The audit committee's ten 'to-dos' for 2011: KPMG's Audit Committee Institute spotlights the issues that should be top of mind this year.

• Position: COMPETITIVE EDGE

THE AUDIT COMMITTEE'S workload "is not going to get any lighter in 2011," says Jim Lid-dy, vice chair, Audit, KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm. "Whether it's new accounting standards, the impact of Dodd-Frank regulations and the demands on compliance programs, or the global risk environment, audit committees will have a full plate in the year ahead." KPMG's Audit Committee Institute again offers its annual "Ten To-Dos for Audit Committees," highlighting issues that should be top of mind in 2011:

1. Keep the audit committee's eye on the ball: financial reporting and related internal control risk. Ensuring that the audit committee agenda appropriately focuses on the issues that require the committee's attention will be a significant undertaking in 2011. The challenges of a continuing slow growth economy coupled with the impact of major public policy and regulatory initiatives--Dodd-Frank, IFRS and accounting standards convergence, financial services regulation, healthcare, the environment, energy, etc.--on the company's compliance, risk, and governance processes will require the attention of every audit committee. To meet this workload challenge, develop more-focused (yet flexible) agendas, with an eye on the company's key financial reporting and related internal control risks. Streamline committee meetings by insisting on quality pre-meeting materials, spending less time on low-value or checklist activities, and engaging in more discussion (versus presentations).

2. Understand how the raft of accounting changes on the horizon will impact the company and its resources. While the SEC determines what role IFRS will play in U.S. financial reporting, significant change to U.S. accounting is on the way. The FASB and the IASB are working on a number of joint projects, and final accounting standards in several areas--including revenue recognition, leases, and fair value measurements--are scheduled to be issued by June 2011 (with more new standards to follow later in the year). Understand how these projects will impact your company, including implementation/resource requirements, and stay close to where the projects are headed and the timeline.

3. Review the company's whistleblower processes and compliance program. The Dodd-Frank Act's whistleblower bounty program, together with stepped-up enforcement efforts by the SEC and DOJ--particularly in connection with suspected FCPA violations--point to the need for companies to reassess their...