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• AICPA, FEI Object to Federal Accounting Oversight Board

  November 6, 2009

  The American Institute of CPAs and Financial Executives International have written to Congress to express their objections to proposed legislation that would displace the SEC from its role of overseeing the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

• IASB Treads Cautiously on Asset Impairment

  November 5, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed new standards for measuring the impairment of financial instruments and assets using amortized cost, taking a different tack than the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board.

• CAQ Wants Congress to Preserve SEC Oversight of FASB

  November 4, 2009

  The Center for Audit Quality and other influential organizations are asking leaders of the House Financial Services Committee to safeguard the role of the SEC in overseeing the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

• IASB Eases Related-Party Disclosures

  November 4, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised version of its standard for related-party transactions, simplifying the disclosure requirements and clarifying the definition of a related party.

• Financial Planners Oppose FINRA Oversight

  November 3, 2009

  Financial planning trade groups have written a letter to congressional leaders protesting an amendment that would extend the regulatory authority of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to cover investment advisers who are associated with broker-dealers under FINRA authority.

• International Auditing Standards Spread to 126 Countries

  November 3, 2009

  The International Federation of Accountants has released a new online chart showing the growing adoption of International Standards on Auditing.

• FTC Extends Deadline for ‘Red Flags’ ID Theft Rule

  November 2, 2009

  The Federal Trade Commission has once again extended the deadline for enforcing the so-called “Red Flags Rule” that requires financial institutions and creditors to develop identity theft prevention programs.

• Can Uncle Sam go on?

  November 2, 2009

  Americans may be in for shocking news soon. Under a new standard issued by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board, the federal government is going to have to issue annual reports on its fiscal sustainability.

• Prep school

  November 2, 2009

  What seems like a lifetime ago, I was sitting in 7th grade math class - come to think of it, that was a lifetime ago - being lectured by Mrs. Kennedy on the U.S.'s inevitable conversion to the metric system.

• A better answer

  November 2, 2009

  The creation of a super agency to regulate banks is a beguilingly simple idea.

• Kroeker: Keep Converging With or Without Roadmap

  October 30, 2009

  SEC Chief Accountant Jim Kroeker said the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board should proceed with their efforts to converge U.S. and international accounting standards, even though the SEC commissioners have not yet formally approved the proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards.

• A Better Answer

  October 30, 2009

  The creation of a super agency to regulate banks is a beguilingly simple idea.

• IASB and FASB to Meet Monthly on Standards Overhaul

  October 29, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board and its U.S. counterpart, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, plan to meet on a monthly basis in order to achieve the goal of converging accounting standards by June 2011.

• U.S. Execs Prefer FASB to Set Accounting Standards

  October 29, 2009

  Seventy-one percent of U.S. CFOs and senior comptrollers surveyed by Grant Thornton believe that the Financial Accounting Standards Board should set U.S. accounting standards, instead of the International Accounting Standards Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission or Congress.

• U.S. CFOs Leery of IFRS

  October 26, 2009

  Forty percent of U.S. CFOs and senior comptrollers polled by Grant Thornton said they do not believe U.S. companies should be required to use International Financial Reporting Standards.

• Private Company Committee Wants Standards Clarified

  October 23, 2009

  The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met to discuss the impact of recent changes in accounting standards on private companies, including some confusion in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s new Codification updates.

• CalCPA Helps Inactive California CPAs Reactivate

  October 22, 2009

  The California Society of CPAs is offering a special CPA Activate Pass to help inactive CPAs regain active status.

• FASB Creates Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee

  October 22, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has established a Not-for-Profit Advisory Committee to offer input to the board on guidance, current and future technical projects, and longer-term issues affecting nonprofits.

• IASB Not Waiting for FASB

  October 20, 2009

  International Accounting Standards Board chairman Sir David Tweedie said he won’t wait for the board’s U.S. counterpart to finalize its own revisions to fair value accounting for financial instruments.

• Private Cos. Reporting Head: Now Is Time for Separate GAAP!

