Corporate Accounting


Coming To Terms With Accountants

Like most specialists, accountants have their own set of acronyms and terms. Here is a glossary of the accounting profession's most common ones. Big...  Read story

Special "gaap" For Small Business

Small businesses have complained for years that the financial reporting standards used in this country, which were developed and refined with large, publi...  Read story

Accounting

Related Terms: Certified Public...  Read story

Audits, External

Related Terms: Audits, Internal ; Read story

Audits, Internal

Related Terms: Accounting Methods Intern...  Read story

Cash Flow Statement

Related Terms: Financial statements ...  Read story

Certified Public Accountants

Certified public accountants (CPAs) provide a broad range of financial services to small businesses. These services include preparation of financial state...  Read story

Depreciation

"Depreciation" literally means the lowering of the value of something—and specifically of fixed or capital assets. In accounting terminology the word re...  Read story

Financial Statements

Related Terms: Annual Report ; Read story

Income Statements

Related Terms: Annual Reports ; Read story

Investor Relations and Reporting

Related Terms: Financial Statements ; Read story

Pro Forma Statements

Pro forma , a Latin term meaning "as a matter of form," is applied to the process of presenting financial projections for a specific time period i...  Read story

Proxy Statements

A proxy statement is, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), "a document which is intended to provide security holders with the inform...  Read story

Sarbanes-Oxley

On December 2, 2001, the Enron Corporation, a highly-respected and rapidly growing energy-trading company filed for bankruptcy. It had inflated its earnin...  Read story

SEC Disclosure Laws and Regulations

Related Terms: Sarbanes-Oxley Companies that are...  Read story

First, Tidy Up the Paperwork

Tips on getting your paperwork organized so you can attract outside investors.  Read story

Small Businesses Looking for Bigger Say with FASB

May 27, 2004 --Since the collapses of the likes of Enron and WorldCom and the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley governance laws in 2002, ...  Read story

Private Companies Make SarbOx Changes

June 21, 2004 -- The Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform laws that have forced public companies to take a long, hard look at their financial ...  Read story

Sarbanes-Oxley Draws Renewed Criticism

Jan. 13, 2005 --Less than three years after the public scandals of Enron, WorldCom and Global Crossing first came to light, a group of com...  Read story

SEC Offers Small Businesses Sarbox Relief

March 14, 2005 -- Sarbanes-Oxley can be a headache for small businesses, but relief may be in sight with the extension of a key upcomin...  Read story

Sarbanes-Oxley Regulations May Be Loosened

Dec. 13, 2005 --Small public companies could save millions of dollars now spent on audits required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, according to...  Read story

SEC Seeks Public Input on Sarbanes-Oxley

Some small businesses claim compliance too burdensome and discourages them from public offerings.  Read story

Sarbanes-Oxley Regulations May Be Loosened

Dec. 13, 2005 --Small public companies could save millions of dollars now spent on audits required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, according to...  Read story

Small Firms Get Break on Accounting Rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to ease parts of Sarbanes-Oxley considered too burdensome.  Read story

SOX Reprieve for Small Business

The SEC will review rules requiring external checks on financial controls at smaller companies.  Read story

FASB Limits Stock Options

What new stock option rules mean for you.  Read story

What Does Sarbanes-Oxley Mean for Companies That Want to Go Public?

Added costs may keep smaller businesses away.  Read story

Cash Flow Statement

A breakdown of the cash flow statement, and methods for simplifying the procedure.  Read story

Sarbanes-Oxley Has Some Publics Thinking Private

May 20, 2004 -- The increasing cost of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law has more public companies mulling going pri...  Read story

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a federal agency responsible for administering federal securities laws that protect investors. The SE...  Read story

Who Wants Your New Product?

Companies waste precious dollars selling to the wrong prospects.  Read story

Sarbox No Picnic For Teddy Bear Maker

Oct. 5, 2005 --Vermont Teddy Bear Company CEO Elisabeth Robert feels the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders. "I'm in the...  Read story

Fast-Growing Firms Feel Impact of Sarbanes-Oxley

June 28, 2005 --The PricewaterhouseCoopers' Trendsetter Barometer released last week reported that 17% of the fastest growing private comp...  Read story

Can't Find an Accountant?

You're not alone. Sarbanes-Oxley has so overwhelmed accountants that companies are having trouble getting their books audited.  Read story

Electronic Mail

Related Terms: Spam Electronic mail, or e-mail, has in large part di...  Read story

Leaseback Logic

"Renting Money" (Capital, April) properly pointed out several advantages to a small business that uses sale-leasebacks to finance its growth. We cau...  Read story

Sarb-Ox Spurs New Accounting Systems for Small Businesses

August 3, 2004 -- Microsoft Excel might be nearing its 20th birthday, but a recent study shows that small and mid-sized companies have be...  Read story

The Art of Unhatched-Chicken Accounting

The top four banks have taken significant charges for impairment of their mortgage-servicing rights. The bottom three have not. Countrywide ...  Read story

IPO Basics: The Registration Statement

Registration statements have the following two principal parts: Part I is the prospectus, the legal offering or "selling" document. The "i...  Read story

What Enron Didn't Teach Us

Years after multibillion-dollar scandals rocked corporate America, more than half of employees at both public and private companies admit they have witnessed...  Read story