Recent IFRS Coverage in Compliance Week

Accounting Framework: Get It Together

October 26, 2010

Six years ago the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board agreed to work on a joint project to develop an improved, common conceptual framework that would provide more consistent accounting rules. In September, the boards completed just the first phase of their collaborative effort. Slow going, indeed.
 

One Way Around an Onerous China Tax Law? Ignore it

September 28, 2010

Chinese tax authorities surprised Western companies last December with a new tax law aimed squarely at a standard legal mechanism to do business in China, the offshore holding company.
 

Shop Talk: Suffering from ‘Disclosure Fatigue’

September 28, 2010

Regulatory agencies may be preparing yet another deluge of disclosure requirements following passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, but corporate compliance executives say enough is enough—that the reporting obligations imposed on Corporate America now overwhelm them, and do more harm than good.
 

Battle Looms Over Fair Value for Financials

September 14, 2010

Financial firms may be the ones combating the Financial Accounting Standards Board to derail a rule that would require more use of fair-value accounting for derivatives and similar instruments, but many others in Corporate America are cheering them on—fearful that provisions of the rule could lead to more valuation homework, more judgment about items on the balance sheet, and more earnings volatility.
 

Proposed Leasing Standard Will Squeeze Balance Sheet

September 08, 2010

After recovering from the initial shock that the cost of leases is now headed for the balance sheet, companies have plenty of work to prepare for a new accounting standard that has huge implications for leverage, earnings, taxes, capital allocation, accounting systems, and even executive pay.
 

A Look at FASB’s Latest Foray Into Contingencies

August 31, 2010

Earlier this July, the Financial Accounting Standards Board published an exposure draft for comment, Contingencies (Topic 450): Disclosures of Certain Loss Contingencies. (Most of us know this as Financial Accounting Standard No. 5.) This is the board’s second attempt at addressing contingencies; its previous attempt in 2008 received 241 comment letters—mostly unsupportive.
 

The Perils of Good Labor Standards in China

August 03, 2010

Labor standards in China have re-emerged as a concern for global corporations this summer, after a series of worker suicides this year at a sprawling electronics manufacturer that counts Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and many other Western companies among its customers.
 

Helping Yourself: Send FASB Useful Comment Letters

July 27, 2010

My first column this year discussed a few hopes for 2010. One of them happened in February, when the Securities and Exchange Commission clarified its thinking about International Financial Reporting Standards. I’m happy to report that another happened in June, as the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued several exposure drafts as part of its big push to improve and converge U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and IFRS, and announced a slower timetable for completion of the 15 or so projects on its agenda.
 

Audit Committee Checklist: Financial Reporting

July 27, 2010

The risks around financial reporting have never been more real for audit committees. Increasing pressure from regulators and economic events, combined with massive changes in accounting rules looming on the horizon, should be worrying audit committees like never before.
 

New Revenue Standard Could Bring Complex Changes

July 13, 2010

Businesses in the professional services and manufacturing sectors could see dramatic changes to their accounting policies if a new standard for recognizing revenue proceeds as proposed.
 

Bracing for Tidal Wave of Accounting Changes

June 02, 2010

Financial reporting executives, prepare yourselves: Rough seas lie ahead for corporate accounting.
 

Getting to IFRS With Wisdom, Not Expediency

May 25, 2010

In my first column this year, I wrote that I hoped the Securities and Exchange Commission would soon give us some clarity on its thinking in regard to moving U.S. reporting companies to International Financial Reporting Standards to calm some of the anxiety regarding that potential move. My wish was fulfilled in February when the SEC issued its “Commission Statement in Support of Convergence and Global Accounting Standards.”
 

IRS Brass Explains Reporting of Uncertain Tax Positions

May 04, 2010

The Internal Revenue Service has begun a charm offensive to help defuse tensions about its new plans to require corporations to disclose uncertain tax positions as part of their tax returns.
 

Following the Road to IFRS Convergence

April 27, 2010

In signing the Gold Standard Act of 1900, President William McKinley declared that gold, not silver, would underlie the U.S. monetary system. That Act didn’t last long, predictions to the contrary notwithstanding, and today, our nation’s economy is based on only two things expected from Washington, D.C.: promises and trust. The former is found in great quantities, while the latter is definitely a dissipating asset!
 