  October 20, 2009

  As the SEC resurrects its focus on the roadmap to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards, the 30-plus year debate over a GAAP for private companies has progressed somewhat but remains on the back burner amidst legislative and standard-setters’ priorities for global convergence.

• House Panel Approves Derivatives Regulation Bill

  October 16, 2009

  The House Financial Services Committee has approved legislation that would require regulation of the over-the-counter derivatives market.

• Insurers Challenge FASB Fair Value Proposal

  October 15, 2009

  A trade group representing insurance and reinsurance companies has taken exception to a proposed standard on fair value accounting and said it will make financial statements harder to understand.

• SEC Strategic Plan Backs Global Accounting Standards

  October 9, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has released a draft of a five-year strategic plan that calls for “a single set of high-quality global accounting standards.”

• Companies Want SEC to Approve IFRS Roadmap

  October 6, 2009

  Seventy percent of CFOs and other finance professionals support approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s roadmap for adopting International Financial Reporting Standards, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

• FASB Beefs Up XBRL Features in Codification

  October 5, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has expanded the use of interactive data-tagging technology in its official FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

• Provision as a Process

  October 2, 2009

  Today, more than three years since it was issued, FIN48 remains the bane of many tax departments’ existence.

• FASB and IASB Try to Avoid Divergence

  September 30, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board and its global counterpart, the International Accounting Standards Board, hope to stay in lockstep on standards, but oftentimes it's not so easy.

• Firms Warned to Deploy GAAP Codification Soon

  September 29, 2009

  The author of a new book on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s recently released GAAP Codification said CPA firms could be exposed to litigation risks unless they deploy the new codification rapidly.

• Accountants Divided over Regulatory Overhaul

  September 23, 2009

  Accountants have mixed feelings about the Obama administration’s proposed financial regulatory overhaul, according to a new survey.

• AICPA Wants CPAs Exempted from Consumer Agency

  September 23, 2009

  The American Institute of CPAs testified before Congress in favor of exempting CPAs from oversight by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency, arguing that CPAs are already highly regulated.

• SEC Reconsiders IFRS Roadmap

  September 23, 2009

  The SEC is expected to turn its attention once again this fall to the question of adopting International Financial Reporting Standards now that the financial crisis has eased.

• Monitoring Board Defends Independent Standards

  September 22, 2009

  A group of securities regulators from around the world is defending the need to safeguard the independence of the accounting standard-setting process.

• SEC Fines Former PurchasePro Chief $3 Million

  September 18, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has levied a $3 million penalty against Charles Johnson Jr., the former CEO of PurchasePro, a now-defunct business-to-business online exchange company that was involved in an accounting fraud case with AOL.

• SEC Chief Accountant Warns Against Standards Race

  September 17, 2009

  SEC Chief Accountant Jim Kroeker told a group of CPAs that accounting standard-setters should avoid a “race to the bottom” when working on convergence.

• IASB Reassures G-20 on Loan Accounting Standards

  September 16, 2009

  The group overseeing the International Accounting Standards Board has written to President Obama and the other G-20 leaders saying it is following the G-20 recommendations for dealing with fair value accounting for loans, after banking interests charged that it was not.

• Accounting Regulators Not Necessarily in Harmony

  September 16, 2009

  The banking and insurance industries have been playing arbitrage with the various accounting standards produced by U.S. and international standard-setters.

• Insurers Criticize IASB Proposals for Insurance Contracts

  September 15, 2009

  An organization representing major life and property/casualty insurance and reinsurance companies has criticized a new measurement approach for insurance contracts recommended by the staff of the International Accounting Standards Board.

• SEC Hopes to Correct Madoff Goofs

  September 10, 2009

  SEC officials testifying at a Senate Banking Committee hearing pledged to do more to investigate Ponzi schemes.

• Bankers Want G-20 to Rein in FASB, IASB

  September 10, 2009

  The American Bankers Association has written to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asking them to raise accounting issues at the upcoming G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh in order to curb efforts by standard-setters to expand mark-to-market accounting to loans and debt instruments.

