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.

It may not be as sexy as the latest iPhone or iPad apps, but Google is reaching out to small businesses with a new range of finance and management apps geared specifically at SMEs, and have promised to launch new small company tools each Tuesday.

In its first release, companies can take advantage of accounting and finance app Outright, which provides automated data gathering from various external sources, such as banks and payments service providers, like Paypal.

The number of financial reporting issues is on the rise this year, exceeding multi-year lows set last year.

In the first nine months of 2010, about 20 percent more companies filed restatements to correct accounting errors or reported internal-control weaknesses than in the first three quarters of 2009, according to a new study published by Glass Lewis.

Small business owners have much to ponder this week as tax cut discussions and a potential repeal of an onerous accounting change passed under the Health Care Reform Act hit the spotlight.

Much dialogue in the media this week has centered on how the Obama administration will address the extension of Bush-era tax cuts to top-tax-bracket taxpayers. Underscored as part of that conversation is the impact the withdrawal of those tax breaks will have on small business.

The SEC has settled a rare Reg FD case with Office Depot and two of its executives, including its top finance exec.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Office Depot with unrelated accounting violations.

The panel set up to look at establishing new accounting rules for private companies has completed its final public meeting and is one step closer to detailing how such rules should be developed.

The panel, set up at year-end last year by the Financial Accounting foundation (FAF), the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, made two major recommendations coming out of the final public meeting.