Financial Reporting

COSO Framework Overhaul Sparking Deeper Debates

April 24, 2012

COSO's effort to update its famed, but 20-year-old, framework for managing internal controls has sparked a deeper debate this spring about how companies should approach internal control overall. "Some of COSO's own members are critical of the draft. It speaks to the fact that these organizations took their role seriously," says Norman Marks, vice president at SAP. A closer look is inside.
 

COSO Framework Update Strives for Incremental Change

January 03, 2012

The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations' proposal to modernize its landmark framework to govern internal controls is finally here—and is being praised as much for what it doesn't change as for what it does. "I don't see companies that have already used COSO having to change anything very much," says Norman Marks, vice president at SAP. A look at the tech-centric, globalized overhaul is inside.
 

Economic Uncertainty Forces a Review of Accounting Assumptions

October 11, 2011

Uncertainty—in the form of downgrades to government debt, market volatility, and more—is forcing companies to rethink numerous accounting estimates and forecasts that affect impairments, valuation, receivables, and hedges, to name only a few. "It could have accounting implications for an ineffective hedge, or there could have been transaction costs for a hedge you didn't need," says Chris Wright of consulting firm Protiviti. More inside.
 

SEC Plans More Public Consult on IFRS Issues

May 23, 2011

Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission expect to publish three papers in the coming weeks regarding their study of International Financial Reporting Standards and issues tied to possible adoption of those standards in the United States.
 

Britain Tries to Cut Reporting 'Clutter'

April 08, 2011

Britain's Accounting Standards Board has issued a report subtitled "Combating Clutter in Annual Reports" that it hopes will give companies some practical guidance on reducing and simplifying disclosures. The report said that clutter was "making it harder for users to find the salient points about the performance of the business."
 

Planning for Contingencies Compliance

November 29, 2010

The fight over how to report loss contingencies on the financial statement has dragged on for years. Now, the winter of accounting executives' discontent may be upon us. Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly explains why contingency reporting is at a crossroads, and how legal, accounting and compliance functions may all feel the pressure to come.
 

What the SEC Might Be Asking in Its Repo 105 Probe

July 28, 2010

Remember that investigation into repurchase agreements the Securities and Exchange Commission launched earlier this year? The SEC wanted banks and other financial institutions to step forward and explain how they were using “repo 105” deals, one of several accounting contraptions that put Lehman Brothers into bankruptcy in 2008. We have some...
 

Why You Should Care About Derivatives Reform

June 21, 2010

Like most human beings, I somewhat wish derivatives had never been invented—not because they aren't useful (they are), but because discussion of how to regulate the derivatives trade makes my head hurt. I'm sure I am not alone on this.Nevertheless, how derivatives are created, traded, and disclosed to the public...
 

SEC to Update Financial Reporting Manual

November 18, 2009

Apparently the Securities and Exchange Commission achieved so much acclaim last year when it published its Financial Reporting Manual last year that the agency is doing it all over again.Speaking yesterday at Financial Executives International’s annual financial reporting conference, the top accountant at the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, Wayne...
 

Europe Refuses New Financial Instruments Standard

November 13, 2009

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ACCA Warns About Political Interference in IFRS

August 03, 2009

Leaders of the G20 nations must underline their commitment to a single set of global accounting standards when they meet in Pittsburgh this September, or unease about the future of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) will grow, according to a policy paper from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.The London-based...
 

IFAC Calls for Crucial Reporting Roadmap

July 27, 2009

The International Federation of Accountants has called on governments and regulators around the world to speed up their adoption of global accounting and auditing standards.After a summit of IFAC members in London the organization’s president, Robert Bunting, said it was “crucial” that national standard-setters establish roadmaps for the adoption of...
 

European Accountants Tell IASB to Dump Convergence

July 20, 2009

The International Accounting Standards Board should abandon its efforts to converge global reporting rules with U.S. accounting standards, and focus instead on making its standards better and less complex, according to a body that speaks for the European accounting profession.FEE (the Federation of European Accountants) says it supported International Financial...
 

IOSCO Sets Disclosure Principles

July 03, 2009

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has weighed in on the global debate about making financial reporting more relevant by publishing a set of high-level guidelines on corporate disclosure.Its principles—aimed at national regulators thinking of reviewing their disclosure regimes—cover the kind of information that companies should release in their...
 

Inventory of Financial Reporting Controls

Anonymous August 26, 2008

Excellent, simple spreadsheet that outlines objectives, risks, and related control activities. Covers financial reporting procedures, disclosure data, the general ledger, financial statement consolidation, and more. Submitted by the global financial director at a $3+ billion packaging company.
 

