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.

ACCOUNTING
The AICPA issued four technical practice aids (TPAs) containing questions and answers related to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R), Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities. The TPAs—1400.29, on consolidated versus combined financial statements; 1400.30, on stand-alone financial statements of a variable interest entity; 1400.31, on the effects of a GAAP departure; and 1500.06, on the interpretation’s application to income tax basis financial statements—are available at www.aicpa.org/download/acctstd/FIN_46_R_TPAs.pdf.

AUDITING
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) said its 2006 inspections of firms that audit public companies will focus on whether they expended their efforts and resources efficiently in achieving the objectives described in PCAOB Auditing Standard no. 2, An Audit of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting Performed in Conjunction With an Audit of Financial Statements. This year nine firms—eight U.S. and one Canadian—that each audit more than 100 public companies will undergo inspection, along with selected smaller domestic and foreign firms that audit at least one public entity (www.pcaobus.org/news_and_events/news/2006/05-01a.aspx).

The board also issued two informational statements. One, an overview of Auditing Standard no. 4, Reporting on Whether a Previously Reported Material Weakness Continues to Exist, helps auditors understand and comply with the standard’s required auditing procedures (www.pcaobus.org/standards/standards_and_related_rules/). The other is a series of answers to frequently asked questions about the accounting support fee certain public companies and mutual funds pay to fund the PCAOB’s activities (www.pcaobus.org/support_fees/supportfeefaq.pdf). The fee applies only to equity issuers and investment-company issuers that during the prior calendar year had average monthly market capitalizations greater than $25 million and $250 million, respectively.

FINANCIAL LITERACY
American companies can no longer afford to offer their employees adequate pensions, nearly three of four respondents (74%) said in an AICPA survey of CPAs serving as senior corporate executives (www.aicpa.org/news/index.htm). “This is a wake-up call,” said AICPA business and industry vice-president John Morrow. “Employees will have to find other ways to finance their retirement.” Fifty-nine percent of survey participants agreed, saying Americans will have to educate themselves about retirement savings strategies. To that end, the Web site of the AICPA’s 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy campaign (www.360financialliteracy.org) offers hundreds of free tools and resources to help consumers better understand and manage their personal finances. Volunteer opportunities are available for qualified CPAs; go to www.360financialliteracy.org/ for information on how you can help members of your community reach their lifetime financial goals.

INTERNATIONAL
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published a Statement of Best Practice, Working Relationships between the IASB and Other Accounting Standard-Setters, that identifies activities in which the IASB and similar national and regional bodies believe they should engage to facilitate the adoption of or convergence with international financial reporting standards (IFRSs). They include standard-setters’ communicating among themselves and with their constituents; developing projects that help the IASB complete certain undertakings; commenting on IASB consultative documents, such as exposure drafts; and suggesting approaches to adopting or converging with, and helping develop interpretations of, IFRSs. The statement can be downloaded at www.iasb.org/uploaded_files/documents/8_1500_SOBPFebruary2006final.pdf.

The trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation published a consultation document, Due Process of the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee—Draft Handbook (www.iasb.org). The foundation oversees the activities of the IASB and the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (IFRIC). Comments are requested by September 30, 2006, on IFRIC’s current structure and procedures, including its agenda committee, criteria for selecting agenda items, consultation regarding issues not added to the agenda and relationship with national standard-setters and interpretive groups.

The International Federation of Accountants published its 2006 Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance, and Ethics Pronouncements, which includes all guidance issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants through December 31, 2005. The code of ethics, which became effective June 30, 2006, applies to all professional accountants, whether in business and industry, public practice, the public sector or education. Print, CD and free electronic versions are available at www.ifac.org/store.

MONEY LAUNDERING
The IRS, 33 states and Puerto Rico agreed to share Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) information and coordinate their resources to ensure that currency exchangers, check cashiers, money transmitters and issuers of traveler’s checks and stored-value cards—known as money services businesses (MSBs)—register with the government and report cash transactions and suspicious activities that may be signs of money laundering or other financial crimes. Additional information about MSBs and the BSA is available at www.irs.gov or the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (www.fincen.gov).

FYI
Ray Whittington, CPA, a distinguished accounting educator, was appointed dean of DePaul University’s College of Commerce and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Whittington joined DePaul’s faculty in 1997. Previously, he served as director of auditing research at the AICPA and vice-chair of the Auditing Standards Board and was a senior auditor for KPMG Peat Marwick.

The IRS has appointed two practitioners to its Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities. Joan M. DiMarco, CPA, is the managing partner of the Philadelphia office of BondResource Partners LP, a firm specializing in tax-exempt bonds. Sandra Starnes, CPA, is cash management officer for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in the state of Washington.

Josh K. Jones and Sandie E. Kim began two-year terms as professional accounting fellows in the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant. Both are senior managers—Jones in Ernst & Young LLP’s Atlanta practice office and Kim in Deloitte & Touche LLP’s national office accounting consultation group in San Francisco. They will develop rule proposals under federal securities laws, communicate with professional accounting and auditing standard-setting bodies and consult with SEC-registered companies on accounting and reporting matters.

Luther Bragg, CPA, was appointed to the Accounting and Auditing Policy Committee of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board by Gregory H. Friedman, vice-chair of the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency and inspector general of the U.S. Department of Energy. Bragg serves as the assistant auditor general for financial management and comptroller audits in the Department of the Navy’s Office of the Auditor General.