Accountants Round Up

"Trade Groups Aim to Influence Accounting Standards"

By WebCPA Staff: Nine trade groups representing the financial, insurance, banking, real estate and other industries have united to create a coalition with the goal of influencing accounting standard-setters who are working on revising the rules for financial instruments.

The new coalition, known as the Financial Instruments Reporting and Convergence Alliance, or FIRCA, aims to influence the ongoing convergence efforts of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board, and their efforts to address the financial crisis.

Read complete article Trade Groups Aim to Influence Accounting Standards
Source: WebCPA, 22 June 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"FASB Debuts Accounting Standards Codification"

By WebCPA Staff: The Financial Accounting Standards Board has officially launched its FASB Accounting Standards Codification, an online interactive research tool that will serve as the single source of authoritative nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

The codification is effective for interim and annual periods ending after Sept. 15, 2009. All existing accounting standards documents will be superseded by the codification, and all other accounting literature not included in the codification is considered nonauthoritative by FASB.

Read complete article FASB Debuts Accounting Standards Codification
Source: WebCPA, 1 July 2009. © 2009 Accountants Media Group and SourceMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Will the New FASB Code Change Accounting?"

By Alix Stuart: Get ready to say good-bye to the alphabet soup that currently comprises Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.  As of July 1, standards now known as FAS, FSP, EITF, or APB, among others, will be subsumed into a new and less letter-centric organizational system as part of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's codification project.

The debut of the online filing cabinet promises to streamline GAAP by grouping all rules into roughly 90 topics, and should draw a sharper distinction between authoritative and non-authoritative GAAP.

Read complete article Will the New FASB Code Change Accounting?
Source: CFO, 17 June 2009. © CFO Publishing Corporation 2009. All rights reserved.

"New Rule Cites Lawsuit and Bankruptcy Disclosures"

By Robert Willens: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a brand new accounting pronouncement last month, FAS No. 165, Subsequent Events. According to the standard setting organization, the rule will be applied to the accounting for, and disclosure of, subsequent events not addressed in other applicable Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

For this purpose, subsequent events are defined as "events or transactions" that occur after the balance sheet date, but before financial statements are issued or are "available to be issued."

Read complete article New Rule Cites Lawsuit and Bankruptcy Disclosures
Source: CFO, 15 June 2009. © CFO Publishing Corporation 2009. All rights reserved.

"PCAOB Issues Fair Value Audit Practice Alert"

By AccountingWEB: The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has issued a Staff Audit Practice Alert to inform auditors of public companies about potential implications on reviews of interim financial information and annual audits of three recently-issued Financial Accounting Standards Board Staff Positions (FSPs). The recently-issued FSPs that are the subject of this alert are:

Read complete article PCAOB Issues Fair Value Audit Practice Alert
Source: AccountingWEB, 30 April 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Change in Estate Tax Suggested to Pay for Health Care"

By Roni Deutch: From the New York Times.com:

Struggling to find ways to pay for the president’s signature health care overhaul, the administration on Monday proposed to raise nearly $60 billion more over 10 years mostly from tightening rules for inheritance taxes affecting the wealthiest estates.

Read complete post Change in Estate Tax Suggested to Pay for Health Care
Source: Roni Deutch: The Tax Lady Blog, 12 May 2009.

"FASB To Issue New FIN 48 Guidance"

By AccountingWEB: FASB will issue a proposed staff position for FASB Interpretation No. 48, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, for pass-through and tax exempt not-for-profit entities. Once released, the FSP will be available for a 30-day comment period.

FASB also decided:

Not to provide guidance related to whether a tax is or is not an income tax.

Read complete articl FASB To Issue New FIN 48 Guidance
Source: AccountingWEB, 30 April 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"CPAs Visit Capitol Hill to Promote Key Legislative Priorities of Accounting Profession"

By AccountingWEB: Top elected leaders of the accounting profession from all 50 states are visiting Capitol Hill today to talk to members of Congress about key legislative issues of importance to the accounting profession.

"Congress is preparing to undertake what could prove to be a sweeping overhaul of our financial regulatory structure," said AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon. "The AICPA has adopted a series of specific proposals to improve transparency and confidence in markets. We think it's important for members of Congress to hear from CPAs about the complex and difficult issues confronting the nation."

Read complete article CPAs Visit Capitol Hill to Promote Key Legislative Priorities of Accounting Profession
Source: AccountingWEB, 30 April 2009. Copyright © 2009 AccountingWEB, Inc. All rights reserved.

"The Fair Value Litany"

By Robert Willens: The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued a document that purports to clarify the circumstances under which a market is properly regarded as "inactive" and when transactions occurring on that market are not "orderly." The document retreats, to some extent, from the liberality that animated FASB's initial proposal on these topics. However, in our judgment, the basic contours of the initial proposal are largely preserved with the result that management will be granted a high degree of flexibility in assessing the fair value of financial assets and liabilities.

Read complete article The Fair Value Litany
Source: CFO, 13 April, 2009. © CFO Publishing Corporation 2009. All rights reserved.

"Income-tax Accounting: Same Difference?"

By Sarah Johnson: The International Accounting Standards Board has proposed changes to simplify its income-tax accounting guidelines. The feedback the standard-setter gets could influence the final changes that are made to the equivalent rule in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles—or even result in the replacement of the U.S. rule.

After several years of deliberations with the Financial Accounting Standards Board and with constituents confused about how to follow IAS 12, its income-tax rule, the IASB released a 56-page exposure draft today and is collecting public comment through the end of July.

Read complete article Income-tax Accounting: Same Difference?
Source: CFO, 31 March 2009. © CFO Publishing Corporation 2009. All rights reserved.