Financial Accounting Standards Research Initiative

I just got my copy of the FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS: A comprehensive guide to accounting and reporting -2011 CCH publication, authored by Rosemarie Sangiuolo, Scott Taub, and Leslie Seidman. You might recall that last year I was struggling with the new accounting for convertibles and Scott Taub said he was revising the convertible instrument in this [...] Read more > >

Grant Thornton recently issued a white paper that reports results of a survey (318 respondents) they conducted with some CFOs from both private and public companies (authors of the paper are John Hepp and Meredith Vogel). Notwithstanding the usual caveats that come with survey data, there are some interesting (and sometimes surprising) results reported in [...] Read more > >

In addition to their upcoming webcast on nonpublic entities (see this post), the FASB is also hosting a webcast on how to use the XBRL 2011 US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy. The webcast will take place on Wednesday, June 22, 2011 from 1:00–2:00 p.m. EDT. Details available here. Read more > >

FASB will be conducting a webinar on Friday 6/17 at 1:00pm ET to discuss reporting topics of interest to nonpublic entities. It should be a great session, especially for those of you interested in Big GAAP/Small GAAP issues. Click here for more details. Read more > >

I read an interesting CFO.com article today titled All in the Timing. The article talks about the struggles some U.S. firms are facing as a result of the disasters in Japan. The firms relied on just-in-time (JIT) inventory systems and are now scrambling to find substitute suppliers. Some firms have had to go as far [...] Read more > >

I’ll be regularly blogging on unit of account / disaggregation / net vs. gross etc. Recall a prior post where I mentioned how my head spins when I think of these concepts that are not clearly defined. Perhaps through this blog, we can make some headway on keeping these concepts distinct. Today’s [...] Read more > >

The answer is: A LOT! For $180, you can attend two half day sessions on Sunday at the AAA in Denver digesting all of the latest scoop on revenue recognition, leasing, pensions, and other big ticket items. Tom Linsmeier from the FASB and Pat McConnell of the IASB lead this session, giving you both [...] Read more > >

Is anyone aware of 10b5 shareholder litigation due to delayed recognition of goodwill impairment?  At least two working papers imply that firms expose themselves to such actions when they delay the recognition of goodwill impairment.  The first working paper, by Muller, Neamtiu and Riedl, suggests that insiders knowingly sell stock prior to the firm recording [...] Read more > >

I am working on a research paper on the unit of account. Well, no it’s really about bifurcation of compound financial instruments. But wait, it’s really about aggregation. I guess one could say it’s about linking the presentation of things too. My head is whirling. Exactly. The point of the [...] Read more > >

Implicit in the FASB’s conceptual framework is a balance sheet (rather than an income statement) perspective. This has nothing to do with the relative decision usefulness of balance sheet vis-à-vis income statement information. Instead, it is the result of a decision (which I agree with) to define income in terms of changes in net assets. Despite [...] Read more > >