• IASB Could Be Renamed IFRS Board

  September 9, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board’s oversight body has proposed a series of changes aimed at providing better governance of the standard-setter, including renaming the organization the International Financial Reporting Standards Board.

• FASB Updates Guidance on Income Tax Uncertainty

  September 4, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has published implementation guidance on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes and disclosure amendments for nonpublic entities.

• Financial Planners Want SEC to Restrict FINRA

  September 1, 2009

  The Financial Planning Association is urging SEC Chair Mary Schapiro to clarify and restrict the scope of authority of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority related to financial planning services.

• FASB Proposes Expanding Fair Value Disclosures

  August 31, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a set of proposed changes to fair value measurement rules that would require companies to provide more information about illiquid assets.

• Basel Committee Doesn’t Want Fair Value for Loans

  August 28, 2009

  The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an influential group of international banking regulators, has released a set of guiding principles to help the International Accounting Standards Board set new standards for financial instruments to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis.

• Regulators Mull Impact of Accounting Rules on Bank Capital Requirements

  August 27, 2009

  The major federal banking regulatory agencies are asking for comments on a proposed rule for banks’ minimal capital requirements, stemming from two accounting standards that would change how banks will account next year for many items they currently keep off their balance sheets.

• IASB Plans Annual Improvements

  August 26, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has published a set of proposed amendments to 11 International Financial Reporting Standards as part of its annual improvements project.

• Bernanke’s Back and Barack’s Got Him

  August 26, 2009

  The extension of Ben Bernanke’s term as Federal Reserve chairman shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, except to those who were hoping for better management of the economy.

• Kroeker Officially Becomes SEC Chief Accountant

  August 25, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed James L. Kroeker as chief accountant.

• The 5 Stages of Valuation

  August 25, 2009

  The 'Five Stages of Grief' are the steps of the psychological process by which people deal with unfortunate circumstances. And nowadays we have seen this process, and the psychological character of our clients, reflected during our valuation engagements.

• FASB Reconsiders Loss Contingencies for Litigation

  August 20, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board took up the controversial question of disclosure requirements for loss contingencies at its latest meeting and decided that companies need to make more disclosures.

• PCAOB Reporting Rules Take Effect October 12

  August 14, 2009

  The SEC has approved rules requiring registered public accounting firms to report events such as legal proceedings and changes in a firm’s contact information within 30 days to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, as well as file annual reports on disciplinary matters and other issues.

• GASB to Decide on Municipal Bankruptcy Standards

  August 14, 2009

  The Government Accounting Standards Board has drafted proposed standards for local government bankruptcies, and is giving interested parties until August 28 to comment.

• FASB May Extend Mark-to-Market to Loans

  August 14, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board may expand the use of mark-to-market accounting to the loans held by banks.

• Bankers Object to Standards-Setting Process

  August 13, 2009

  The American Bankers Association has released a letter and white paper raising concerns over the process taken by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board in their financial instruments projects.

• Revenge of the Accounting Authorities?

  August 12, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board took plenty of heat in April for loosening mark-to-market guidelines, a move that critics assailed as a gift to the financial industry and a nod to political pressures.

• PCFRC Eyes Global Standards for Small Business

  August 10, 2009

  The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee took a close look at the International Accounting Standards Board’s new “IFRS for SMEs” standards at its meeting last week.

• Bankers Protest Latest Mark-to-Market Proposals

  August 6, 2009

  The American Bankers Association is objecting to the newest proposed accounting standards for financial instruments, claiming that they would dramatically expand the use of the much-maligned mark-to-market accounting.

• U.S. GAAP XBRL Tags Aligned to FASB Codification

  August 5, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board and XBRL US have completed their work in revising the XBRL U.S. GAAP Taxonomy to reflect the FASB Accounting Standards Codification that was released on July 1.

• NASBA Wants Independent Funding for Standard-Setters

  August 5, 2009

  The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy called for independent funding of global accounting standard-setters.

• Tweedie Warns of 2011 Deadline for IFRS Choice

  August 4, 2009

  International Accounting Standards Board chairman Sir David Tweedie said that other countries are running out of patience waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to decide on whether to approve a roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards and that the U.S. would need to commit by 2011.

