Tammy Whitehouse

A long-awaited new standard for how to account for business mergers, originally expected to be issued in October, is now delayed until at least January. The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are putting the final touches on new rules to be codified into both U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and […]

Following new requirements by the Securities and Exchange Commission to clean up lingering mistakes in financial statements, an early analysis shows nearly one-third of those errors are arising from flawed estimates in liabilities, payables, reserves and accruals, or in tax issues. The findings are the first look at how SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108, […]

Public companies should expect to pay 9 percent more in fees next year to help keep the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board afloat, according to its budget proposal for next year. The final budget must still be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has power of the purse over the PCAOB. But the […]

Auditing regulators have issued their first enforcement action in relation to a Big 4 accounting firm, barring an already fired KPMG auditor from any other public company auditing for one year. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has barred Susan Birkert, a 27-year-old former KPMG auditor, from associating with accounting firms registered to audit public […]

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has given non-public companies a one-year extension on compliance with a new rule to disclose uncertain tax positions—a marked departure from its attitude 11 months ago when public companies asked for a delay of their own. FASB heard requests from advocates for non-public entities, especially its own “Private Company Financial […]

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is developing last-minute guidance for its new standard on measuring fair value, delaying the effective date for certain non-financial assets and liabilities by one year and offering more advice on how to apply the measurement principles to liabilities generally. In a split decision last week, the Board directed FASB staff […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued new guidance on when financial services companies can include service fees in the value of loan commitments for accounting purposes. The SEC published Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 109, Written Loan Commitments Recorded at Fair Value Through Earnings, which says financial institutions such as banks or others that write […]