accountants has created a social network that has attracted over 2,300 members since it launched about a month ago.