Nearly 80 percent of employers are paying higher salaries to recruit and retain their key accounting and finance staff, according to a new report.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to explain the deficiencies it found in its recent inspections of smaller auditing firms during an upcoming webcast.

It began in college, continued in law school, and still exists today, my fascination with court and disciplinary opinions that provide an inside view of something the involved parties would rather had never come to light. The most recent one is a PCAOB disciplinary order involving an accountant who worked for KPMG.

If you think the U.S. is the only country grappling with a shortage of accounting professionals, think again.A recent survey released by staffing concern Robert Half International revealed that the drought of human capital in accounting and finance isn’t improving — both here and abroad.

The difference between a rhetorical question and a survey question is someone answers. Before we find out what type of question my title is, here’s why I posed it. Firms find about how other firms operate in a number of ways. It might be from contact with partners in other firms; via membership in groups, organizations, or societies; by hiring consultants; or possibly by reading about other firms in professional publications.

The Texas Society of CPAs opened an interactive section of its Web site called Destination CPA aimed at high school and college students.

We come across many surveys in our work, especially on the Internet. One of my most recent favorites posed the following question, “Is your firm, or one or more of its professionals, a recognized thought leader?”

The continuing business boom, rising client demand and the movement of tax professionals toward other accounting niches has generated varied responses to staffing needs, as firms turn to remote technology, outsourcing, part-time former employees and retirees and college students to fill the personnel void.Meanwhile, the overall demand for accountants has dried up the available supply of tax professionals, according to industry observers.

Two surveys of job confidence among accounting and finance workers offered conflicting views.

Staffing needs are the top concern of CPA firms, according to a newly released survey by the American Institute of CPAs.

Women's roles at CPA firms came under scrutiny during the Joint National Conference, a collaborative event coordinated by the American Society of Women Accountants and the American Woman's Society of CPAs.

Awards went out to women who have done extraordinary work in the accounting profession at a lunchtime ceremony during the Joint National Conference, a three-day event organized by the American Woman's Society of CPAs and American Society of Women Accountants.

The American Institute of CPAs outlined its strategic plan and priorities at its Fall Meeting of Council and Annual Members’ Meeting.

Starting salaries for accounting and finance professionals will increase an average of 4.3 percent in the year ahead, predicted the 2008 Salary Guide from staffing firm Robert Half International.

Two thirds of U.S. workers who call in sick at the last minute do so for reasons other than physical illness, according to a new survey.

Barry Melancon has been leading the American Institute of CPAs since 1995. As president and CEO of the AICPA, he has been keeping busy on a number of fronts this past year. The Institute has been working with Congress on patent reform to keep tax strategy patents from taking hold. Another priority has been CPA mobility, so CPAs face fewer regulatory barriers when practicing across different states. Melancon has also been closely involved with the effort to move toward Extensible Business Reporting Language for financial statements, spearheading an initiative to assign data tags to generally accepted accounting principles. He was recently named co-vice chair of the Center for Audit Quality and to a position on the Treasury Department's new Advisory Committee on the Audit Profession. Melancon is also a member of the AICPA's delegation to the International Federation of Accountants. His accounting career began in 1979 at Bergeron & Co. in Louisiana. Before joining the AICPA, he served for eight years as executive director of the Society of Louisiana CPAs.

Employers around the world are worried about the shortage of accounting and finance talent, according to a newly released survey.

What happens when you're a female partner who enjoys golfing, but instead of being invited to a golf foursome with important clients, your husband - who's not even with your firm - is asked to go instead?Is this intentional, or just an oversight?

"We were stretching our ranks much too thin and we simply couldn't hire people fast enough to keep up with such a rapid growth. I felt the substantial growth was causing us to get away from our culture to have a solid work/life balance. If we had kept letting market conditions run their course on our firm without taking action, we could have lost what made us great--our employees. So we slowed down this rapid escalation and staffed up to provide employees with a good work/life balance."

Accounting firm Silver, Lerner, Schwartz & Fertel announced a merger with Phyllis Malitz & Associates, increasing the size of SLSF to 35.