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The AICPA has established an online Disaster Recovery Resource Center that offers a wide range of practical tools members can use to assist their employers and clients (www.aicpa.org/news/2005/disaster_recovery_resources.htm). It also provides up-to-date information, useful links and practice management guidance for firms directly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In addition, the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section established the Firm Volunteer Center to provide individual members and firms affected by the hurricanes with contact information for firms across the nation that are volunteering to help (http://pcps.aicpa.org/community/firm+volunteer+center.htm).

The IRS announced that taxpayers affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita can request relief simply by writing “Hurricane Rita” or “Hurricane Katrina” in red ink at the top of all documents they file with it (www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=149500,00.html; www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=148540,00.html). Deadlines for affected taxpayers to file returns, pay taxes and perform other time-sensitive acts have been postponed until February 28, 2006. For more information, call 866-562-5227.

The SEC let insurers temporarily follow abbreviated securities registration procedures that maintain the capital and liquidity they need to quickly pay claims from hurricane victims. As the JofA went to press, the commission said this policy would be in effect until December 1, 2005, and that it might extend similar administrative relief to other SEC registrants if necessary.

FASB requested comments on selected issues relating to assets and liabilities with uncertainties (www.fasb.org/draft/itc_assets_liabilities_with_uncertainties.pdf). The invitation is part of a joint project through which FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board are working to converge and improve their respective guidance frameworks, which FASB’s staff believes do not adequately address either probability or uncertainty related to assets and liabilities. Comments are due January 3, 2006.

FASB also issued Staff Position FAS 13-1, Accounting for Rental Costs Incurred during a Construction Period (www.fasb.org/fasb_staff_positions/fsp_fas13-1.pdf), effective for the first reporting period beginning after December 15, 2005. Entities are permitted to apply the FSP early to financial statements not yet issued and retrospectively in accordance with FASB Statement no. 154, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections (www.fasb.org/pdf/fas154.pdf).

The AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) issued Statement of Position (SOP) 05-1, Accounting by Insurance Enterprises for Deferred Acquisition Costs in Connection with Modifications or Exchanges of Insurance Contracts, effective for replacements occurring in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2006. Initial application should be as of the beginning of an entity’s fiscal year. Retrospective application is prohibited, but early adoption is encouraged. Entities that adopt the SOP prior to the effective date should restate all interim reports for the year of adoption.

As part of its effort to increase the participation of financial information users in the standard-setting process, FASB is consulting the professional investment community on accounting issues. Its newly established Investor Task Force includes analysts from the nation’s largest institutional investment firms, who will advise FASB on standard-setting initiatives related to their areas of expertise.

In response to an SEC request, XBRL International—of which the AICPA is a founding member—proposed three ways the commission could increase XBRL use in U.S. capital markets: announce it ultimately will require all registrants to file offerings in XBRL format, participate in taxonomy development and maintenance and upgrade the SEC filing system to fully support XBRL (www.xbrl.org/commentletters). Meanwhile, the SEC issued a Request for Information that asked the software industry for ideas on how best to develop tools that foster the creation and use of interactive financial data (www.sec.gov/spotlight/xbrl/xbrl_request100405.pdf).

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued an exposure draft, Sales and Pledges of Receivables and Future Revenues, that would establish criteria for governments to determine whether the proceeds from certain transactions—such as the sale of delinquent taxes, specific mortgages, student loans or upcoming payments from tobacco liability settlements—should be reported as revenue from a sale or as collateralized borrowing resulting in a liability (www.gasb.org/exp/ed_sales&pledges.pdf). Comments are due December 30, 2005.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) approved International Standard on Auditing 230 (Revised), Audit Documentation. It requires auditors to prepare documentation sufficient for an experienced auditor previously uninvolved in a particular audit to understand the work performed, the evidence obtained, significant matters arising during the audit and the auditor’s conclusions. The standard is effective for audits of financial periods beginning on or after June 15, 2006. It is available at www.ifac.org/store/details.tmpl?sid=1127941463516157.

Meanwhile IFAC’s International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) issued four exposure drafts (EDs; www.ifac.org/eds). ED 25, Equal Authority of Paragraphs in IPSASs, proposes that the Preface to International Public Sector Accounting Standards be revised to clarify that all paragraphs within IPSASs have the same authority. ED 26, Improvements to International Public Sector Accounting Standards, proposes changes to 11 accrual-basis IPSASs to better reflect developments in the equivalent international financial reporting standards issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. Comments are due January 31, 2006.

Comments are due February 10, 2006, on two other proposals. ED 27, Presentation of Budget Information in Financial Statements, would require that the general purpose financial statements of entities that are required to make their approved budgets publicly available include a comparison of budget and actual amounts. ED 28, Disclosure of Financial Information about the General Government Sector, would prescribe the basis on which information about the general government sector is to be disclosed in the general purpose financial statements of a government that elects to make such disclosure.

The SEC and the North American Securities Administrators Association waived—through October 31, 2006—various system fees certain investment advisers and their representatives pay for mandatory registration in the Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD). The IARD enables firms and their representatives to satisfy federal and state regulatory requirements with one electronic filing and gives investors access to detailed information on advisers’ services, fees and disciplinary records (www.sec.gov/news/press/2005-145.htm; www.iard.com).

Gallup Poll results released in 2005 showed that accountants are steadily regaining the public’s confidence. The profession’s positive rating of 45% was 14 percentage points higher than in 2004—an improvement greater than that of any other business sector—and nearly equal to its 47% rating in 2001, just before the accounting scandals.

The SEC is seeking to fill up to four professional accounting positions in the Office of the Chief Accountant. During their two-year terms commencing June 2006, participants will study and develop rule proposals under federal securities laws, interact with accounting, auditing and other professional standard setters and advise registrants on reporting issues. For information, call Michael Gaynor (202-551-5929) or Joseph Ucuzoglu (202-551-5301). Applications are due by December 16, 2005.

The AICPA invites state CPA societies and individuals to nominate accounting educators for the 2006 AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award, which recognizes full-time college accounting educators who excel in teaching and are nationally prominent in the profession. Nominations are due February 1, 2006. More information and application forms are available at http://ceae.aicpa.org/Resources/Scholarships+and+Awards.

The Institute also is accepting nominations for the 2006 Outstanding CPA in Government Award. Nominees must be AICPA or state CPA society members employed in federal, state or local government. For the first time, awards will be granted to a CPA from each government level. Previously, only one level of government was recognized each year. Judges will consider nominees’ contribution to their government’s increased efficiency and effectiveness and to the growth and enhancement of the profession. Nominations are due April 3, 2006. For more information write to pgreen@aicpa.org or call 212-596-6034.

In concert with its national financial literacy outreach, the AICPA is collaborating with the IRS to improve the quality of service in volunteer tax-return-preparation clinics for low-income families. “Mystery shopper” CPAs recruited by the Institute will inspect the service quality by posing as clients, having fictitious returns prepared at clinics nationwide and submitting reports evaluating the procedures followed. To volunteer or obtain more information, e-mail wstromsem@aicpa.org.

The AICPA is seeking CPA volunteers to develop simulations, or condensed case studies, to enhance the auditing and attestation, financial accounting and reporting, and regulation sections of the CPA exam (www.cpa-exam.org/download/CPA_volunteer_sim_concepts.pdf). For information or to volunteer, call 609-671-2911 or e-mail rdevore@aicpa.org.