News

Internal audit leaders in an annual survey reported staff and budget cuts in 2025 that rivaled levels observed during the 2008–2009 financial crisis, but they also shared a potential key to organizational support of the audit function.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accepted the 2026 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (GRT) (including the 2026 GAAP Employee Benefit Plan Taxonomy (EBPT)) and the 2026 SEC Reporting Taxonomy (SRT). The FASB also finalized the 2026 DQC Rules Taxonomy (DQCRT) and the 2026 GAAP Meta Model Relationships Taxonomy (MMT), which together with the GRT, the SRT, and the EBPT are collectively referred to as the “FASB Taxonomies.”

Margaret Ryan has resigned as director of the agency’s division of enforcement after about six months on the job.

The AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) issued an exposure draft proposing revisions to the definition of “attest engagement team” in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct (the Code). The proposal is intended to align the Code’s use of “attest engagement team” with other AICPA professional standards.

The Private Company Council (PCC) has published its 2025 Annual Report to highlight the PCC’s accomplishments and activities.

During 2025, audit and assurance professionals continued to operate in an environment marked by sustained economic uncertainty, evolving regulatory expectations, ongoing workforce constraints, and rapid advances in technology. Elevated interest rates, continued inflationary pressures in certain sectors, geopolitical instability, and increased focus on supply chains and liquidity heightened risks for many entities and increased the complexity of audit engagements.

The Securities and Exchange Commission initiated only 10 accounting and auditing actions last year — its lowest level in nine years.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s outdated views on disclosures ignore technology and misattribute the decline in public companies to disclosure overload, writes CFA Institute’s Sandy Peters.

The Auditors of Public Accounts in their annual report to the General Assembly are making several recommendations for legislative changes, including requiring signatures for payments over $50,000 and clarifying when quasi-public agencies must submit required annual and quarterly reports.

A report on the challenges facing audit committees as they convene during busy season placed technology disruption and AI integration risks atop a list of risks standing between organizations and their financial targets in 2026.

The financial close process is a cornerstone of organizational performance, yet it remains one of the most resource-intensive and error-prone activities. While technology and process optimization have been widely adopted to accelerate close cycles, the human element – how teams are organized and deployed – often determines success.

At last month’s AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments, George Botic continued his tradition of educating while entertaining fellow CPAs regarding the audit — this time in his role as acting chair of the PCAOB.

We wrapped up our annual Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments last week, and it’s hard to pick a single theme or highlight from the sheer volume of information presented and professional networking packed into a few days.

The AICPA Professional Ethics Executive Committee (PEEC) voted Friday to issue the exposure draft of Proposed Revisions Related to Alternative Practice Structures, which features updated guidelines related to independence rules and private-equity investments.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today published an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) focused on updating the FASB Accounting Standards Codification® for a broad range of Topics arising from technical corrections, unintended application of the Codification, clarifications, and other minor improvements.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has issued Statement No. 105, Subsequent Events, which is designed to improve the financial reporting requirements for subsequent events.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) today announced the availability of the 2026 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy (GRT), the 2026 SEC Reporting Taxonomy (SRT), and the 2026 GAAP Employee Benefit Plan Taxonomy (EBPT). The FASB also announced the availability of the 2026 DQC Rules Taxonomy (DQCRT) and the 2026 GAAP Meta Model Relationships Taxonomy (MMT), which, together with the GRT, SRT, and EBPT, is collectively referred to as the “FASB Taxonomies.”

Business owners spent the majority of 2025 dealing with inflation, tariffs, a labor market made flush by mass layoffs, funding accessibility, a federal government shutdown, and a single piece of legislation that had widespread tax implications.

A new report from CPA.com and the AICPA creates a snapshot of what a typical audit firm transformation looks like, based on feedback from 54 U.S. firms of various sizes and maturity levels.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted the delayed 2025 OMB Compliance Supplement, an annual resource for practitioners involved in single audits and federal grant compliance.