Risk Management, Compliance are Key Challenges, Auditors Say Forty-one percent of audit committee members point to risk management as the biggest challenge to their organizations this year, according to a recent KPMG survey.  Other major issues include regulatory compliance and "maintaining the control environment in an extended organization," respondents said. To read the full article in CFO, click: Audit ...

Recruiters from large firms, including the Big Four, reveal what skills and competencies they look for in new hires.  Sarah Ovaska-Few discusses these tips. To read the full article in AICPA, click: What Large Firms Expect From New Accounting Grads. ...

  Merging with or acquiring another company isn’t just about consuming or becoming bigger than the competition. In an in-depth article with ABF Journal, Phil Isom and Dan Tiemann of KPMG outline the deals their organization has pursued in the last 12 months and the strategies behind them. The authors detail how M&A can and should be used as a growth strategy with an eye on bringing new talent, tool ...

Solid revenue growth last year following strong performance in 2010 and 2011 after a severe revenue decline in 2009 Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports this growth according to a newly published analysis.  The report, from the social networking forum Big4.com, analyzed the 2012 financial performance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It found that after a strong 2011, fisc ...

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found 123 audit deficiencies related to fair-value estimates and asset impairments in 2010, making asset valuation the most common audit problem. Market volatility always makes it tough to value assets fairly based on market prices.  But that doesn't mean management forecasts—and the assumptions and methodologies of financial modeling used in corporate pricing—c ...

The International Accounting Standards Board plans to establish a formal network to give standard-setting bodies a voice when their countries switch to International Financial Reporting Standards. There is conflict, however, over how the network will operate and whether it would dilute IFRS as a single set of reporting standards. Advocates of such a network say the U.S. will not commit to IFRS without it.   ...