Here is yet another reminder that job growth will continue to be slow for a period of time.

A survey by Robert Half found that an equal percentage of chief financial officers expect to boost hiring full-time accounting and finance professionals as those who plan to reduce their job ranks.

The Securities and Exchange Commission told Zale it has completed its investigation of the company and does not intend to recommend any enforcement action.

"We are glad to share with our investors and employees that this matter is now behind us as we continue to focus on returning our business to profitability," said Theo Killion, Chief Executive Officer of the jewelry retailer, in a statement.

As a further step along the way towards accounting convergence, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have a proposal out for comment on netting financial assets and financial liabilities on the balance sheet—also known as offsetting.

When two companies that have a financial relationship (ie owe each other money) list on their balance sheet their rights and obligations to each other in net terms—rather than gross—this is offsetting. This will primarily affect financial firms or companies with finance arms that engage in complex hedging or have big derivatives portfolios.

Verizon Communications has changed the way its accounts for pensions and other post-employment benefits.

The telecom giant said the new policy recognizes gains and losses in the year they are incurred, rather than amortizing them over time. This will result in $20.2 billion in charges to prior earnings.

Employers beware: Your accounting and finance employees are becoming restless.

A growing number are confident about their job security and plan to look for a new job. These are among the findings from the latest quarterly survey commissioned by The Mergis Group, a professional placement division of SFN Group.

As companies come to terms with new 1099 reporting requirements, software firms are starting to build new solutions-or update their existing ones--to help make finance executives' lives a little easier.

The new 1099 reporting requirement that all vendors who supply more than $600 worth of goods or services within the tax year be sent a form 1099, which takes effect in 2012, could cause untold headaches for small, medium, and even large companies, given the vastly-increased reporting burden that it is likely to create.

CFOs who cook the books are often bullied into it by overbearing CEOs that are looking out for their own equity stakes, according to a new piece of research by a group of global academics.

The research looked at why and when CFOs become involved in material accounting manipulations, and what factors increased the likelihood that CFOs would knowingly become involved in accounting fraud.

Credit Suisse Securities has sent clients a neat concise report detailing the "hot button" accounting issues for 2011that were discussed at the recent annual AICPA Conference on Current SEC & PCAOB Developments.

The report highlights four major topics: International Convergence, Liquidity, Contingencies and Restoring the Public Trust.

The US Appeals Court overturned the securities fraud conviction of the former chief financial officer at Network Associates (now called McAfee), who had been sentenced to a year and a day in prison.

In reversing the lower court's decision in the case involving Prabhat Goyal,, the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court rebuked the prosecutor and the judge in the case, asserting "The government shouldn't have brought charges unless it had clear evidence of wrongdoing, and the trial judge should have dismissed the case when the prosecution rested and it was clear the evidence could not support a conviction."

Private company accounting standards could end up being vastly different than their public equivalents, finally providing such companies with clear guidelines reflecting their distinct business landscape.

The standards-setting board for private company accounting standards-or Little GAAP as it is known-came one step closer to reality this week as the panel set up to design it fleshed out a number of details in a draft proposal to the Financial Accounting Foundation-parent organization to the FASB.