CFOs are still concerned about talent, and that’s potentially good news for workers with specialized skills. Nearly 60% of U.S. CFOs consider it a challenge to find skilled financial professionals, according to a Robert Half International survey. Fifty-four percent said it was “somewhat challenging” to find skilled workers in finance,
NEWS
FASB works quickly to clarify nonpublic disclosure exemption
Private companies and nonpublic not-for-profits are exempted from a particular fair value disclosure as a result of a FASB amendment that underwent a speedy review process and was released Thursday. The amendment clarifies that the requirement to disclose the level of the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value
IRS postpones effective date of new procedures for consents to disclose
Rev. Proc. 2013-19, issued Wednesday, delays the date that taxpayer consents to disclose and consents to use tax return information must contain the mandatory language recently issued in Rev. Proc. 2013-14. The original effective date of Jan. 14, 2013, has been moved back to Jan. 1, 2014. Taxpayer consents to
Proposed federal grant reforms would raise single-audit threshold
Proposed reforms designed to streamline and improve the way the federal government administers more than $600 billion in grants annually were published Friday by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The OMB is proposing broad reforms to compliance audits performed under OMB Circular A-133, Audits of States, Local Governments,
FASB changes format for OCI reclassification reporting
FASB changed the format for reporting amounts reclassified out of other comprehensive income (OCI) in a move designed to increase transparency at minimal cost. Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2013-02, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Reporting of Amounts Reclassified Out of Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, does not change current requirements for
Cloud adoption brings unexpected costs, KPMG survey says
Companies moving IT systems to the cloud are encountering higher costs and more implementation problems than they expected, KPMG International reports in a new survey scheduled to be released on Tuesday. About one-third of the more than 650 business and IT leaders in the global survey experienced higher-than-anticipated expenses adopting
Long-awaited final regs. issued on noncompensatory partnership options
On Monday, the IRS issued regulations (T.D. 9612) finalizing proposed regulations (REG-103580-02), which were issued in January 2003, on the treatment of certain call options, warrants, convertible debt, and convertible equity that are not issued in connection with the performance of services, i.e., noncompensatory partnership options. The final regulations apply
FAF to review standard on accounting for income taxes
The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) has chosen a 1992 standard focusing on accounting for income taxes as the subject of its next post-implementation review. FASB Statement No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes, establishes standards for reporting the effects of income taxes in an organization’s financial statements. The standard is mostly
PCAOB reaches agreement with French, Finnish audit regulators
The PCAOB has reached agreements with audit regulators in France and Finland that provide a framework for joint inspections of audit firms subject to the regulatory jurisdictions of the PCAOB and regulators in those countries. The agreements with the French High Council for Statutory Auditors (H3C) and the Auditing Board
Court upholds injunction; IRS reopens PTIN system
The IRS announced on its Return Preparer Office Facebook page on Saturday that it has reopened its preparer tax identification number (PTIN) system for new applications and renewals. The announcement follows a clarification from the district court that struck down the IRS’s return preparer registration program, saying that the injunction
Internal audit reporting line to CEO gains steam as Fed weighs in
The idea of having the internal audit function report administratively to the CEO may be gaining steam. The Federal Reserve has issued guidance to encourage U.S. banks with more than $10 billion in total assets to have their internal audit functions report to the chief executive—a move that could influence
IFRS Foundation eases way for FASB to join global forum
The IFRS Foundation’s departure from requirements initially proposed in November could clear the way for FASB membership in a new global forum of national and regional standard setters. Promoting the adoption of IFRS will not be a prerequisite for standard setters to participate in a new forum the IFRS Foundation
Individual health care mandate rules under Sec. 5000A proposed
The IRS released proposed rules for the Sec. 5000A shared-responsibility payment—the penalty or tax imposed on individual taxpayers who do not obtain minimum essential health care coverage beginning in 2014 (the controversial “individual mandate”) (REG-148500-12). The individual mandate was upheld by the Supreme Court last summer as a permissible exercise
Revenue recognition: Time for early-stage planning
Experts say it’s time for CFOs and other finance professionals to engage in early-stage planning for how they will handle the changes necessary to comply with the new revenue recognition rules. It might be tempting for financial statement preparers to push their analysis of the proposed converged revenue recognition standard
FASB clarifies scope of offsetting disclosure requirements
An Accounting Standards Update (ASU) issued Thursday by FASB makes it clear that a 2011 standard on offsetting disclosures does not apply to ordinary trade receivables and receivables. ASU No. 2013-01, Balance Sheet (Topic 210): Clarifying the Scope of Disclosures About Offsetting Assets and Liabilities, excludes trade receivables and receivables
Changes to rules on failure to file gain recognition agreements proposed
The IRS has issued proposed regulations to update the rules that apply to U.S. taxpayers that fail to file gain recognition agreements (GRAs) when they transfer certain property to foreign corporations in nonrecognition transactions (REG-140649-11). The proposed rules would change the standards under which transferors are required to recognize gain
SME framework proposal comment period ends Wednesday
Wednesday is the deadline for comments on the AICPA’s proposed Financial Reporting Framework for Small- and Medium-Sized Entities (SMEs). The proposed framework was designed to provide streamlined financial reporting options that meet users’ needs without being unnecessarily complicated or costly for SMEs that are not required to file U.S. GAAP financial
IRS further delays acceptance of returns claiming Form 8863 education credits
On Monday, two days before the delayed Jan. 30 start of the 2013 filing season, the IRS announced a further delay in processing returns that contain Form 8863, Education Credits, which must be filed by people claiming the American opportunity and the lifetime learning tax credits (IR-2013-10). During testing, the
Study by UK researchers shows inconsistency in IFRS application
A new report by U.K. researchers found inconsistencies in compliance with certain impairment disclosure requirements across jurisdictions in Europe, which suggested that IFRS are not being evenly applied across jurisdictions. International Accounting Standards Board Chairman Hans Hoogervorst said more consistent application remains a worthwhile goal that requires the attention of
Preparers tell IASB: Disclosure requirements too extensive
Financial statement preparers’ concerns about disclosure overload came through loud and clear in a survey recently conducted by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Most preparers participating in the survey said the primary problem with the way financial information is disclosed is that disclosure requirements are too extensive, and more
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Clean data faster using Excel’s REGEX functions
Excel’s REGEX functions provide a simpler, flexible solution to text-cleaning tasks, reducing the need to combine multiple functions when cleaning imported data. This JofA Technology Q&A article shows the way with step-by-step instructions and a video walkthrough.