• Execs Rethink M&A Deal Strategy

  August 3, 2009

  More than two out of five business executives said in a recent poll that an accounting standard on business combinations is causing them to reassess their strategy for M&A deals.

• PCAOB Forms Investor Advisory Group

  July 31, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has created an Investor Advisory Group to solicit input from investors on how to carry out the board’s responsibilities in overseeing public auditing firms.

• IFRS Conversion Puts Demand on Technology

  July 31, 2009

  Switching to International Financial Reporting Standards could prove to be a costly move for many companies’ IT departments, according to a new report by Ernst & Young.

• Regulating Systemic Risk is a Job for a Council

  July 31, 2009

  It is widely believed that the U.S. financial system needs a systemic risk regulator to help prevent future financial crises.

• Financial Crisis Group Exonerates Accounting

  July 28, 2009

  The Financial Crisis Advisory Group has published a report concluding that accounting standards are not to blame for the economic crisis.

• New York CPA Requirements Take Effect July 26

  July 24, 2009

  New York State CPAs are facing a Sunday deadline to register with the State Education Department under a recently passed law.

• SMBs Weigh Separate Accounting Standards

  July 24, 2009

  Slightly more than half of small and midsized businesses prefer to have a separate set of accounting standards for private companies, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

• PCAOB Considers Audit Engagement Changes

  July 24, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled an open meeting next week to discuss making changes in engagement quality auditing and sign-off requirements.

• Alliance Tries to Make Financial Reporting Simpler

  July 17, 2009

  The task of making financial reporting simpler and more useful isn’t so simple as one might hope, according to several influential accounting officials who met to discuss the problem.

• IASB Proposes Financial Instrument Accounting Changes

  July 15, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed changing the accounting standards for measuring and classifying financial instruments in response to concerns raised by the financial crisis.

• Financial Crisis Creates Fair Value Skeptics

  July 13, 2009

  Turmoil in the financial markets has negated the value of fair value accounting, according to more than half the respondents to a new survey.

• More Stringent Accounting Ethics Code Released

  July 10, 2009

  The International Federation of Accountants and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants have issued a revised Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants that strengthens the independence requirements of auditors.

• FASB Fights Disclosure Overload

  July 10, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has added a new project to its agenda aimed at making financial disclosures more organized and less redundant.

• International Accounting Standards Issued for SMBs

  July 9, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has published a stripped-down set of International Financial Reporting Standards aimed at small and midsized privately held businesses.

• CCH Incorporates New FASB Codification

  July 2, 2009

  CCH said it is supporting the new FASB Accounting Standards Codification in its CCH Accounting Research Manager service.

• FASB Debuts Accounting Standards Codification

  July 1, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has officially launched its FASB Accounting Standards Codification, an online interactive research tool that will serve as the single source of authoritative nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

• Obama Proposes Consumer Finance Agency Bill

  June 30, 2009

  The Obama administration has sent legislation to Capitol Hill to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

• PCFRC Works on Revenue Recognition

  June 29, 2009

  The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee met to discuss topics ranging from revenue recognition to FIN 48-d and loan-loss contingencies.

• Herz: Accounting Did Not Cause the Crisis!

  June 29, 2009

  Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz refuses to accept the inevitability of another financial system collapse.

• FASB Proposes Standard for Credit Losses

  June 25, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a new standard for disclosures about the credit quality of financing receivables and the allowance for credit losses.

• XBRL Catches on in U.S. and Europe

  June 24, 2009

  Now that the largest public companies in the U.S. are scheduled to begin filing their financial statements using Extensible Business Reporting Language data-tagging technology this year, financial regulators are weighing additional areas to leverage the technology, said industry representatives at the XBRL International Conference in Paris.

• Off-Balance-Sheet Accounting Changes Offer Challenges

  June 23, 2009

  Credit-rating agency Fitch Ratings said in a new report that it does not expect FASB’s recent amendments to off-balance-sheet accounting standards to result in negative rating actions, but it believes there will be challenges for issuers and analysts in transitioning to the new standards.

