A Race to Finish for “Sarbox-lite”

New risk-assessment rules established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants are causing the auditors of privately held companies and non-profits to take between 10 percent and 25 percent longer to complete their work, according to an auditor with Kaufman, Rossin & Co., a M...

By Alan Rappeport • Nov. 5, 2007

Recognition Change Leaves Company at a Loss

Video-game maker Electronic Arts says a revenue-recognition change caused it to report a large loss rather than a profit for its second fiscal quarter ended September 30.The company adjusted its accounting for revenue from games that can be updated online, spreading out the revenue over multiple ...

By Stephen Taub • Nov. 2, 2007

Explore the Trendline➔

Tax policy shifts: What CFOs need to know to stay ahead

Discover how evolving tax policies are creating new opportunities and challenges for CFOs.

By CFO.com staff

Someone to Watch over Me: IASB Asks for an Overseer

The International Accounting Standards Board contends that it needs a committee to oversee its actions and make sure it represents the public interest. IASB chairman David Tweedie told CFO.com editors on Thursday that the board will officially announce its plan for putting together the group, and...

By Alan Rappeport • Nov. 2, 2007

Tweedie: I Still Believe in Earnings

Will earnings figures soon be abolished from international financial statements?Responding to a report in Thursday’s Financial Times, Sir David Tweedie, chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, told CFO.com editors that eliminating net income from financial statements using U.S. ...

By Tim Reason • Nov. 2, 2007

SEC Committee: Nix Industry-specific Guidance

A Securities and Exchange Commission advisory committee is leaning toward recommending that the U.S. financial-reporting system cut down on its use of industry-specific guidance. Such guidance is often created in response to political pressure from industries seeking special accounting treatment,...

By Sarah Johnson • Nov. 2, 2007

How Fair Value Could Affect Your Next Deal

CFOs will need to pay more attention to their purchase-price allocation reports the next time they’re in acquisition mode. According to Mercer Capital, the new fair-value accounting standards going into effect for many companies this month will bring about some changes to the reports that determi...

By Sarah Johnson • Nov. 1, 2007

View from Asia: Turning the Poor into Consumers

“Businessmen cannot be philanthropists,” says Krishna Kant Rathi, CFO of Pantaloon, a big Indian retailer. “Our concern is profits.” Absolutely, but Indian companies — including Pantaloon — see a benefit in positioning themselves as helpers to the poor.It’s no secret why. Most of India’s populati...

By Tom Leander • Nov. 1, 2007

Working Capital: Fourth and Goal

Read the complete results of the 2007 Year-End Gamesmanship Scorecard, or review just those results that appeared in print in CFO magazine.Let the games begin.The working capital games, that is. Right now, companies all over America, in every industry, are beginning a dash for cash. If past is pr...

By Edward Teach • Nov. 1, 2007

CFOs Don’t Want GAAP Love Affair to End

A majority of finance executives born and bred on U.S. GAAP and its many iterations would be reluctant to let it go, according to recent surveys. Only about 20 percent of CFOs would consider adopting International Financial Reporting Standards if given the choice, according to a Deloitte & To...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 31, 2007

Italy Calls for Tougher Accounting Penalties

A bill wending its way through the Italian Parliament aims to increase the penalties now in place for executives convicted of falsifying public company accounting documents, reported Dow Jones. The proposal, introduced by Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s government on Tuesday, needs the Parliament’s...

By Marie Leone • Oct. 31, 2007

Which Rangel Tax Provision Affects You?

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) hit a corporate nerve when he issued his new tax reform bill last Friday.Since Rangel chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, the group most responsible for writing U.S. tax policy, his proposed bills are tracked closely and elicit a good deal of both criticism and s...

By Marie Leone • Oct. 31, 2007

Pasta Maker Dishes Out $25 Million

American Italian Pasta Company said it will pay $25 million to settle a class action lawsuit related to alleged securities law violations. The settlement is comprised of $11 million in cash, all of which will be contributed by the company’s insurers, and $14 million in company stock. The settleme...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 30, 2007

Vendor Allowances Could Trip Office Depot

Office Depot has delayed Tuesday’s scheduled release of its third-quarter earnings, and a related conference call and webcast, after an internal review into vendor allowances identified potential problems with the timing of their recognition. The company did not disclosure further information, b...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 29, 2007

Revolving Door? PCAOB’s Finance Chief Steps Down

Tom Hohman, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s CFO, has resigned after four years with the fledging organization to become the CFO of a private company based in Maryland, the PCAOB announced on Monday. His departure comes nearly three months after the PCAOB lost another of its execut...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 29, 2007

The Divergence of Convergence

As the project to converge U.S. and international accounting standards reaches what could be considered a midway point, cracks in the process are starting to show.In fact, Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Robert Herz spent the better half of last week assuring the public that his boa...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 26, 2007

Here’s How to Fix Accounting’s Complexity

A Securities and Exchange Commission group charged with simplifying the U.S. financial-reporting system in one year will consider several recommendations during its second open meeting next Friday.One of the topics on the table is whether the group’s 17 members can actually address the weighty jo...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 26, 2007

PwC: MovieLink’s Run May End

Blockbuster’s auditor has questioned the viability of MovieLink, which the company acquired in August.PricewaterhouseCoopers said it has “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” according to a letter disclosed in a regulatory filing. The auditor cited recurr...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 26, 2007

SEC Drills into Restatement

West Marine Inc. says the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an informal inquiry into its recent restatement of prior results. The company disclosed the probe in a regulatory filing, but not in the accompanying press release announcing its third-quarter results.An oil refiner and mar...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 26, 2007

IASC Taps Former Dutch Deputy PM

The organization that has authority to appoint members to the International Accounting Standards Board, and approve the standard-setter’s budget, has named Gerrit Zalm its new chairman. Zalm, the former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the Netherlands, will begin his three-year term ...

By Marie Leone • Oct. 25, 2007

Convergence Killers?

Accounting standards-setters are stepping up their rhetoric in hopes of dissuading the European Commission from sabotaging their dreams of convergence.Although plans for a “single, quality set” of accounting standards remains several years from completion, the obstacle that worries members of Ame...

By Alan Rappeport • Oct. 25, 2007

Navistar Back on the Road after Long Haul

Editor’s Note: The headline on an earlier version of this story incorrectly suggested that Navistar had called its finance department “incompetent.” In fact, neither the company, nor the law firm it hired, used that word. CFO.com regrets the error. Navistar International has taken a large step to...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 25, 2007

Warrants Warrant a Restatement

AVI BioPharma said it will restate its financials for the three years ended December 2006 as well as the first two quarters of this year to correct errors in accounting for stock warrants.The small drug developer, which acted after receiving comments from the Securities and Exchange Commission, e...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 25, 2007

Senate Pokes Holes in SEC’s IFRS Push

Recent proposals from the Securities and Exchange Commission could lead to a dual accounting system in the United States. But U.S. Senator Jack Reed thinks such a move would be “premature,” and on Wednesday, the Rhode Island Democrat found out that he was not alone in that assessment. During a he...

By Sarah Johnson • Oct. 25, 2007

Cap Gains Vote Could Spark Small Biz Selloff

Although the national elections are still more than a year away, finance chiefs of smaller companies may want to start thinking about how new tax policy may affect their merger and acquisition plans. Already, there have been rumblings in Congress to raise the tax rate on long-term capital gains f...

By Marie Leone • Oct. 23, 2007

Ex-Andersen Partner Settles Up with SEC

A former partner at Arthur Andersen settled civil charges that he helped American Tissue commit a $300 million fraud. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Fred Gold agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty and to a suspension from practicing as an accountant.The Securities and Exchange Com...

By Stephen Taub • Oct. 22, 2007