For news from the AICPA and state societies, visit www.cpa2biz.com, which also offers online CPE, AICPA professional literature, practice management aids and links to state society Web sites.

The AICPA enhanced the Web site (www.aicpa.org/EBPAQC) of its Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, a firm-based voluntary membership community promoting high-quality audits of pension, health and welfare and 401(k) plans. The center offers practical tools, guidance on audit performance, best practices and information on emerging issues to auditors interested in or practicing in this area. It also raises public awareness of members’ commitment to maximizing audit quality. The Institute organized the Web site around a home page that serves as a single access point to the latest developments in employee benefit plan audits.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a question and answer (Q&A) on implementing Auditing Standard no. 2, An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction with an Audit of Financial Statements, supplementing those it published in 2004 (www.pcaobus.org/standards/staff_questions_and_answers/index.asp). The Q&A provides guidance on the documentation completion date. Concurrently the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance released a series of Q&As representing the SEC staff’s views on exemptions from commission rules on the filing of management’s report on internal control over financial reporting and the related auditor report (www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/faq012105.htm).

The AICPA published a collection of all PCAOB professional standards and associated rulings through December 1, 2004. The paperback PCAOB Standards and Related Rules (# 057195JA) can be ordered online at www.cpa2biz.com or by phone at 888-777-7077 (members, $84; nonmembers, $105).

Financial Executives International CEO and President Colleen Cunningham identified the following topics (www.fei.org/fei_ceo_top10.cfm) as 2005’s top 10 financial reporting challenges: accounting for stock options, internal controls reporting, revenue recognition, uncertain tax positions in financial statements, repatriation of foreign earnings, accounting for business combinations, accounting for inventory costs, disclosure of off-balance-sheet arrangements, adoption of the extensible business reporting language and SEC guidance on management discussion and analysis.

The SEC established a voluntary program under which registrants may submit certain mandatory filings to the commission (www.sec.gov/spotlight/xbrl.htm) in extensible business reporting language (XBRL) format. The program, which begins with the 2004 calendar yearend reporting season, will assess registrants’ ability to properly tag their data in XBRL and the benefits of using tagged data for analysis. (For more on XBRL, see “XBRL: A Multitalented Tool.”)

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) issued immediately effective implementation guidance for Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) 23, Eliminating the Category National Defense Property, Plant, and Equipment (www.fasab.gov/pdffiles/sig_23_1.pdf).

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) released an exposure draft (ED) and several publications. The ED, Proposed International Public Sector Accounting Standard: Financial Reporting Under the Cash Basis of Accounting—Disclosure Requirements for Recipients of External Assistance, is intended to enhance transparency and relevance of disclosures about financial assistance to governments and other public sector entities. Comments are due June 15, 2005. IFAC also published a report, International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) and Statistical Bases of Financial Reporting: An Analysis of Differences and Recommendations for Convergence, and released the 2005 editions of Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance, and Ethics Pronouncements and Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements. They’re available at www.ifac.org/store.

A joint task force of the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts and the National Investor Relations Institute released as final voluntary best practice guidelines governing relations between securities analysts and companies they cover (www.cfainstitute.org). They address analysts’ independence from corporate issuers’ influence, analysts’ access to issuer executives, disputes between companies and analysts over published reports, corporate issuers’ prepublication review of analysts’ reports, and issuer-sponsored research.

The AICPA and the Department of Labor (DOL) are partnering to educate American women of all ages about personal financial management. Using CPA/PFS (Personal Financial Specialist) volunteers from the Institute’s 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy program (www.aicpa.org/financialliteracy/index.asp) and the resources of the DOL Women’s Bureau (www.dol.gov/wb), such as mentoring, classroom instruction and an online financial education curriculum, the partnership will help women develop the practical skills they need to better control their money and lives.

The AICPA released the 2004 edition of its annual report, The Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits (www.aicpa.org/members/div/career/edu/sagdpar.htm), which found the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded rose by 6% and master’s degrees by 30% over the prior year while enrollment in accounting programs grew by roughly the same percentages. More than 109,000 candidates sat for the CPA examination—slightly more than in 2003. Hiring increased at single-digit rates and 18% of new employees were members of minority groups. The report predicted long-term growth in hiring of accounting graduates by firms of all sizes.

The AICPA named Ben Neuhausen of BDO Seidman LLP the chair of its Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC), succeeding Mark Bielstein of KPMG LLP. As an AcSEC member, Neuhausen earlier chaired the AICPA Task Force on Real-Estate Time-Share Transactions. AcSEC member Carl Kampel of Ellin & Tucker, Chartered, will become the committee’s vice-chair after its meeting this month.

An AICPA Business and Industry Economic Outlook Survey (www.aicpa.org/download/cefm/) found that 71% of CPAs serving as CEOs or CFOs were optimistic about the nation’s economy and its prospects this year.

The AICPA developed an incident response plan (www.aicpa.org/innovation/baas/ewp/) that CPAs can use to help organizations design, create or adapt customized strategies for managing security breaches that threaten the confidentiality of individuals’ personal information.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration is seeking CPAs with two or more years of public accounting experience to perform cost-of-production investigations of foreign manufacturers. The starting salary ranges from $62,886 to $81,747. Applicants must be U.S. citizens and proficient in GAAP, GAAS and manufacturers’ cost-accounting systems. E-mail resumes to accounting_office@ita.doc.gov.

The IRS developed the EITC Assistant, a Web-based questionnaire designed to help working families determine whether they’re eligible for the earned income tax credit (EITC) and, if so, to estimate how much credit they’ll receive (www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=134523,00.html). For 2004 the maximum credit is $4,300. The tool is available in English and Spanish and reflects recent tax law changes, including new income limits for eligibility.