Accounting standards

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued two proposed accounting standards updates to improve financial reporting by employers related to defined benefit pension and other post-retirement benefit plans.

The lease accounting standard that the Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to release this quarter is expected to have a major impact on many companies, requiring current off-balance sheet leasing activities to be reflected on balance sheets for the first time.

Nearly a third of financial reporting executives in a new poll said internal control over financial reporting was their highest concern beyond their financial reporting responsibilities.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board has issued an amendment to its auditing standards to clarify the format of the auditor’s report.

Bloomberg BNA is releasing its annual report on the year ahead in tax and accounting, containing a collection of over 20 articles from its reporters on the outlook for tax legislation, international taxation, state taxes, Supreme Court tax cases, accounting standards and other topics.

The International Accounting Standards Board issued the long-awaited lease accounting standard that it has been developing for over a decade with the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which is also expected to release its version of the standard early this year.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has finalized the changes in its standard for auditor reporting on special purpose financial statements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has endorsed a consensus recommendation from the Private Company Council to remove the effective dates for four standards.

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board has released an exposure draft of a proposed Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards on insurance programs for the federal government.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Tuesday a long-awaited accounting standards update for the recognition and measurement of financial instruments that it has been developing for over a decade with the International Accounting Standards Board.

GASB has issued guidance on how certain state and local government external investment pools and participants in external investment pools may measure and report their investments.

Leaders of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are bracing for the release of the leasing standard and other standards that have been under development and generating debate for over a decade.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has issued three exposure drafts with reporting guidance related to fiduciary activities, certain asset retirement obligations, and pension issues.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board announced that it plans to issue a final standard on the recognition and measurement of financial instruments in the first week of 2016.

On the heels of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s new standards for disclosure of audit engagement partners, the International Accounting Education Standards Board has issued new guidance for the implementation of its own standard, IES 8, Professional Competence for Engagement Partners Responsible for Audits of Financial Statements (Revised).

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made available the 2016 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, pending final acceptance by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

A group representing community banks is objecting to recent remarks last week by Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Russell Golden, claiming they “slander” community banks.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, also known as COSO, has introduced an Internal Control Certificate Program.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board has issued provisional sustainability standards for renewable energy companies.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board adopted new rules during a meeting Tuesday to provide investors with more information about who is participating in public company audits, including the name of the engagement partners and any other firms that participated in the audit.