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September 14, 2011

International Committee Releases Draft Framework for Integrated Reporting

The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) calls for a new approach to corporate reporting in a discussion paper released Monday. The paper, Towards Integrated Reporting: Communicating Value in the 21st Century, discusses the rationale for integrated reporting, offers initial proposals for the development of an international integrated reporting framework, and

September 2, 2011

FASB Issues Proposed 2012 GAAP Taxonomy for XBRL

FASB on Thursday released the proposed 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy for public review and comment. Comments are due Oct. 31. The 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy is expected to be finalized and published in early 2012. The taxonomy is a list of computer-readable financial reporting labels coded

September 1, 2011

New IASB Leader Embraces Challenges

With more than 100 countries already using IFRS, a full standard-setting agenda and the SEC poised to decide in the coming months whether U.S. public companies will report under international standards, Hans Hoogervorst knows his challenges. But the second chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is no stranger

September 1, 2011

News Highlights for September 2011

FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) that the board said is intended to increase the prominence of other comprehensive income in financial statements and to facilitate convergence of U.S. GAAP and IFRS. Simultaneously, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued amendments to IAS 1, Presentation of Financial Statements.

September 1, 2011

Financial Reporting

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued an amended version of IAS 19, Employee Benefits, that the board said completes its project to improve the accounting for pensions and other postemployment benefits and further aligns IFRS and U.S. GAAP by eliminating the so-called “corridor method.” The IASB said the

August 30, 2011

GASB Proposes Reclassifying Certain Assets and Liabilities

GASB issued an exposure draft that it said applies its conceptual definitions of deferred outflows of resources and deferred inflows of resources elements to a broader range of items to enhance consistency in state and local government financial statements. The ED says it would alleviate uncertainty regarding the classification of

August 25, 2011

IASB Proposes to Exempt Investment Entities From Consolidation Requirements

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published proposals Thursday to define investment entities as a separate type of entity that would be exempt from the accounting requirements in IFRS 10, Consolidated Financial Statements. Investment entities are commonly understood to be entities that pool investments from a wide range of investors

August 19, 2011

AICPA Recommends Allowing U.S. Public Companies to Choose IFRS

The AICPA has recommended to the SEC that U.S. public companies be allowed the option of adopting use of IFRS as the commission weighs a possible future framework for incorporating IFRS into the U.S. financial reporting system. The SEC requested the comments when it issued its staff paper, Work Plan

August 10, 2011

FASB Standard Simplifies Testing Goodwill for Impairment

FASB on Wednesday approved a revised accounting standard that the board said simplifies how an entity tests goodwill for impairment. The amendments will allow an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. An entity no longer will

August 4, 2011

FASB Meetings to Address Private Company Accounting Issues

FASB said it is hosting two public round-table meetings in October to discuss issues relating to existing private company accounting and reporting standards. The meetings, scheduled for Oct. 11 and Oct. 17, will discuss issues including accounting and disclosure requirements relating to variable-interest entities, interest rate swaps and level 3

August 2, 2011

IASB Chairman: IFRS Adoption Is in “Economic Interest of U.S.”

Adopting IFRS would benefit the United States’ economy, the new chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) said July 29 during his first official visit to China. Speaking to a gathering of the Ministry of Finance’s Accounting Regulatory Department in Beijing, Hans Hoogervorst said, “U.S. investors invest globally, and

August 1, 2011

Presentation of Patient Service Revenue Changed for Health Care Entities

FASB issued an Accounting Standards Update (ASU) containing amendments that require health care entities to change the presentation of their statement of operations by reclassifying the provision for bad debts associated with patient service revenue from an operating expense to a deduction from patient service revenue (net of contractual allowances

August 1, 2011

FASB Expands Employer Disclosures for Multiemployer Pension Plans

FASB last week completed redeliberations on a revised accounting standard it said will provide more information about an employer’s financial obligations to multiemployer pension plans. Previously, employers were required to disclose only their total contributions to all multiemployer plans in which they participate. FASB said it expects that the final

August 1, 2011

Beyond Convergence

Nearly a decade after FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) agreed to converge their standards in “The Norwalk Agreement,” the SEC staff floated a concept in May that would redefine convergence and establish FASB as an endorsement body for IASB standards in the U.S. The paper (available at

August 1, 2011

Government

The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB) issued a standard that it said is aimed at resolving problems created, in part, by agencies’ use of different interpretations of “deferred maintenance.” The board said that Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) no. 40, Definitional Changes Related to Deferred Maintenance

August 1, 2011

Asset-Based Financing Basics

Once considered financing of last resort, asset-based lending and factoring have become popular choices for companies that do not have the credit rating or track record to qualify for more traditional types of financing. In general terms, asset-based lending is any kind of borrowing secured by an asset of the

August 1, 2011

Financial Reporting

The large majority of CPAs in the United States have some knowledge of IFRS—the emerging, globally accepted set of accounting rules, according to a recent AICPA survey. The survey also indicated that many CPAs have begun to develop greater expertise, as American and world authorities work to converge U.S. standards

July 27, 2011

IASB Seeks Public Input on Direction of Future Work

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) is seeking public input on the strategic direction of its future work program. Since the IASB’s creation in 2001, IFRS has increasingly become the internationally accepted financial reporting language. As the number of jurisdictions applying IFRSs increases, stakeholders have identified new accounting issues for

July 26, 2011

FASB Proposal Clarifies Scope of Real Estate Derecognition Guidance

FASB issued an exposure draft that would clarify that the guidance in Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Subtopic 360-20 applies to a transaction in which the parent of an in substance real estate subsidiary ceases to have a controlling financial interest (as described in Subtopic 810-10) in the subsidiary because of

July 21, 2011

FASB, IASB Set to Re-Expose Leasing Proposals

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) announced Thursday they intend to re-expose their revised proposals for a common leasing standard. Re-exposing the revised proposals will provide an opportunity for comment on revisions the boards have made since the publication of an exposure draft on leasing in August 2010.