Weighing the Worth of an External Audit

April 27, 2010

So much has been written lately about accounting scandals, audit failures, and the financial crisis. Reforms have been passed, yet accounting problems persist. This prompted me to ask: What’s the value of an external audit at all these days?
 

Survey: IT Risk, IFRS Are Internal Auditors’ Top Worries

April 27, 2010

A new survey of internal auditors finds that they are most concerned about improving their mastery of IT risks and global accounting standards, but seem to be less worried about their expertise in enterprise risk management.
 

FASB Convergence Project Looms; Prepare to Panic

April 27, 2010

Executives in charge of financial reporting should prepare themselves: Accounting rulemakers are about to give their world one of the most profound transformations it has seen in decaded.
 

Podcast: IFRS Adoption in United States

March 09, 2010

In this week’s podcast, Compliance Week editor Matt Kelly talks with Tom Selling of AccountingOnion.com about the obstacles to adopting International Financial Reporting in the United States.
 

SEC Promises Again, Stalls Again on IFRS Adoption

March 02, 2010

The Securities and Exchange Commission has finally laid out its latest thinking on adoping International Financial Reporting Standards in the United States, sticking with a 2011 deadline to make a final decision on making the switch but delaying any possible transition until at least 2015.
 

Koss Fraud Spotlights Small Filers’ Internal Control Issues

February 02, 2010

As Congress debates whether to exempt non-accelerated filers permanently from internal control audits—and that debate may take much longer than many expect—lawmakers might want to ponder the breathtaking fraud at Koss Corp. and its implications for external auditors’ role in preventing and detecting management deception.
 

Getting Ready for the IFRS Ripple Effect

Mitchell Scott January 26, 2010

Given the tough economy, a new mandate for XBRL technology, and calls for fundamental U.S. regulatory changes, for some people the Securities and Exchange Commission’s roadmap to move from U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) barely rates a drop in our pool of awareness.
 

Remaining Hopeful for Governance in 2010

January 26, 2010

For the past 18 months or so, almost everything in the financial reporting world seems to have been about the credit crisis and recession. The focus has been on whether accounting standards should be changed, whether impairments were being recorded quickly enough, whether risk disclosures were sufficient, and so forth.
 

EU Plans Governance Advances for 2010

January 05, 2010

2010 is shaping up to be a year where the European Union will implement previously planned measures to tighten the screws of financial regulation. The question is whether those efforts will line up with reform plans hatched by the G-20 or be diluted under pressure from lobbyists—and so far, the answer is “who knows?”
 

Recapping 2009 Investor Trends; Previewing 2010

December 15, 2009

Corporations saw significant change in 2009 in how they communicate with shareholders, thanks to a confluence of emerging trends: changes in how the markets work, regulations affecting corporate disclosure and the proxy process, and an upsurge in investor activism. Companies need to take stock of what’s happened and reconsider their communications strategies going in 2010 and beyond.
 

More Guesswork on IFRS Adoption, Convergence

November 24, 2009

A full year after the Securities and Exchange Commission published its proposed roadmap for adopting International Financial Reporting Standards in the United States, those in the financial reporting world must keep waiting for final word on what the SEC plans to do next with IFRS.
 

Best Practices for Transitioning to IFRS

November 17, 2009

As convergence toward a global set of accounting standards gains steam, U.S. companies inevitably will encounter financial reporting challenges as they develop an effective readiness plan. Several recent Webcasts gave some suggestions on how to overcome them.
 

404 Study Shows Little Automation Yet

November 03, 2009

Automated internal controls may be the buzzword for compliance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, but most companies still rely on old-fashioned manual controls even today, nearly six years after 404 first started going into effect.
 

FASB, IASB Plod Toward Convergence on Revenue

October 27, 2009

For an economy that isn’t seeing enough revenue these days, the United States certainly does have a lot of ways companies can try to recognize it.
 

SOX 404 Delayed Again for Small Cos.

October 13, 2009

Well, now you can etch it in stone somewhere: Non-accelerated filers must start providing auditor attestations of their internal controls over financial reporting, as required by Section 404(b) of Sarbanes-Oxley—but some filers will have one last deadline extension into 2010.
 

IASB Steps Up Calls for SEC to Adopt IFRS

October 13, 2009

The head of the International Accounting Standards Board is calling on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make up its mind about adopting International Financial Reporting Standards and to play a greater role in converging world accounting systems into a single, strong set of rules.
 

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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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