• Trade Groups Aim to Influence Accounting Standards

  June 22, 2009

  Nine trade groups representing the financial, insurance, banking, real estate and other industries have united to create a coalition with the goal of influencing accounting standard-setters who are working on revising the rules for financial instruments.

• Audit Watchdog Finds IFRS Discrepancies

  June 19, 2009

  A new study of accounting-related fraud in Western Europe has found substantial differences in the approach taken to International Financial Reporting Standards by different countries and companies.

• FASB Plans Different Views for GAAP Codification

  June 17, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to provide two different views of its new online FASB Accounting Standards Codification when it launches July 1.

• FASB Changes Standards on Securitizations and Special-Purpose Entities

  June 12, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued new standards aimed at fixing the way banks account for securitizations and off-balance-sheet special-purpose entities.

• IASB Plans Further Revisions to Impairment Standards

  June 11, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board is readying new revisions to its standards for accounting for impaired assets in response to pressure from European regulators who have threatened to upset support for International Financial Reporting Standards.

• A Mini Shareholder's Report

  June 9, 2009

  I have a friend with an accounting degree and a law degree who complained about the length and complexity of annual reports.

• Study Predicts Little Benefit to Adopting IFRS in U.S.

  June 5, 2009

  A new academic study takes issue with claims that U.S. companies would benefit from adopting International Financial Reporting Standards.

• FASB GAAP Standards Codification to Debut July 1

  June 3, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted Wednesday to approve the FASB Accounting Standards Codification as the single authoritative, nongovernmental source of information on GAAP, with an official launch date set for July 1.

• IASB Tries to Simplify Fair Value Measurement

  May 29, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board has published draft guidance to try to settle the controversial issue of fair value measurement and calm some of the recent political pressure.

• Revenue Recognition Standards Get Mixed Response

  May 28, 2009

  Proposed contract-based standards for revenue recognition are attracting some support, but also raising questions, according to a new survey.

• FASB Issues Subsequent Events Standard

  May 28, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released FASB Statement No. 165, “Subsequent Events,” setting standards for the disclosure of events that occur after the balance-sheet date, but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued.

• Political Pressure Threatens Accounting Boards

  May 26, 2009

  Members of the international Financial Crisis Advisory Group warned at a meeting in London that political pressure on accounting standard-setters posed a threat to “the very existence of international accounting standards.”

• FASB Releases Standard for Nonprofit M&A

  May 22, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued rules to help nonprofit organizations properly account for mergers and acquisitions involving other not-for-profits.

• PCAOB to Inspect Overseas Firms

  May 20, 2009

• Official 2009 XBRL taxonomy for GAAP released

  May 18, 2009

  XBRL US has published the 2009 edition of the interactive data tags that the Securities and Exchange Commission will accept for coding financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

• Is the auditing profession falling behind?

  May 18, 2009

  Over the last several years, a substantial number of highly complex professional auditing and accounting standards have been issued by numerous standard-setters.

• In Brief

  May 18, 2009

• CPAs Feel Need to Learn IFRS, Eventually

  May 15, 2009

  Over a third of U.S. CPAs said they want to become more familiar with international accounting standards, but most of them don’t know how much the standards will cost their companies to implement.

• FASB Financial Statement Changes Could be Costly

  May 12, 2009

  A report by Fitch Ratings calls into question the cost-effectiveness of the improvements in financial statement presentation proposed by FASB and its international counterpart.

• Cash Reporting in Developing Countries Questioned

  May 12, 2009

  The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board wants to know more about how government accountants in developing countries are using cash-basis reporting.

• New M&A Standards Will Be Fair Game

  May 11, 2009

  New accounting standards effective at the beginning of 2009 will impact the accounting for mergers and acquisitions.

• Grant Thornton Suggests Bank Capital Rules Fix

  May 11, 2009

  Grant Thornton has sent a letter to federal officials proposing that banking regulators adjust capitalization requirements to take into account the broader economic environment.

