Financial reporting

The Financial Accounting Standards Board appears to be once again on the slow path to convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards, but it will probably get there in the end.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is still aiming to preserve its job as the standard-setter for private company accounting, while expanding its outreach and consultation with representatives of privately held businesses.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman gave an overview of the work of the board as it tries to achieve its convergence goals with the International Accounting Standards Board, and said they were taking extra time to get the standards right and trying to simplify them to make them easier for accountants to apply.

The Pan African Federation of Accountants held its first meeting in Dakar, Senegal, this week.

The American Institute of CPAs told a congressional subcommittee that it should urge the U.S. Small Business Administration to increase its small business size standards for small business accounting firms to $25.5 million from the current $8.5 million.

The issue includes articles on the following topics and more:

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the May 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

The International Federation of Accountants’ Professional Accountants in Business Committee has issued proposed guidance on how accountants can help businesses and their own firms do better forward-looking analysis.

The American Institute of CPAs has decided to consolidate its continuing professional education operations in North Carolina, which will result in the closure of its Texas office by next March.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an Accounting Standards Update that would revise the rules for how companies can deal with repurchase agreements like the kind Lehman Brothers used to temporarily move billion of dollars of assets temporarily off its books before reporting its quarterly results.

The American Institute of CPAs said Wednesday that it is expanding the registration and exam options for its specialty credentials, providing CPAs with more flexibility and opportunity to pursue designations that help differentiate them in the market.

Accounting and business consulting firm J.H. Cohn announced revenues of $236 million for the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2011.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has published its 2011 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an exposure draft of a proposed Accounting Standards Update that aims to simplify how an entity is supposed to test goodwill for impairment.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board provided a progress report Thursday on the latest timeline for their major convergence projects.

United States District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright sentenced Kauai tax preparer Dennis Nimkie, age 66, to 18 months imprisonment for falsifying information on an income tax return he prepared for another person. Nimkie pled guilty to one of 26 charges but agreed that the conduct on the remaining charges could be considered in determining his sentence and the amount of restitution owed the government.

The American Institute of CPAs has included the latest guidance from the Financial Accounting Standards Board on accounting for mergers and acquisitions in the newest edition of its book Accounting Trends & Techniques.

The International Accounting Education Standards Board proposed changes in its ethics standards to provide for learning and development activities in professional values and ethics for accountants throughout their careers.

Leaders of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said Thursday they have pushed back their work on the handful of “priority” projects they had committed to complete this year.