Financial reporting

During my search for a job while in college, I was offered two posts - a part-time hockey referee or a job as a waiter at a now-defunct budget steakhouse chain.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously on Friday to propose requiring public companies to disclose more information to investors about their short-term borrowing arrangements.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is asking for input on how to improve the accounting for insurance contracts in financial reports through a new discussion paper.

Financial Accounting Standards Board technical director Russell G. Golden has been appointed a member of the board, filling one of three vacancies on the newly expanded panel.

We asked candidates for our Top 100 Most InfluentialPeople in Accounting the following question:

The Financial Accounting Standards Board intends to host two public roundtable meetings to solicit input on private company accounting and reporting issues.

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the digital edition of the Sept. 13 issue of Accounting Today.

London - The Prince's Accounting for Sustainability Project has teamed with the Global Reporting Initiative to form the International Integrated Reporting Committee, with the goal of creating a globally accepted framework for sustainability accounting to bring together financial, environmental, social and governance information in a clear, concise, consistent and comparable format. The committee will try to develop more comprehensive and comprehensible information about an organization's total performance, on a prospective and a retrospective basis.

FASB, IASB RELEASE NEW LEASING STANDARD PROPOSALS

Washington, D.C. - The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking the public for feedback on its plans for incorporating International Financial Reporting Standards into the financial reporting system for U.S. issuers.

Washington, D.C. - A group of Democratic senators has written to the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission urging the SEC to require more complete and accurate corporate accounting disclosures, especially of off-balance-sheet transactions.

It's the beginning of the school year and we're seeking relief from a deadline by reprising a column that appeared in November 2008. Back then, we provided this conceptual primer to show that market value reporting could not be legitimately blamed for the credit crisis, and that it actually offers major advantages over the existing reporting model that enabled the credit crisis to go undetected for so long and to be so serious when ultimately revealed.

We asked candidates for our Top 100 Most InfluentialPeople in Accounting the following question:

A pair of former executives standing trial for embezzling from the Russian oil company Yukos are claiming that PricewaterhouseCoopers withdrew its certified audits under pressure from the Kremlin.

The International Federation of Accountants’ Professional Accountants in Business Committee has released a paper highlighting how employer expectations of professional accountants in business are expected to change in light of global trends and evolving organization needs.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a proposed set of standards that aim to shed more light on the financial reports of organizations that participate in multi-employer pension plans and other post-retirement benefit plans.

The Financial Accounting Foundation and the Securities Exchange Commission have released a proposed 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy that public companies will be expected to use when filing their financial reports with the SEC.

The Texas Society of CPAs pointed to what it sees as several problems in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s proposed standards for financial instruments in a stinging letter addressed to the board.

The American Institute of CPAs has written to the Financial Accounting Standards Board requesting a delay in finalizing its proposed standards on disclosing companies’ loss contingencies in the event of litigation until it can work out a “treaty” with the American Bar Association on how accountants and attorneys can share information.

Leslie Seidman has been a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board since July 2003 and is set to become acting chairman of the board on Oct. 1.