Financial reporting

Once again it’s the time of year for me to make resolutions that I probably won’t keep for five minutes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has released its eagerly anticipated report on mark-to-market accounting calling for improvements in fair value accounting standards, but not suspension of them.

The majority of banks and financial services companies bailed out by the Troubled Asset Relief Program are probably in worse condition than publicly disclosed, according to an new study.

An analysis of charitable foundations set up by professional basketball players found that many of them spend only a fraction of their money on charitable activities.

A group of 61 members of Congress has written to President Bush asking him to suspend rules that require senior citizens to withdraw money from their severely depleted retirement accounts by the end of the year.

CEOs at many companies are earning a greater proportion of their compensation in the form of stock, but they're still getting more cash than ever, according to a new study.

PricewaterhouseCoopers believes that M&A activity will be dominated in 2009 by "mergers of necessity" as distressed companies seek the protection of more stable parents.

Members of the Financial Accounting Standards Board came under pressure to relax fair value accounting rules when banking regulators would not change their capitalization requirements. FASB decided to loosen rules that kept banks from accounting for the cash flows they expected from mortgage-backed securities and other assets during impairment tests when they are categorized as available for sale, rather than just as held to maturity.

The Internal Revenue Service has finalized the revised Form 990 and 990-EZ information returns that tax-exempt organizations will need to file next year.

The Internal Revenue Service has given Section 529 tuition programs the ability to change their investment strategies more frequently in response to the financial crisis.

Cheshire Software has added estate planning features to its wealth management product.

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department have decided against changing a rule that requires retirees to withdraw a minimum distribution from their retirement savings accounts by the end of 2008.

Accounting firms expect the recession to affect their business over the coming year.

New York Governor David Paterson is trying to close a record deficit of $15.4 billion with 137 new tax and fee increases, including a new tax on sugary sodas.

WebCPA's financial crisis survey is gauging the reactions of accountants and their clients to the financial crisis.

The National Retail Federation has asked President-elect Barack Obama to include a series of sales tax holidays within the economic stimulus legislation he is drafting with Congress.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued the first of two proposed standards intended to simplify the accounting for financial instruments in response to the financial crisis.

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed requiring companies to provide additional disclosures on all their investments in debt instruments, other than those classified in the fair value through profit or loss category.

David Friehling, the auditor at the tiny accounting firm that handled Bernard Madoff's books, has been subpoenaed by investigators.

Accounting firm Citrin Cooperman has added a “Growth & Protection Team” to provide business consulting services to small and midsized businesses.