• Guidance Issued for Government Acquisitions of Businesses

  May 8, 2009

  The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has proposed new guidance to deal with the wave of government takeovers of private businesses.

• Biggest Companies Ready for XBRL

  May 8, 2009

  Two thirds of the 500 largest public companies are prepared to begin using interactive data-tagging technology to file their financial statements, according to a new survey.

• GASB statement clarifies fund balance reporting

  May 4, 2009

  Governments have always found it difficult to properly report fund balances when the uses of various fund amounts were restricted in a number of ways.

• CFOs Unaware of Accounting Standards Codification

  April 29, 2009

  Less than half the CFOs polled in a recent survey by Grant Thornton were aware of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification project, which is set to become the authoritative source of U.S. GAAP on July 1.

• The Path to Convergence

  April 28, 2009

  The inevitable convergence of U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards promises to be an involved and protracted process with various domestic and global regulatory organizations scrambling to include their guidelines and principles in the final mix.

• IASB Plots Out Impairment Revisions

  April 27, 2009

  The International Accounting Standards Board said that the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s recently issued guidance on fair value measurement is consistent with its existing guidance, but it still sees a need to revise its own controversial standards to account for the impairment of illiquid assets.

• PCFRC Debates Financial Statement Presentation

  April 27, 2009

  The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee has given the Financial Accounting Standards Board feedback on its financial statement presentation project, including worries about newly onerous processes.

• Survey: CEO and Chairman Should Be Separate Posts

  April 23, 2009

  Some 81 percent of chief financial officers and senior controllers polled in a national survey believe that the chief executive and chairman’s posts should be separate, while nearly three-quarters (74 percent) indicated that shareholders should have greater access to the proxy to nominate directors.

• British Accountants Urge SEC to Adopt IFRS

  April 20, 2009

  The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has written to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the SEC to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards.

• Peer Review in need of review?

  April 19, 2009

  Can anything good come out of a $65 billion Ponzi scheme?

• Economy, legislation threaten to impact S corps

  April 19, 2009

• IRS issues guidance for Ponzi victims

  April 19, 2009

  In the wake of several high-profile Ponzi schemes - most notably, the $65 billion fraud perpetrated by the now-jailed Bernard Madoff - the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance for victims of these types of schemes and their tax preparers.

• Economy causes internal audit upheaval

  April 19, 2009

  Among the many changes born of the financial crisis that's sweeping the globe are changes in internal auditing departments

• The spirit of accounting: Premises, premises: Out with the old, in with the new

  April 19, 2009

  About a year ago, we began hearing a clamor that accountants exacerbated the financial debacle by reporting market values in financial statements. In turn, accountants ducked the blame by arguing strongly that the Financial Accounting Standards Board was at fault for requiring investment market values to be reported. These complaints have continued to this day.

• PCAOB Mulls Revising Audit Confirmation Standards

  April 14, 2009

  Board considers changes in the wake of scandals.

• CAQ Makes Recommendations on IFRS Adoption

  April 14, 2009

  Group encourages a firmer deadline for roadmap.

• Final Mark-to-Market Rules Make Subtle Changes

  April 14, 2009

  Some critics begin to see positive signs.

• Texas CPAs: Fair Value Changes Hurt CPA Credibility

  April 13, 2009

  Society urges FASB to take more time.

• Survey Says Finance Pros Still Want IFRS

  April 9, 2009

  Seventy-five percent of finance professionals support the movement toward a single set of high-quality global accounting standards, according to a new survey by Deloitte.

• IFAC Backs G-20 Financial Reforms

  April 8, 2009

  The International Federation of Accountants has endorsed a set of proposals made at last week's G-20 Summit of world leaders that aim to reform the global financial regulatory system.

• PCAOB Plans International Inspections

  April 8, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has released a list of countries abroad where it intends to conduct inspections of auditing firms.

• Canada Accounting Board Delays Fair Value Decision

  April 8, 2009

  Canada's Accounting Standards Board said that it has not yet made a decision on whether to change its fair value standards to match up with U.S. standards.

