Robert Herz

A host of private and regulatory groups are making big strides in improving disclosure effectiveness. Robert Herz has more.

Robert Herz reviews the SEC’s recent accounting and enforcement releases, which reveal familiar patterns in corruption, as well as a commitment by the SEC to commence enforcement actions on any accounting and reporting violations it finds.

The PCAOB has issued a reproposal to amend and expand the auditor’s report, keeping in mind a similar proposal from the United Kingdom’s Financial Reporting Council. Columnist Robert Herz says the U.K. proposal has been well received and signals a fundamental change in auditor reporting across the world.

Image: Hedge accounting can help organizations manage exposures that range from changing interest rates to counterparty credit risk. But the rules that govern hedge accounting are extremely detailed and require close compliance consideration. CW columnist Robert Herz discusses how, with new regulations proposed, things are only going to get more complicated.

Image: A common criticism of the requirement for U.S. public companies to report quarterly is that it engenders too much short termism. The debate over the pros and cons of quarterly reporting has raged for decades, with no end in sight. But what if there was a way to retain the benefits of quarterly reporting while also promoting a longer-term focus by companies and investors?

Corporate audit fees are rising again. This is probably not news to you. Still, research of why audit fees are rising—and why some companies can continue robust business activity without painfully higher fees—reveals certain practices that do keep fees relatively reasonable. This week, columnist Robert Herz discusses those seven steps and how they can make your annual audit a more successful process.

Not long ago a foreign student in financial reporting put a question to columnist Robert Herz: Why is the United States falling behind in financial reporting? The questioner cited three points—accounting standards, expanded audit reports, and sustainability reporting—as reason for his position. This week, Herz re-examines U.S. performance on those crucial elements of reporting, where we hold our own, and where we might need to fix our game.

A confession from Compliance Week columnist Robert Herz: He spends time each summer reading Accounting & Auditing Enforcement Releases the SEC publishes as part of its enforcement against corporate misconduct. This week, Herz looks over the various AAERs of the last 12 months to pluck out common themes: more enforcement against individuals, more problems with revenue, more attention to internal control. More of his insights inside, too.

FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force turns 30 this year, and with that comes its third 10-year review of how the EITF should consider new accounting issues. This week, columnist Robert Herz offers his thoughts on where the EITF can improve, including what issues it addresses and voting practices to make decisions. More inside.

Last December, SEC officials raised yet again the idea of letting U.S. companies file financial data—just a bit, on a voluntary basis—according to International Financial Reporting Standards. The proposal was the latest in a long discussion about whether to let U.S. businesses adopt IFRS. This week, Compliance Week columnist Robert Herz examines the current state of IFRS debates in corporate accounting and what might come next.