Posts Tagged ‘audit firms’
Headaches on ICFR and Better Tech
My phone rang the other day, and on the line was my friend the tech vendor. He was calling to tell me about new whiz-bang software his firm is developing to identify internal control issues — and within a few minutes, we stumbled into a dilemma about effective internal controls that needs attention. Hear me…
Read MoreICFR, Still Driving Companies Nuts
We have yet another report today depicting the tensions companies face when building internal control over financial reporting, including the enduring suspicion that many audit firms raise questions about internal controls simply to look good to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The report, released Tuesday by Financial Executives International, interviewed 145 financial reporting executives…
Read MorePCAOB Member Uncorks on Agenda
One of the five members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board blasted his own agency on Wednesday, saying that the regulator’s plans for the next 12 to 18 months are “a tragic mistake” that ignore the needs of investors and undermine the credibility of corporate financial reporting. The statement came from PCAOB board member…
Read MoreMarcum Dinged on Independence Failures
Oh lord, we have another contestant for most unfortunate business misconduct of 2019. The audit firm Marcum has been sanctioned for violating rules for audit firm independence, where poor oversight from Marcum’s partner in charge of audit firm independence played a starring role. The PCAOB hit Marcum with a fine of $450,000, plus another $50,000…
Read MoreQuestions on KPMG Ethics Fiasco
By now you might already know the news: KPMG, one of the largest audit firms in the world, has agreed to pay $50 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle charges from two separate scandals at the firm — one related to KPMG partners offering jobs to audit industry regulators in exchange for…
Read MoreAudit Firms, Cybersecurity Risk, and You
A member of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board gave a speech last week about the role of audit firms in cybersecurity — and raised a point people seldom say aloud: the audit firm’s role is a relatively small one. Kathleen Hamm, a member of the PCAOB since last year, gave her remarks at a…
Read MorePCAOB Inspection Priorities for 2019
The PCAOB has shared its plans for audit firm inspections early next year, with more focus on how audit firms manage their own operations and less perhaps emphasis on specific risk areas such as Brexit, oil prices, or changing interest rates. The PCAOB inspections outlook is useful foremost for audit firms, who want to know…
Read MorePCAOB Drops 2019 Hints
Audit firms can expect new types of regulatory inspections in 2019, audit committees and internal audit executives can expect inspection reports with new types of information, and the corporate accounting world may finally see new proposals on auditing estimates and use of data analytics in financial auditing. So said William Duhnke, chairman of the Public…
Read MoreTwo Issues on SOX Compliance
More than 1,700 audit and compliance professionals have gathered in Nashville this week for Workiva’s annual user conference and the annual meeting of the SOX Professionals Group. Yours truly is on the scene, trying to capture all the good insight and latest news on SOX compliance. Here’s what we have from Day 1. Tuesday was…
Read MoreSix Charged in PCAOB Inspections Leak
Wild story from the world of corporate auditing today: six accountants charged with stealing confidential information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, to help KPMG improve its standing in PCAOB audit firm inspections. Worse, three of the six are former PCAOB staffers, who leaked the information to KPMG while trying to score jobs there…
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