NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to approve a settlement with Microsoft Corp. regarding the company's bookkeeping practices, a person familiar with the matter confirmed Friday.

The Commission met in a closed session Thursday and decided to approve a settlement that will force the software maker to change the way it uses "reserves" in its accounting, a source told CNNfn.

SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt recused himself from the vote, the source said.

Neither the SEC nor Microsoft would comment on the settlement, details of which were first reported in Friday's edition of the Washington Post. Microsoft has said that it has been cooperating in the SEC investigation of its accounting practices, and is not expected to face a fine.

At issue is a long-running inquiry into whether the company delayed recognizing some revenues in order to keep from disappointing Wall Street analysts in weaker reporting periods.

According to the Washington Post report, the two sitting SEC commissioners, Cynthia A. Glassman and Isaac C. Hunt Jr., voted in favor of an administrative action that will require Microsoft to "cease and desist" from the accounting practice.

It is unclear when the SEC will publicly announce the settlement, which does not accuse the software giant of accounting fraud, the Washinton Post reported.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT: up $0.06 to $52.70, Research, Estimates), which also is in the final phase of settling its four-year-old antitrust case, were modestly higher on Nasdaq in early afternoon trade Friday.