• PCAOB Plans Small Business Audit Forums

  April 7, 2009

  The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has scheduled a series of forums around the country on auditing in the small business environment.

• IRS nixes private collection

  April 5, 2009

• Commentary: Build a better financial statement

  April 5, 2009

  Are you able to get what you need from reviewing financial statements? Do you think there are ways to enhance the usefulness of the presentation of the information?

• International Accounting Monitors Choose Leader

  April 6, 2009

  The Monitoring Board that was recently established to add more public accountability to the International Accounting Standards Board has held its inaugural meeting and picked its first leader.

• FASB Explains Fair Value Changes

  April 6, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a "plain English" summary of the board's actions when it modified the standards for fair value and mark-to-market accounting in response to congressional demands.

• SEC Says Arizona CPA Ran $67M Ponzi Scheme

  April 6, 2009

  The Securities and Exchange Commission has revoked the license of an Arizona CPA and filed charges accusing him of running a $67 million Ponzi scheme.

• Reactions Mixed to FASB Fair Value Compromises

  April 3, 2009

  Accounting experts and industry organizations alternately praised and panned the Financial Accounting Standards Board's decision to loosen the standards for fair value and mark-to-market accounting.

• FASB Compromises on Fair Value

  April 2, 2009

  Under pressure from Congress to act quickly, the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to approve substantial changes to fair value accounting.

• New SEC Chair

  March 31, 2009

• New Oversight Board Proposed

  March 31, 2009

• Tax Season Essentials

  March 31, 2009

• Tax Briefs

  March 31, 2009

• Accounting & Auditing Briefs

  March 31, 2009

• Support, Questions for IFRS

  March 31, 2009

• FASB Projects Aim to Improve Guidance on Fair Value Estimates

  March 31, 2009

• Guidance on Internal-Control Audits

  March 31, 2009

• Report Recommends More Fair Value Disclosures

  April 1, 2009

  A new report suggests that companies adopting the Financial Accounting Standards Board's recent proposals on modifying mark-to-market and fair value accounting standards should provide more extensive disclosures to help investors make sense of the impaired assets.

• Execs Anticipate Major IFRS Transformation

  April 1, 2009

  CFOs at U.S. companies expect that the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards will give them the ability to transform their finance departments, according to a new survey, but the price tag could be high.

• FASB Caves on Mark-to-Market

  April 1, 2009

  The Financial Accounting Standards Board has bowed to pressure from lawmakers and banking interests and put forward a proposal to relax fair value standards.

• Volcker to Lead Tax Reform Effort

  March 26, 2009

  The Obama administration will ask the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, to form a task force to recommend an overhaul of the tax code, according to reports.

• Geithner Proposes Sweeping Overhaul of Financial Regulation

  March 26, 2009

  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner proposed a sweeping revamp of government regulatory powers over the nation's financial system highlighted by establishing a single agency "with responsibility for systemic stability over the major institutions and critical payment and settlement systems and activities."

• Toxic Asset Superfund

  March 25, 2009

  Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner did his best at filling in the blanks on the Obama administration's plan for cleaning up the so-called 'toxic assets' clogging the balance sheets of banks.

• Geithner Petitions Lawmakers for Broader Takeover Powers

  March 25, 2009

  In a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner asked lawmakers to grant the Treasury Department more power to seize failing financial firms.

• Grant Thornton Launches Hedge Fund Services Unit

  March 23, 2009

  Global CPA and business-advisory firm Grant Thornton is gearing to launch a new practice unit -- hedge fund internal control, governance and regulatory compliance services.

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Editors' Picks

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  Full agenda at Council

  The road to IFRS, ongoing regulatory reform and sustainability headline AICPA confab

• 

  How to Be a Hero to Clients

  Barry Schimel, CPA, gave some thought-provoking tips on how to stay in clients’ good graces during a keynote address this morning at Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting’s user conference in Orlando.

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  LAUNCHING A PRACTICE: Removing the Barriers to Entry

  CPAs are brilliantly positioned to become successful and profitable wealth managers, yet they often face barriers that, without proper planning, can keep them from taking the necessary steps to create an additional profit center.

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