Financial reporting

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has proposed a set of standards for service concession arrangements that governments establish with private businesses.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board reached some tentative decisions on how to revise fair value accounting standards during a joint meeting this week.

The trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the International Accounting Standards Board, have announced a series of changes to their constitution, including an emphasis on adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards over convergence.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has a new responsibility: ongoing maintenance of the U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy in the new data-tagging format mandated by the SEC.

Ernst & Young has released a new report focusing on carbon emissions management, encouraging companies to address climate change issues in their business strategies.

Many companies are getting a jump on preparing for adoption of interactive data-tagging technology on their financial statements, even before they are subject to SEC requirements.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued a new standard on compilation and review engagements that represents one of the biggest changes to its Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services since 1978.

It's a new year. We've got a new logo. We've got a new tagline.

SEC CHARGES FIRM THAT FAKED KPMG AUDIT

Everybody has to have a Top 10 list around the New Year, and looking back over the past year, we found that WebCPA readers clicked the most on stories about taxes and accounting firm rankings.

The American Institute of CPAs and the Financial Accounting Foundation, which oversees the Financial Accounting Standards Board, are setting up a “blue-ribbon panel” to discuss how U.S. accounting standards can best meet the needs of users of private company financial statements.

AICPA, FEI OBJECT TO FEDERAL ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD

New York-Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James Kroeker said that the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board should proceed with efforts to converge U.S. and international accounting standards, even though the SEC has not yet formally approved the proposed roadmap to International Financial Reporting Standards.

The employment outlook in accounting and finance is expected to stabilize in the first quarter, according to a new survey of CFOs, although the hiring environment remains challenging for now.

The American Institute of CPAs joined with over a dozen other accounting organizations around the world to call for a single standard for climate change reporting.

James Leisenring, a member of the International Accounting Standards Board, told attendees at an accounting conference in New York to disregard the board’s recently issued standard for recognizing and measuring financial instruments, acknowledging that political pressures had forced the board to publish the standard.

The CFA Institute expressed its support for Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz’s statements on the need to “decouple” accounting standard-setting from bank regulation.

FASB Chairman Robert Herz and AICPA Accounting Standards Executive Committee Chairman Jay Hanson separately acknowledged that many assets and financial instruments do not need to be measured at fair value on the balance sheet.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant James L. Kroeker told leaders of the accounting profession that independent auditors will be expected to consider the interests of the “investing public” — not just their audit clients — when performing their duties.

The BDO International network of accounting firms blamed difficult market conditions for a slight decrease in annual revenues in dollar terms, although the network actually came out ahead in terms of euros.