Accounting standards

The chairmen of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standard Board appeared alongside each other Monday to discuss the status of their efforts to converge accounting standards over the past decade or more and their plans for the future as the convergence effort appears to be running out of steam.

The Private Company Council has voted to finalize an alternative standard for private companies to use when applying variable interest entity guidance to common control leasing arrangements.

Michel Prada, chairman of the IFRS Foundation Board of Trustees, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, took countries like the U.S. and Japan to task for taking what he called an “à la carte” approach to accounting standards by not fully embracing International Financial Reporting Standards.

Recent calls to get rid of public company audits are way off-base

The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted Wednesday to move forward with preparing a final standard on revenue recognition that is expected to be issued during the first quarter of 2014.

FASB's proposed lease accounting rules really do try to get more useful information about assets and liabilities into financial statements. However, we don't think it's strong enough, because it doesn't cleanly address the No. 1 priority issue that asks whether off-balance-sheet financing has any legitimacy in financial reporting.

Accountants counsel clients on Obamacare exchanges

There's never been such a wealth of tax and accounting information available -- you just need to figure out how to access it

A roundup of assurance-related news

FASB's proposed lease accounting rules really do try to get more useful information about assets and liabilities into financial statements. However, we don't think it's strong enough, because it doesn't cleanly address the No. 1 priority issue that asks whether off-balance-sheet financing has any legitimacy in financial reporting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are revealing further details about their long-stalled plans for creating a Disclosure Framework to help accountants decide on which notes to include with financial statements.

Russell Golden, the recently appointed chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, discussed the road ahead for FASB after the board marked its 40th anniversary earlier this year as it continues its efforts to reach a consensus with the International Accounting Standards Board on their remaining convergence projects.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board plans to turn its attention to auditing standards involving revenue recognition, according to one of the PCAOB members.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Accounting and Review Services Committee has issued an exposure draft proposing three new and revised standards that would make significant changes in how accountants perform compilation engagements.

Deloitte has launched US GAAP Plus, a new Web site that provides news, publications and project updates about U.S. and international accounting standard setting.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are revealing further details about their long-stalled plans for creating a Disclosure Framework to help accountants decide on which notes to include with financial statements.

The CFA Institute has released the results of a survey of investor attitudes toward the varying proposals by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board for accounting for expected credit losses.

The Private Company Council voted at a meeting on Tuesday to finalize two alternatives within U.S. GAAP, for accounting for interest rate swaps, and for accounting for goodwill in a business combination for private companies. The two alternatives will now go to the Financial Accounting Standards Board for discussion and possible endorsement.

Thomson Reuters has released a new report on the Internal Revenue Service’s guidance on same-sex marriage in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down section three of the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional.

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