Accounting standards

The American Institute of CPAs and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales are urging the Financial Accounting Standards Board to reconsider two separate elements of FASB’s financial instruments convergence project with the International Accounting Standards Board.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has endorsed three proposals from the Private Company Council that would simplify the accounting for privately held companies.

The American Institute of CPAs has released its much-anticipated Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities, which is aimed at providing an alternative reporting option for small businesses that aren’t required to use GAAP.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an accounting standards update setting forth a new approach for determining whether a public or private company is an investment company.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Carbon Disclosure Project to deepen their partnership for advancing corporate disclosure on material sustainability issues.

The IFRS Foundation said Wednesday it has completed the first phase of an effort to assess the state of progress on global adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards.

Leslie Seidman, the outgoing chair of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, spoke about her experiences leading the board and its work on the upcoming revenue recognition standard during a sometimes emotional speech Wednesday that will be the last of her term.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board responded to a post-implementation review of its accounting standard for business combinations by saying that it would consider the findings of the report, along with an upcoming post-implementation review of its fair value measurement standards, and may make changes once the International Accounting Standards Board concludes its own post-implementation review of the corresponding International Financial Reporting Standards.

A new academic study argues that proposed changes in fair value measurement by the Financial Accounting Standards Board would make it harder to assess the financial soundness of banks, and it’s co-authored by a member of the FASB board.

Robert Herz, the former chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, discusses his new book, "Accounting Changes," including the lessons learned from the financial crisis, the reasons behind his sudden retirement from FASB, the many roles he has been filling since he left FASB, along his accomplishments (and a few regrets) from his time at FASB.

Former Financial Accounting Standards Board chairman Robert Herz discusses his new book, "Accounting Changes," along with where he sees FASB and the IASB's convergence effort going, his experience at Coopers & Lybrand with structuring transactions, and how "Bad Bob" went from being a "poacher" to a "gamekeeper" to a standard-setter.

A post-implementation review of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s business combinations standard found lingering questions in the minds of some investors, particularly about fair value, despite improvements in the usefulness of the information.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted that latest update to the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy for filing financial statements using Extensible Business Reporting Language, or XBRL.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is looking for comment on proposed structural changes to the U.S. GAAP Taxonomy.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have released for comment a revised exposure draft proposing significant changes to the standards for accounting for leases.

Fifteen of the largest banks in the U.S. have written a letter to the chairmen of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board encouraging them to resolve their differences over the standards for credit losses in their financial instruments convergence project.

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission issued its updated Internal Control–Integrated Framework (Framework) and related illustrative documents on Tuesday.

The Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, which advises the Financial Accounting Standards Board on its priorities and agenda, is asking for suggestions on what FASB’s future agenda should be.

Representatives of the International Accounting Standards Board and the Accounting Standards Board of Japan met Thursday and Friday in Tokyo to discuss their new relationship through the recently established Accounting Standards Advisory Forum as their one-to-one meetings come to an end.

The United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council said Thursday that it has open an investigation into whether KPMG’s audit firm in the U.K. was independent when it conducted audits of automobile dealer Pendragon PLC.