Accounting standards

Global standards advocates need to understand the problems

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed making some clarifications to the revenue recognition standard that it released last year with the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has released for comment a consultation paper on Recognition and Measurement of Social Benefits.

More than a dozen years ago, the U.S. experienced a rash of high-profile accounting scandals. Now it’s Japan’s turn.

Since the advent of Financial Accounting Standard 133 in 1998, financial statement preparers have been dealing with the onerous and complex requirements of hedge accounting, arguably one of the most complex statements that the board has promulgated.

The Anti-Fraud Collaboration, a joint effort of the Center for Audit Quality, Financial Executives International, the Institute of Internal Auditors and the National Association of Corporate Directors, has released the third in a series of case studies examining how to identify and stop accounting fraud in an organization.

The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada organization has published a new study on the evolving corporate reporting landscape, focusing particularly on sustainability issues.

The American Institute of CPAs has revised two publications used by auditors of governmental and not-for-profit entities that spend federal awards and those who audit state and local government financial statements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an accounting standards update to simplify the measurement of inventory.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board released an exposure draft proposing amendments to its International Standards on Auditing in response to recent proposals from International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants on how to respond to noncompliance with laws and regulations.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has disciplined seven audit firms and seven auditors who worked at the firms for violations of the Engagement Quality Review standard and other requirements.

Institutional investors are expressing a high level of dissatisfaction with the types of sustainability-related information they are getting from companies, according to a new survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

One of the more intriguing questions stemming from the Toshiba Corp. accounting scandal is this: Where was the whistleblower?

Toshiba Corp. issued almost 1 trillion yen ($8 billion) of stocks and bonds when it was inflating earnings statements, leaving the company exposed to possible regulatory fines and investor lawsuits.

The International Accounting Standards Board confirmed Wednesday a one-year deferral of the effective date of the revenue recognition standard to stay in alignment with the Financial Standards Accounting Board, which also recently decided to defer the standard for companies in the U.S.

Toshiba Corp. President Hisao Tanaka and his two predecessors quit after investigators found that the Japanese conglomerate inflated earnings by at least $1.2 billion since the global financial crisis.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, a nonprofit organization that provides sustainability accounting standards that can be used on a voluntary basis by publicly listed U.S. corporations, has debuted a Data Provider Partner Program to give investors access to information on corporate sustainability performance.

Toshiba Corp. must correct at least 152 billion yen ($1.2 billion) of pretax earnings over a six-year period after an internal accounting probe revealed the company overstated profits under pressure from management.

A new academic study casts doubt on whether efforts to require companies to rotate their audit firms lead to greater professional skepticism on the part of auditors.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has release its revised International Standards on Auditing to provide more focus on financial statement disclosures.