FASB financial accounting & reporting

TOPICS / ACCOUNTING & REPORTING

December 29, 2009

FASB Issues Subsequent Events Proposal

FASB issued a Proposed Accounting Standards Update, Subsequent Events (Topic 855): Amendments to Certain Recognition and Disclosure Requirements. The proposal stems from questions about whether the requirements to disclose the date that the financial statements are issued could conflict with some SEC guidance, according to FASB. FASB has proposed amendments

December 8, 2009

FASB Chairman Defends Fair Value, Calls for Separation From Banking Regulation

FASB Chairman Robert Herz on Tuesday delivered a rapid-fire policy speech that addressed head-on criticism of the role of accounting standards in the financial crisis and called for GAAP to be “decoupled” from bank regulation. Herz, speaking at an AICPA conference, contended that many of FASB’s critics simply do not

December 8, 2009

AICPA Committee Weighs In on Fair Value for Financial Instruments

The AICPA’s Accounting Standards Executive Committee has weighed in on FASB’s discussion of when fair value should be used to measure and record financial instruments on the balance sheet. In a comment letter, AcSEC Chairman Jay Hanson said the committee favors an approach that would measure many but not all

December 1, 2009

An Update on Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes

Preparers of private company and not-for-profit organization financial statements will have to implement provisions of Topic 740 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) relating to accounting for uncertainty in income taxes (formerly FASB Interpretation no. 48, commonly known as FIN 48) for annual financial statements for periods beginning after

December 1, 2009

Highlights

FASB brought U.S. GAAP closer to the approach FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have outlined in their preliminary views documents for their joint revenue recognition project that is scheduled for completion in 2011. FASB ratified the consensus approach reached at the Sept. 9–10 Emerging Issues Task Force

November 21, 2009

House Panel Eases Threat to FASB Independence

The House Financial Services Committee on Thursday removed language from an amendment to the proposed Financial Stability Improvement Act (FSIA) (H.R. 3996) that would have given a new systemic risk regulator power to oversee FASB standard-setting activities. The original amendment, which was introduced by Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., would have

November 18, 2009

FDIC Approves Transitional Safe Harbor on Securitizations in Light of New FASB Standards

The FDIC Board of Directors, responding to accounting standard changes promulgated by FASB, adopted an interim rule amending 12 C.F.R. § 360.6 to provide a transitional safe harbor effective immediately for all participations and securitizations in compliance with that rule as originally adopted in 2000. Under the rule, participations and

November 5, 2009

AICPA Opposes Attempt to “Undermine” FASB’s Independence

AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon sent a letter to the leadership of the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday to state that the Institute is “strongly opposed” to any legislation that would “undermine the independent accounting standard process as currently carried out by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB).”

November 3, 2009

Letter Encourages Congress to Retain SEC Oversight of FASB

A group of key stakeholders in U.S. capital market regulations sent a joint letter to the leaders of the House Financial Services Committee to discourage possible proposals that would realign the oversight of FASB within the structure of systemic risk regulation. The letter said the SEC should remain “the primary

November 1, 2009

Highlights

FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2009-06 to provide additional implementation guidance on accounting for uncertainty in income taxes and to eliminate the disclosures required by FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Paragraphs 740-10-50-15(a) through (b) for nonpublic entities, including pass-through and not-for-profit entities. The new guidance involves requirements under what

November 1, 2009

Financial Reporting

FASB issued an exposure draft of a proposed Accounting Standards Update that would affect all entities that are required to make disclosures about recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements. The board says the proposal would improve Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures—Overall Subtopic (Subtopic 820-10) of the FASB Accounting Standards

October 30, 2009

SEC Chief Accountant Promises “Clarity” on IFRS Road Map This Fall

SEC Chief Accountant James Kroeker on Friday reconfirmed the SEC’s commitment to provide clarity this fall on its proposed road map for the adoption of IFRS by U.S. public companies. In response to a question following his speech at an AICPA/International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation conference in New York about

October 29, 2009

FASB, IASB Leaders Boost Collaboration Efforts to Meet 2011 Convergence Goal

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board will begin meeting monthly to try to speed up efforts to develop a common set of accounting standards by the target date of 2011, the heads of both boards said Thursday during a general session at a conference on IFRS held in New

October 27, 2009

Off Balance Sheet Accounting Rule Change

Are the new off balance sheet rules, effective January 2010, needed? Is the timing right? Or could the change complicate the economic recovery by damaging bank balance sheets? Send us your thoughts. Selected submissions will be published. To be considered for publication, submissions should include your name, title, affiliation and

October 27, 2009

Building a System of “Sound Securitization”

Editor’s note: Click here or see instructions below to share your thoughts on the new off balance sheet accounting rules The problems and abuses associated with the use of “off balance sheet” vehicles to finance mortgages and a variety of other consumer and commercial debt emerged as one of many serious

October 5, 2009

XBRL Functionality Added to FASB Codification

FASB on Monday announced that it has added new XBRL functionality to its Accounting Standards Codification Web site. “The new XBRL functionality provided by the Codification Web site will help entities as they prepare or plan to prepare XBRL financial statements using the U.S. Financial Reporting Taxonomy,” said FASB Chairman

October 1, 2009

Deal With It

A recent Deloitte poll found that an increasing number of executives are rethinking their deal strategy in light of FASB ASC 805, Business Combinations, formerly Statement no. 141(R). Of executives polled, 44.3% said they are rethinking their strategy or that the standard would otherwise affect their deal strategy or planned

October 1, 2009

Story on Business Combinations Standard Wins Best Article Award

Paul B.W. Miller, Paul R. Bahnson and Brian P. McAllister received the Journal of Accountancy’s Lawler Award for the best article of 2008. Their article, “A New Day for Business Combinations” (June 08, page 34), discussed the former FASB Statement no. 141(R)— now codified as ASC 805—which focuses on overhauling

October 1, 2009

Highlights

The AICPA released a set of FAQs and a comment letter relating to a FASB discussion paper on a potential new approach to lease accounting. The March 19, 2009, discussion paper, Leases: Preliminary Views, was issued jointly with the International Accounting Standards Board and responds to concerns raised by

October 1, 2009

Financial Reporting

FASB introduced a project intended to make financial statement disclosures more useful, organized and consistent, and less redundant. It will focus on developing a framework for improved GAAP disclosures. The project will evaluate and address whether the disclosure framework should: apply to all entities or exclude private or nonprofit entities;