United States: Accounting and Audit

On August 5, 2026, China’s Ministry of Commerce placed six U.S. supply chain due diligence entities on its countermeasure list and prohibited organizations and individuals in China from transacting or cooperating with them. The six include the DNA tagging, isotopic testing, supply chain mapping, and labor audit providers that many importers rely on to document origin when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detains goods under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA). Importers in cotton, apparel, electronics, minerals, and other UFLPA high-priority sectors should treat this as a direct hit on their evidence chain and act now.

An HHS Office of Inspector General audit of Methodist Hospital in San Antonio reveals how a review of just 100 claims led to a $12.4 million overpayment recommendation through statistical extrapolation. The audit targeted specific high-risk billing areas including Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility claims, certain diagnosis-related groups, and outpatient billing patterns, uncovering documentation and coding compliance issues that hospital leadership should examine within their own Medicare claims.

Pharmacy Benefit Manager audits can threaten independent pharmacies with hundreds of thousands of dollars in alleged discrepancies and potential network exclusion. Through meticulous documentation review and strategic legal response, one pharmacy successfully eliminated nearly $400,000 in audit findings. Understanding the critical elements of an effective audit defense can protect pharmacies from unwarranted financial harm and regulatory consequences.

Many organizations have access to large volumes of spend data, but fragmented systems, inconsistent information, limited market intelligence, and a lack of systematic processes often make it difficult to translate visibility into measurable savings.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has consolidated its accounting and financial reporting enforcement resources into a dedicated unit, signaling heightened scrutiny of public company disclosures, internal controls, and audit quality. This organizational shift concentrates previously dispersed expertise into a specialized team positioned to investigate financial reporting misconduct more efficiently and aggressively.

The CAS Board has raised contract thresholds to $35 million and eliminated CAS 407, fundamentally changing cost accounting requirements for federal contractors. At the same time, the Department of War is demanding unprecedented cost and pricing transparency through new memoranda requiring actual cost information for negotiations valued at $10 million or more, creating a complex landscape where contractors face fewer formal CAS requirements but heightened scrutiny of their pricing data.

Divorce proceedings involving significant or complex assets are rarely straightforward. Beyond the emotional and legal dimensions, these cases often hinge on a clear and defensible understanding of financial reality.

For years, revenue recognition was the primary issue cited in allegations of accounting fraud, whether in enforcement investigations or securities litigation.

Consider a court case in which one side presents a chart, report, or a video reconstruction that was created entirely by artificial intelligence (AI).

Ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families face a valuation environment that is far more complex than simply determining the worth of an asset. In the context of trust, gift, and estate tax planning, valuation becomes a foundational discipline that affects wealth transfer strategy, tax efficiency, compliance, and long-term family outcomes.

In recent years, the accounting profession has been grappling with a concerning trend: a shortage of skilled workers. According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA)...

Cybersecurity breaches concerning workers' personal information and retirement savings have increased liability risks for benefit plans and third-party administrators under federal benefits laws.