Accounting standards

The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed a set of enhancements to the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a proposed accounting standards update to simplify the accounting for measurement-period adjustments in business combinations.

We can see a bigger picture and look further out into the future than those of you who fight your daily battles down in the trenches.

The Institute of Internal Auditors has released nine new and updated practice advisories that provide guidance to internal auditors and chief audit executives on sustaining a comprehensive quality assurance and improvement program.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released an accounting standards update that makes targeted improvements in the disclosure requirements for insurance companies that issue short-duration contracts of typically one year or less.

A post-implementation review of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s standard addressing ownership interests within a company’s subsidiary found that the 2007 standard has achieved its purpose and provides useful information to users of financial statements, although there is some room for improvement.

Baruch College in New York brought together the former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Bob Herz, and the former chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Sir David Tweedie, last month to discuss the evolution of accounting standards and the convergence process.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released its 2014 annual report, which focuses on its recently released strategic plan.

Toshiba Corp. named two lawyers and two certified public accountants to a third-party committee that is expanding an investigation started by an internal probe last month over accounting practices.

The International Federation of Accountants has submitted a response to the European Commission regarding a recent green paper on building a stronger capital markets union.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a proposed accounting standards update to clarify the guidance on performance obligations and licensing contained in the new revenue recognition standard.

The Private Company Council that the Financial Accounting Foundation created three years ago appears to be fulfilling its mission of providing relief for privately held companies from onerous accounting requirements, but some groups are worried that it will lose its powers and independence.

Toshiba Corp. lost $2.8 billion in market value after the industrial and electronics group withdrew its earnings forecast pending an internal probe into improper accounting on infrastructure projects.

Securities and Exchange Commission chief accountant James Schnurr is rethinking a proposal he made last December that the SEC allow U.S. companies the option of providing some information, such as revenues, using International Financial Reporting Standards as a supplement to U.S. GAAP without requiring reconciliation.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued a communication to audit committees known as an Audit Committee Dialogue, promising it will be the first in a series to provide insights from inspections of public company auditors that may be helpful to audit committee members in their oversight of auditors.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants has re-exposed a proposed standard to guide auditors, other professional accountants in public practice, and professional accountants in business to help them decide how best to act in the public interest when they come across an act or suspected act of non-compliance with laws and regulations.

To many, “sustainability accounting” sounds like an oxymoron.

Thomson Reuters has introduced PPC’s Guide to SSARS Preparation Engagements to explain the new financial statement preparation service introduced by the American Institute of CPAs’ Accounting and Review Services Committee.

The lease accounting industry desperately needs disruption

The International Federation of Accountants has convened the first meeting of a coalition of major accounting firms, civil society groups and international organizations to develop strategies to encourage high-quality public sector financial reporting, greater government transparency and accountability, and empowered citizen engagement.