Financial reporting

The Financial Accounting Foundation has appointed Steven E. Buller, the managing director and former CFO of the investment management firm BlackRock, as the new chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, a key advisory group for the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which the FAF oversees.

The American Institute of CPAs’ Auditing Standards Board is proposing changes in subject-matter specific attestation standards.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted Wednesday to reorganize its future agenda to focus more closely on the issues most important to FASB stakeholders, as it anticipates completion of its remaining four convergence projects for harmonizing U.S. GAAP with International Financial Reporting Standards.

Nearly 80 percent of business executives surveyed last year by Deloitte anticipate that complying with the lease accounting standards that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have been collaborating on will be difficult, with concerns especially high about data quality and information technology systems.

The Financial Accounting Foundation said Tuesday that it will contribute up to $3 million to the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation to help complete some of their joint accounting standards convergence projects.

With eight overall new Securities and Exchange Commission clients and a net gain of five, Top 20 Firm Marcum topped the charts among large and national firms in the fourth quarter — bringing in over a million dollars in audit fees.

Grant Thornton Brazil bulks up, firm relocations and more…

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has launched the FASB Outlook, a new quarterly e-newsletter designed to keep people informed about FASB’s current projects and activities.

The European Commission has appointed the French accounting firm Mazars and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to team up on a report assessing the effects of using International Financial Reporting Standards in the European Union.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released an updated print edition of the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s FASB Accounting Standards Codification, the authoritative source of U.S. GAAP for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations.

Despite a wave of accounting scandals at Chinese companies, a 58 percent majority of capital markets executives at investment banks believe the number of U.S. IPOs from China-based businesses will increase in 2014, according to a new survey by the accounting and consulting firm BDO USA LLP.

The International Federation of Accountants, a global organization for the accounting profession with 179 members in 130 countries, has issued a Call for Nominations for the IFAC Board and Committees in 2015.

3PAO Accreditation, rebranding and more...

The International Accounting Education Standards Board has published three new International Education Standards, adjusting the suggested content of educational programs for initial professional development of aspiring accountants.

The top vendors listed on travel expense reports last year in terms of the percentage of receipts included Starbucks, Delta Air Lines, Avis and Marriott, according to a new report by travel and expense management software developer Certify.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued a pair of updates Thursday to U.S. GAAP to provide alternatives for private companies on the subsequent accounting for goodwill and for interest rate swaps.

The Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales to offer accountants in Singapore a pathway to the Associate Chartered Accountants designation.

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and the International Integrated Reporting Council have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to collaborate more closely to advance corporate disclosures of sustainability efforts to investors.

The accounting profession's expectations for economic growth wobbled slightly, but remained positive for the fourth month in a row, according to the January edition of Accounting Today’s Accountants Confidence Index.

A task force that has been investigating the budget crisis affecting many states across the country is calling for major changes in the ways that states handle their budgeting and financial reporting.