Period End Closure Checklist

Anonymous August 26, 2008

Submitted by a regional controller (EMEA) at a major global industrial manufacturer, this period-end closure checklist is eight pages long, and addresses fixed assets, inter-company accounts, stocks, receivables, pre-paid expenses, cash, equity, borrowings, taxes, and more. A guidelines document accompanies the spreadsheet.
 

Regional Controller Job Description

Anonymous August 26, 2008

This job description was submitted by a Region Controller for Europe, Africa and Middle East. The company for which the description applies is a $1+ billion global industrial manufacturer.
 

Product Revenue Recognition Checklist

Accretive Solutions August 26, 2008

This checklist (or a slightly modified version) was submitted to Compliance Week's Resource Exchange more than once. Created by an accounting and finance consultancy, the checklist is intended for non-software revenue-recognition. A second software revenue-recognition checklist was also submitted.
 

Early Adopter Takes The e-Proxy Plunge

July 24, 2007

As companies await the final details of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s mandatory e-proxy rule, which takes effect for large accelerated filers next year, some are getting their feet wet by testing out the voluntary notice-and-access model that went into effect July 1.
 

Institutions Want End To Earnings Guidance

Brancato Carolyn Kay May 01, 2007

The Securities and Exchange Commission estimates hedge funds control more than $1.2 trillion in assets. That might represent only 5 percent of U.S. assets under management, but hedge funds account for more than 30 percent of all U.S. equity trading volume. Given the trend toward increased volatility, it’s not surprising to see renewed calls for companies to stop giving quarterly earnings guidance—on the theory that an undue focus on quarterly numbers generates volatility unrelated to the company’s underlying value.
 

Addressing Financial Reporting Complexity

March 27, 2007

Compliance Week is pleased to introduce Colleen Cunningham as its newest columnist. A former chief accountant of AT&T and former CFO of global advertising giant Havas, Cunningham was most recently CEO of Financial Executives International. Her column will appear in Compliance Week every other mont
 

Late Filings Up, But Don’t Blame Deadlines

March 27, 2007

For the largest of calendar-year companies, late filings were way up for the most recent reporting period. But an analysis of those filings shows that—despite concerns to the contrary—the new, shorter filing deadline wasn’t to blame.
 

How To Say What You Mean On Pay

February 06, 2007

With everyone from the president on down to the smallest shareholder clamoring these days for executive pay to be pegged more closely to corporate performance, scrutiny of just how boardroom directors forge those ties is likely to reach new heights this spring.
 

Tips From Campos; SEC OKs Option Scheme

Melissa Klein Aguilar and Tammy Whitehouse February 06, 2007

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Roel Campos had a few suggestions for companies recently on how boards can control runaway executive compensation, before the issue explodes into shareholder ire.
 

Investor Communications In An E-Proxy Era

January 23, 2007

If a corporate annual report fell in the forest, would it make any noise? Would anyone listen? And a related question: Is the traditional glossy annual report becoming a dinosaur as a means to communicate with investors?
 

How Ethics Should Help Shape Execs’ Pay

January 09, 2007

With such wide variations in salary and earnings and widespread acceptance of high pay for actors and athletes, why has the topic of excessive executive compensation become the subject of such vehement public outcry? In part, it results from some high-profile instances of executives receiving compensation beyond the average Joe’s comprehension. With new disclosure requirements soon going into effect, the issue once again has risen to the surface. At the heart of the issue is a question of ethics: How much should one individual, even the top executive, receive for an honest day’s work? What is fair?
 

Revenue-Recognition Weaknesses

October 31, 2006

It’s clear that the sweeping reforms in accounting and financial reporting ushered in by Sarbanes-Oxley is exposing a wide range of problems for companies to address—ones that go well beyond crackdowns on cooking the books, but also a panoply of sloppy practices and a general misapplication of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
 

SEC: Cos. Must Clean Up Old Errors

September 19, 2006

Under the leadership of newly appointed Chief Accountant Conrad Hewitt, the SEC staff has issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108 to require that companies take a fresh look at errors that have been accumulating in their financial statements for years, correct them, and do so without restating.
 

SEC Relents In Final Comp Rule; Clarity On Options, CD&A

August 15, 2006

Perhaps portending the amount of paperwork companies will face to comply with its new rules, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued its final text on the disclosure of executive and director pay last week—all 436 pages of it.
 

Earnings Guidance Down, But Far From Out

April 25, 2006

A new survey from the National Institute of Investor Relations shows the recent trend of moving away from quarterly guidance towards annual forecasts continues unabated, with nearly half of all companies offering guidance now preferring annual statements. But more than 85 percent also steadfastly say they will continue to offer guidance, in the name of better relations with analysts and shareholders.
 

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Survey of the Week


Deloitte is conducting their annual Look Before You Leap: Managing Risks in Global Investments survey to better understand the approaches companies are taking to address compliance and integrity-related risks in emerging markets. 

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