FASB financial accounting & reporting

TOPICS / ACCOUNTING & REPORTING

March 7, 2012

FASB adds project to define “nonpublic entity,” as FAF private company decision looms

As its parent foundation works to develop a plan on improving private company accounting standards, FASB is trying to determine which entities can call themselves nonpublic. FASB announced Wednesday that it will undertake a project to reexamine the definition of a “nonpublic entity.” The announcement is likely to be welcome

March 7, 2012

The look ahead: FASB priorities, IASB investment company standards, and consumer confidence

FASB Chairman Leslie Seidman will discuss the board’s priorities for 2012 on Monday, and FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are gathering to discuss proposed standards updates for investment companies and real estate investment property next Friday. Also, several key reports will gauge U.S. consumer confidence. Here’s a

March 6, 2012

CEO of FASB’s parent foundation says Senate bill would undermine standard setting

Financial Accounting Foundation President and CEO Terri Polley told a Senate committee on Tuesday that a provision in the so-called Schumer-Toomey bill, “raises serious issues about the continued independence of the standard-setting process.” The proposal is designed to decrease the administrative burden on small and medium companies and spark job

March 1, 2012

Financial reporting

The Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) published an issue analysis to provide clarity for health care providers on accounting for incentive payments received under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Title XIII of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L. 111-5). Medicare

February 23, 2012

FinREC seeks clarity in principal vs. agent proposal

The AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) sent a comment letter to FASB stating concerns about operational challenges that could be triggered by Proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU), Consolidation (Topic 810)—Principal Versus Agent Analysis. FASB issued the Proposed ASU on Nov. 3. The proposal would amend the evaluation of kick-out

February 17, 2012

Round table explores investment company proposals

Questions arose about the scope and substance of accounting standards proposals on investment companies Friday during a round-table meeting sponsored by FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The meeting, which was held in Toronto, was the first of four public meetings to discuss the FASB and IASB proposals.

February 15, 2012

Three financial reporting standards to get FAF reviews

The Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) will conduct post-implementation reviews on standards regulating financial reporting for business combinations, operating segments and investment disclosures. Standards selected for review, as announced in a FAF news release, are: FASB Statement No. 141R, Business Combinations, which requires an acquiring organization to recognize the assets acquired,

January 27, 2012

FASB, IASB to work on classification and measurement for financial instruments

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are working together to reduce differences in their respective classification and measurement models for financial instruments. The boards announced Friday that they will explore these models jointly, then decide whether to propose amendments to IFRS and U.S. GAAP. These discussions will take

January 25, 2012

FASB proposal aims to simplify impairment testing of indefinite-lived intangible assets

FASB on Wednesday issued a proposed Accounting Standards Update it said would reduce costs and simplify the guidance for testing indefinite-lived intangible assets other than goodwill for impairment. The amendments in the proposed update, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Testing Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets for Impairment, would allow an organization to

January 13, 2012

FASB won’t require management to make going-concern assessments

FASB will not require management to assess whether there is substantial doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. After its board meeting Thursday, FASB announced that a majority of board members determined that such a requirement would be difficult to apply. Board members decided that users

January 12, 2012

Comment period on private company reporting draws to a close

A comment period on private company financial statements that already has produced more than 6,500 letters has left the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF) trustees with a lot to consider, FAF President and CEO Terri Polley said Thursday. Speaking at a North Carolina Association of CPAs meeting that was simulcast on

January 12, 2012

FAF releases “post-implementation review” of FIN 48

The Financial Accounting Foundation’s first formal “post-implementation review” of a FASB standard is complete with this morning’s report that FASB Interpretation no. (FIN) 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, generally achieves its purpose. According to a FAF announcement, the review concluded that FIN 48 increases relevance and comparability in

January 1, 2012

A new system for recognizing revenue

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in November released a revised proposal that would create a single revenue recognition standard for both U.S. GAAP and IFRS. The standard is designed to streamline accounting for revenue across industries and correct inconsistencies in existing standards and practices. The new standard

January 1, 2012

Financial reporting

The AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) issued a working draft of the AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guide Testing Goodwill for Impairment. The guide provides nonauthoritative guidance and illustrations for valuation specialists, preparers of financial statements, and independent auditors regarding goodwill impairment testing. While the guide includes some guidance

December 23, 2011

FASB Defers Part of Comprehensive Income Standards Update

FASB on Friday released an update that defers a portion of new accounting requirements for comprehensive income issued earlier this year. The update defers the requirement to present items that are reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income to net income separately with their respective components of net income and other

December 16, 2011

FASB, IASB Announce New Disclosure Requirements on Offsetting

FASB and the IASB today issued investor-focused common disclosure requirements on the effect or potential effect of offsetting arrangements on a company’s financial position. U.S. GAAP and IFRS differ on the criteria for offsetting, also known as netting. Offsetting presents net amounts of assets and liabilities in the balance sheet

December 15, 2011

FASB Clarifies Scope of Derecognition of In Substance Real Estate

FASB on Wednesday issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) no. 2011-10, Property, Plant, and Equipment (Topic 360): Derecognition of in Substance Real Estate—a Scope Clarification (a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force). The ASU clarifies that the guidance in Accounting Standard Codification (ASC) Subtopic 360-20, Property, Plant, and Equipment—Real

December 15, 2011

FASB, IASB Make Progress in Convergence Project on Leasing

In one of their most important convergence projects, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have reached tentative decisions on aspects of the treatment of leases in financial reporting. How to account for leases is one of four remaining major areas in which FASB and the IASB are trying

December 9, 2011

Time to Test-Drive the Revenue Recognition Proposal

GE’s global technical controller said a new standard on revenue is close enough to reality that he is instructing business managers to keep the likely new regulations in mind as they draw up contracts. “To the extent you’re entering into five-, 10-, 15-year contracts today, you really need to think

December 6, 2011

FASB, IASB Chiefs Agree New Convergence Model Is Needed

The heads of the U.S. and international accounting boards that have been working to resolve standards differences agree that their current convergence process should be replaced by one that is more manageable and effective. FASB Chair Leslie Seidman said Tuesday at the AICPA National Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB