A.E. Feldman Blog

The issue of data center efficiency is garnering more attention as companies face mounting pressure to cut back on spending. That’s because the massive, energy-gobbling data centers that hold racks of mission-critical equipment are costly to maintain. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that data centers in the U.S. consumed 61 billion kilowatt hours of [...]

Thanks to the accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, firms are under greater scrutiny to be clearer with financial statements, audits and tax reports. “The years in the aftermath of Sarbanes-Oxley have spotlighted the critical role the accounting profession plays in our capital market system,” said Denny Reigle, AICPA Director of Academic and Career [...]

Compliance professionals have become white-hot commodities at banks, reports Bank Technology News. The report states that while Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulations have driven up salaries for accountants, financial and legal staff as well as compliance officers, the current credit crisis is further exacerbating the hunt for compliance talent. Moreover, BTN notes there is a shortage [...]

U.S. companies need more preparation for the convergence of global accounting standards, according to a survey of CFOs and other senior finance professionals conducted by Deloitte. The survey finds that globalization of the world’s capital markets has triggered a shift away from local standards and benchmarks to global ones. According to Deloitte, one key example [...]

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that companies publicly traded in the U.S. adopt a specific new technology, known as eXtensible Business Reporting Language or XBRL, for financial disclosure. The technology involves computer “tags” similar to the bar codes used to identify groceries in the supermarket. The tags uniquely identify individual items in [...]

Firms in the U.S. are bracing for the convergence of global accounting standards. U.S. and foreign accounting regulators are about to unveil a new plan to expedite the convergence of international and U.S. accounting rules, according to Reuters. Their goal is to have all major capital markets operating from one set of standards by 2013. [...]

Government initiatives are focusing on energy utilization as a national security concern as well an environmental concern. But according to industry experts, energy is primarily a bottom line issue. Today, firms are beginning to take a closer look at their data centers to determine how much energy they consume…and how much they can save by [...]

Demand for experienced accountants is surging. Despite economic concerns, the accounting industry added nearly 30,000 new jobs in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to AccountingWeb.com. Among the reasons for the growing need for accountants is an increase in corporate governance regulations and heightened focus on risk. Moreover, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants [...]

Thanks to the accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco and WorldCom, firms are under greater scrutiny to be clearer with financial statements, audits and tax reports. Complicating matters, business and tax issues have become more intricate thanks to language barriers, diverse cultures, different currencies and technology as well as complex international tax laws. Applying regulatory reforms [...]

Last month, the FBI announced it was investigating 14 corporations involved in subprime lending as part of its Subprime Mortgage Industry Fraud Initiative launched last year. The companies in question come from the financial services industry, including mortgage lenders and investment banks that bundle loans into securities which are sold to investors. The FBI also [...]