Financial reporting

An online survey of about 1,445 finance and technology professionals by Deloitte Financial Advisory Services found that 58.4 percent expect the recession to last for another two to three years.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has issued a practice alert to help auditors and management assess the impact of the credit crisis on going-concern assumptions.

KPMG has named a new chief information officer and a new leader of its tax restructuring and corporate recovery practice.

The House has approved legislation to close loopholes and provide more transparency in the controversial Troubled Assets Relief Program.

California Controller John Chiang said the state's budget crunch could force him to delay tax refunds and other planned expenditures.

The inspiring inauguration of President Barack Obama marked a historic moment and is sure to signal some broad tax policy changes in his administration.

Bernard Madoff's longtime auditor is gravely ill with cancer and his family has reportedly lost much of their money from investing in the $50 billion Ponzi scheme.

Retirement recordkeeping software developer ExpertPlan has acquired Actuarial Enterprises Inc., a third-party administrator of defined benefit and insurance plans.

The Group of 30, a set of economists from around the world, has produced a report recommending a series of reforms to address the financial crisis and provide financial stability.

Eighty-eight percent of financial advisors now say that their clients are “off-target” for a timely retirement, primarily because of market depreciation, as opposed to 46 percent at the beginning of 2008, according to Brinker Capital, a leading investment management firm, that released the year-end results of its Brinker Capital Retirement Indicator, a gauge of financial advisor sentiment regarding retirement-related issues. In effect, it shows that the clients’ retirement security has been severely jeopardized by ongoing market deterioration. In fact, of the respondents who said they were off-target, some 74 percent claimed it would take between one and five years to make up the retirement savings shortfall. As to the reasons for being so, 97 percent said "market depreciation," 51 percent noted "didn't start saving soon enough," and 47% percent said "general procrastination." Brinker says that the question which provoked the most vigorous response was: "Are you seeing a disconnect between your clients' responses on their risk tolerance questionnaires and the level of risk they are willing to take today?" Some 75 percent of financial advisors weighed in with a resounding "yes." When asked if they think there should be a reassessment of the way clients' risk tolerance is measured, 76 percent also said "yes." Of course, going a little bit further down the road, when asked to comment on whether the government should mandate employee and employer participation in 401(k)s, 74 percent of advisors said "no." Moreover, a decisive 92 percent of advisors said "government should stay out of the management of 401(k)s." Clearly, these are rather strong responses. In addition, consider others such as:

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu sees continuing problems for the global economy in the first quarter of 2009 in a new report, but predicts that companies can still find attractive opportunities in emerging nations in the years ahead.

Adaptive Planning introduced the latest version of its on-demand corporate financial planning software, adding new collaboration features, including cell notes and an audit trail.

The House Appropriations Committee has proposed an economic stimulus bill containing $275 billion in tax cuts and $550 billion worth of spending on renewable energy, infrastructure, education and other projects.

Henry R. Keizer is global head of audit for KPMG International and also serves as U.S. vice chair, audit, for the U.S. member firm, KPMG LLP.

President-elect Barack Obama reportedly plans to modify several of the tax break proposals that his transition team has been planning for the economic stimulus package after encountering resistance from key lawmakers.

Financial Executives International's Committee on Taxation has written to congressional leaders encouraging them to include more tax relief provisions for businesses in the economic stimulus package.

In these tough economic times, as in others, there are many news items on companies declaring bankruptcies and announcing substantial staff cuts. What is different this time is that I am also reading about a number of cost-cutting strategies that are gaining in popularity and aimed at reducing expenses without disrupting business operations or laying off staff.

The American Institute of CPAs has released an alert warning about audit risks from the economic crisis.

The latest economic stimulus plan advanced by the incoming administration may approach $1 trillion, with $300 billion in tax cuts or refunds.

The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met with the Financial Accounting Standards Board to discuss some of the problems that led to deferring controversial rules for accounting for uncertainty in income taxes.