The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has extended the deadline for comments on the proposed AICPA Statement of Position (SOP), Accounting for Certain Costs and Activities Related to Property, Plant, and Equipment. The new deadline is extended 31 days to November 15, 2001.The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has also extended the comment deadline for comments on its Exposure Draft, Accounting in Interim and Annual Financial Statements for Certain Costs and Activities Related to Property, Plant, and Equipment.

Country singers, the Dixie Chicks, have filed a lawsuit against their recording company, Sony Corp., alleging "fraudulent accounting gimmicks" that cheated the group out of approximately $4 million.The singing group paid for an audit of their royalty account at Sony, although the name of the firm or people performing the audit has not been released.In the lawsuit, which was filed in New York federal court, the group claims that Sony underreported sales figures and overc

An Illinois transportation services firm, Asche Transportation Services, Inc., declared bankruptcy last December, but not before Minnesota investors sunk $12 million into the company, relying on statements published by Ernst & Young.Claiming the Big Five firm performed sloppy work, made fraudulent representations, and failed to report financial irregularities, Minnesota-based Churchill Environmental and Industrial Equity Partners LP has sued E&Y in hopes of recovering its investment.The lawsuit cla

In an interview reported in the Financial Times today, Jim Copeland, CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, urged the SEC to speed up its investigative processes and bring more definitive conclusions to its investigations of audit failures.Mr. Copeland lamented the fact that the credibility of the auditing profession was at stake when investigations drag on for many months or sometimes many years. "You never come to closure on these things," he said.

A partner and two managers from Coopers & Lybrand, LLP (now, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP) have been charged with fraud by the Securities & Exchange Commission for their role in the audit of Allegheny Health, Education and Research Foundation (AHERF).William Buettner, Mark Kirstein, and Amy Frazier are alleged to have masked the deteriorating financial condition of AHERF by helping plan fraudulent transfers of reserves and then hiding this in the company's 1997 audit.The defendants issued an unqualified opin

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed to amend Statement No. 67, Accounting for Costs and Initial Rental Operations of Real Estate Projects, to exclude from its scope the accounting for acquisition, development, and construction costs of real estate developed and used by an entity for subsequent rental activities.

In a speech this week to the Center For Professional Education, Inc., acting SEC chairman, Laura Unger voiced renewed concern over auditor independence issues, citing the recent Andersen/Waste Management fracas as a prime example of abuse."This is one very significant case that we can point to," said Ms.

Big Five firm Ernst & Young participated in a Keystone Cops-type audit escapade with its client, Health Risk Management, Inc., before quitting the engagement abruptly, and apparently, just before being relieved of its duties.

Big Five firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has been embroiled in a lawsuit with MicroStrategy Inc.