Financial Accounting Standards Research Initiative

I am struggling with the FASB’s treatment of precision and where it belongs in the conceptual framework. I believe that they are now thinking it affects relevance. They are clear that it is not part of their definition of reliability. The latter is not, in my own opinion, an issue. But [...] Read more > >

A friend pointed me to an Accounting Today article that reports the release of SEC documents exploring IFRS.  One of them compares IFRS and GAAP for most transactions (some active MOU projects are omitted).  Another assesses how IFRS is being applied in practice.  I have not had the chance to study these yet, but  here [...] Read more > >

As the financial instrument project moves ahead, the timeline shows a final accounting standards update is to be issued in the fourth quarter, many may think there are not really many changes from the old SFAS 115. The current proposal will still have financial assets measured at amortized cost and at fair value with unrealized [...] Read more > >

Last week, the FASB held an education session on the Disclosure Framework project. They continue to view disclosure categories as: entity-wide disclosures, line-item disclosures, and disclosures related to conditions not recognized in the financials with related subcategories. This session centered on the goals of the project and developing qualitative principles. There is also a coordination [...] Read more > >

We have all heard of the Leonardo DiCaprio film Blood Diamond, a story that revolves around a rare gem coming from a conflict-plagued nation.  The SEC is poised to require U.S. public companies to make disclosures about their use of blood minerals (my term, not theirs).  A CFO article reports that “the Dodd-Frank financial reform [...] Read more > >

Accounting disclosures are meant to inform investor and creditor decisions but inherent in that goal is the ability to influence those decisions. Proponents of including conservatism in SFAC 8 would argue that neutrality can never truly be achieved because of this fact and management’s intentions. But then there are some disclosures meant to influence by [...] Read more > >

In a prior post by Lynn Rees regarding fees assessed on health insurers, the issue turned on what it means to be a going concern.  Recently, Audit Analytics released a report on going concern trends.  You can get the highlights in this CFO article.  Interestingly, the number of new qualifications is down again this year.  [...] Read more > >

In my previous post on proposed auditor communication changes, Lynn Rees pointed out that there doesn’t seem to be a disclosure that investors don’t like. His post brought two things to my mind. The first was post from Rob Bloomfield a few months ago about how beliefs about hypothetical use and actual use of information [...] Read more > >

This week, the FASB and IASB announced plans to re-expose their proposed standard on leasing. This project was, until late last year, slated to be finished in July 2011. However, given the majors changes that have been raised during redeliberations, the boards have concluded that they are likely to end up with a document that [...] Read more > >

I know that many of you are preparing to teach soon, and your students might not fully appreciate the importance of your subject matter:  accounting.  You might start by talking about accounting’s crucial role in the development of writing, and civilization itself.  Attendees of the AAA meetings from several years ago might have seen Denise [...] Read more > >