Financial reporting

The American Institute of CPAs recognized Birmingham-based Barfield, Murphy, Shank & Smith with a public service award during its 2010 Spring Council on Sunday.

IFAC TO BEEF UP ACCOUNTING EDUCATION STANDARDS

UBS AND E&Y SETTLE HEALTHSOUTH LAWSUIT

We begin by repeating this Feb. 24, 2010, quote from the American Institute of CPAs' Barry Melancon: "Our increasingly global economy makes it clear that the U.S. should move toward a single set of high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards for public companies."

More than a decade ago, my wife and I lugged ourthen-small offspring for a number of weekends one summer on car-shoppingexcursions.

Trust in financial institutions has been severely eroded by the financial crisis, but a new survey has found that the majority of Americans find statements by spokespeople from accounting firms believable.

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the digital edition of the May 24, 2010, issue of Accounting Today by clicking here.

The American Institute of CPAs took the wraps off its redesigned Web site, AICPA.org, with new multimedia and social networking features.

FASB, IASB ISSUE PROGRESS REPORT ON CONVERGENCE

New York - A blue ribbon panel lookingto improve the accounting standards for private companies wants to find out why so many are not strictly complying with GAAP.

Check out the digital edition of the May 10-23, 2010 issue of Accounting Today by clicking here.

New York - The International Auditing and AssuranceStandards Board has proposed a new assurance standard to address the process ofcompiling pro forma financial information included in prospectuses.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy has promoted Ken Bishop to the job of chief operating officer.

A district court has granted a delay in the enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission’s Red Flags Rule governing identity theft prevention for members of the American Institute of CPAs in public practice.

A class-action lawsuit by former shareholders of Lehman Brothers has been amended to add the defunct investment bank’s auditing firm, Ernst & Young, as a defendant.

XBRL US and the Financial Accounting Foundation have inked a three-year agreement to conduct joint research on further developing interactive data tags for financial statements.

The American Institute of CPAs is keeping a close watch on financial reform legislation as the Senate is expected to begin debate on the bill within the next week.

Americans seem to hold a generally favorable view of accountants, according to a new survey.

Our most recent column ("To the SEC: Forget the timetable and stop the runaway train," March 15-April 18) reported that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are racing to complete a long list of major projects. We warned that this dash will produce less than the best standards, and promised to describe some specifics, leases in particular.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have published a report detailing their progress to date on achieving convergence of U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards.