Guilty Pleas by Computer Associates Trio

Three former Computer Associates finance executives, including the former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty yesterday for their roles in the software giant’s accounting scandal.Former CFO Ira Zar pleaded guilty to conspiracy, securities fraud, and obstruction. David Rivard, former vice pres...

By Stephen Taub • April 9, 2004

Matched Sets

Companies keep two sets of books—one for financial accounting and one for tax filing. But a new proposal from the Internal Revenue Service would make them synchronize the two sets of numbers.The proposed form, known as Schedule M-3, would force corporate taxpayers with assets of more than $10 mil...

By Joseph McCafferty • April 8, 2004

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

Dynacq Healthcare to Restate Results

Dynacq Healthcare Inc., which has been undergoing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, announced that it will restate its results for the fiscal years ended August 31, 2001, and August 31, 2002.The holding company, which provides surgical healthcare services and related ser...

By Stephen Taub • April 8, 2004

General Mills Details SEC Probe

General Mills has served up some details of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into the company’s sales practices.According to its quarterly report filed on Wednesday, the cereal maker stated that the SEC is focusing on at least two disclosure issues related to the company’s U...

By Stephen Taub • April 8, 2004

A Challenge to Sarbox Constitutionality

Attorneys for Richard Scrushy, the former chief executive officer of HealthSouth Corp., on Monday asked a judge to throw out 78 of the 85 criminal charges against their client.They are also challenging the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, calling it vague and its use in this case unconstitutional, according t...

By Stephen Taub • April 7, 2004

Lucent Fires Four on Bribery Suspicions

Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies announced in a regulatory filing that it has fired four executives based in China due to possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).The names of the fired executives were not disclosed, but Lucent’s filing with the Securi...

By Stephen Taub • April 7, 2004

Nortel Faces Formal SEC Probe

Nortel Networks Corp. announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal probe of the company’s two recent restatements.Three weeks ago Nortel put its chief financial officer, Douglas Beatty, and its controller, Michael Gollogly, on paid leaves of absence. The suspensions...

By Stephen Taub • April 6, 2004

Symbol Technologies Dismisses Deloitte

Symbol Technologies Inc. announced that it dismissed Deloitte & Touche LLP, its independent auditor of 17 years, replacing it with Ernst & Young LLP, subject to shareholder approval.Manhattan law firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, which led a class-action lawsuit against ...

By Dave Cook and Stephen Taub • April 5, 2004

Best Practices Elude Most Audit Committees

Nearly two years after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, just 20 percent of audit committees have adopted best practices for the financial audit process, says a new survey from J.D. Power Associates. That’s despite the regulatory microscope under which audit committees must now operate.“Alth...

By Stephen Taub • April 2, 2004

The Cost of Expensing Stock Options

If yesterday’s long-expected decision by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to require the expensing of stock options is implemented, the accounting change would retroactively reduce estimated 2004 earnings per share for the S&P 500 by 7.4 percent, according to Standard & Poo...

By Stephen Taub • April 1, 2004

The Last Battle over Options?

At 8:46 this morning, the Financial Accounting Standards Board fired the first shot in what is most likely the last battle of the war over expensing stock options. The standards board issued its long-expected and hotly debated proposal that stock options be expensed on the income statement, based...

By Craig Schneider and Tim Reason • March 31, 2004

Key Energy Services to Restate Results

Key Energy Services Inc. announced that it will delay filing its 2003 annual report so it can restate its financials to reflect the write-down of about $78 million of assets, mostly idle equipment.The onshore oil-well-servicing contractor said the write-down should have been recorded in one or mo...

By Stephen Taub • March 30, 2004

Brand and Deliver

England football captain David Beckham has probably never heard of BenQ. Nor, in all likelihood, has French midfield star Zinedine Zidane or Spanish striker Raul. But when they and their peers from 16 nations gather in Portugal this summer to compete in the UEFA European Football Championships, t...

By Justin Wood • March 30, 2004

SEC Probing El Paso Reserve Revisions

El Paso Corp. announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation related to the energy company’s recently announced reserve revisions.“We will cooperate fully with the SEC or any other government agency conducting an investigation,” said Doug Foshee, president and...

By Stephen Taub • March 29, 2004

Goldman Sachs Energy Unit to Restate

Cogentrix Energy Inc., an electricity generation company acquired last fall by Goldman Sachs, announced that it will restate results for several years. The restatements will reflect a change to straight-line revenue recognition in the company’s accounting treatment for two long-term power contrac...

By Stephen Taub • March 26, 2004

U.S. and Europe Reach Pact on Auditors

The United States and the European Union Thursday took one giant step closer to creating tougher global accounting standards when they worked out a comprehensive plan for overseeing auditing firms, according to Reuters.Officials told the wire service that they have agreed to a general framework t...

By Stephen Taub • March 26, 2004

New, Hard Numbers on Sarbanes Expenses

As of last week, 31 public companies in North and South Carolina have filed their proxy statements this year, and 27 have experienced a rise in their audit fees, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. The average increase: 23 percent.The largest hike was experienced by Charlotte-based diver...

By Stephen Taub • March 25, 2004

Kansas Utility May Restate Financials

Westar Energy Inc. announced that it may have to restate its 2003 financials because it understated its cash flow from operations.Other items were potentially overstated in the consolidated statement of cash flows by an identical amount, noted the company.The revision would not impact the company...

By Stephen Taub • March 25, 2004

Calpers Opposes PwC as Freddie Mac Auditor

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) is opposing Freddie Mac’s reappointment of auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers and the reelection of members of the mortgage finance company’s audit committee, according to the Washington Post.The pension fund giant, which owns 5.1 million F...

By Stephen Taub • March 24, 2004

WorldCom Judge Delays KPMG Payments

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez ordered a temporary halt to payments by WorldCom to KPMG LLP, according to The Wall Street Journal.KPMG — the accountant, auditor, and tax adviser for the company now called MCI — has been seeking $146 million for its work.In a motion filed last Wednesday, ho...

By Stephen Taub • March 23, 2004

Royal Dutch/Shell Restates Again

For the second time this year, Royal Dutch/Shell Group has revised downward its proven reserves of oil and natural gas.The energy giant also announced that it would postpone filing its annual report and holding its shareholder meeting for at least eight weeks.The company said it will reclassify 2...

By Stephen Taub • March 22, 2004

New World Order

Sir David Tweedie is on a quest. The 59-year-old chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is overseeing the development of a single set of international accounting standards for the European Union (EU) by March and intends to converge those standards with U.S. rules.Can it ...

By A CFO Interview • March 22, 2004

Expense Options, Say HP Shareholders

Hewlett-Packard’s shareholders earlier this week approved a nonbinding shareholder proposal that the company expense the value of stock options. The proposal was advanced by the Massachusetts Laborers’ Pension Fund.Many other technology companies, including Intel and Cisco Systems, have vociferou...

By Stephen Taub • March 19, 2004

Innovators’ (Other) Dilemma

CFOs, it’s often said, should be keenly involved with their companies’ IT strategies because they are “guardians of shareholder value” and as such must keep tabs on big expenses. More important, they must make sure those outlays are in the service of the corporate mission.The same holds true for ...

By CFO Editorial Staff • March 18, 2004

Going for Growth

For the past three years, Corporate America has been nothing if not stingy. Stalled by sluggish demand, companies have slashed spending on new factories and equipment, salaries and bonuses, technology, benefits, and travel. They have exited unprofitable businesses and sold off nonstrategic assets...

By Joseph McCafferty • March 18, 2004