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Auditing Standards Board
Redrafting Standards to Achieve Greater Clarity
The Auditing Standards Board (ASB) of the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants (AICPA) has commenced a large-scale “clarity” project to
revise its auditing standards. The goal is to make the standards easier to
read and understand, thereby improving their implementation. The following
will be the most significant changes:
- Requirement paragraphs will be
separated from the application text, so the auditor can identify the
requirements more easily;
- Each standard will contain an
objective to help the auditor better understand what the standard is
meant to accomplish;
- All “clarified” standards will carry
the same effective date, which will be set far enough in the future to
allow firms sufficient time to update their methodologies and training
programs.
For more information about the redraft, read the
press release in its entirety.
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Bring the Knowledge
of Business Basics to Elementary Students
Volunteer for the MACPA Accounting Blitzes, in partnership with Junior
Achievement, and prepare the next generation for a career in accounting. As
a volunteer you will spend a day in the classroom of a Detroit area elementary
school and teach students the principles of business and accounting. Choose
to volunteer on November 29, 2007 at Sampson Academy or December 4, 2007 at
Edison Elementary. Training will be provided for all volunteers on either
November 9 or November 13. You can fill out a volunteer form
online or contact David Johnson at
248.267.3700.
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Treasury, IRS Issue
Pension Protection Act Guidance
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued
a notice providing guidance on the methodology used to produce the corporate
bond yield curve and segmented rates as part of enhanced pension funding
rules for companies enacted by the
Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA). Under PPA, Treasury was
required to produce a yield curve for investment-quality corporate debt that
private pension plans must use to calculate their funding obligations and
the amounts of their lump-sum payments to retirees. IRS
Notice
2007-81 outlines the methodology used by Treasury in producing the yield
curve.
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Continue Your
Benefits – Renew Your Membership Today
This is a friendly reminder
to all of our valued members. If you have been meaning to pay your dues, but
have not had the opportunity to do so, there is still time to get it in. You can mail in your payment to the
Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants or give us a call at
248.267.3700. If you need special accommodations, we will be more than
willing to work with you. Please disregard this notice if you have already
taken care of your dues.
Mailing Address:
5480 Corporate Drive, Suite 200
PO Box 5068
Troy, MI 48007-5068
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PCAOB to Vote on
Amendments Regarding Inspection Frequency for Firms that Do Not Regularly
Issue Audit Reports
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled an open meeting
for Tuesday, October 16, 2007. The Board will consider whether to adopt
amendments to PCAOB Rule 4003. Rule 4003 addresses the minimum frequency
with which the Board will conduct inspections of different categories of
registered public accounting firms. The amendments, which the Board
previously proposed for public comment, would eliminate the rule's
requirement that the Board regularly inspect each registered public
accounting firm that plays a “substantial role” in audits but does not issue
audit reports. Read the
entire release issued by the PCAOB.
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IRS Offers Relief for Late
S Corporation Elections
Businesses that are eligible to elect S corporation tax treatment now have a
simpler process for requesting relief for late elections under a change
announced by the Internal Revenue Service today.
Revenue Procedure 2007-62 allows small businesses that missed filing
Form 2553, Election by a Small Business Corporation, before filing their
first Form 1120S, U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, to file both
forms simultaneously. The change is effective for taxable years that end on
or after Dec. 31, 2007. Internal Revenue Bulletin 2007-41, published on Oct.
9, 2007, includes this new guidance. According to the
IRS, the new process will save time and effort for those taxpayers who
can establish reasonable cause for making a late election.
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Have Phone, Will Travel
Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) technology aims to give workers a single
device, a single phone number, and a single voice-mail box so that they can
be reached whenever and wherever. The definition of FMC changes as new
products emerge, but it generally involves the seamless transfer of calls
between landline phones and cell phones. For some vendors, FMC means instant
messaging, visual voice mail, push-to-talk, and voice-dialing. To read this article in its entirety and
much more about developments in technology, access
Technology and Productivity Weekly, the MACPA's electronic technology
newsletter for industry professionals, sponsored by Information, Inc.
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