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Accounting & Auditing Update

The "Accounting & Auditing Update" is written by Tammy Whitehouse, a veteran business writer who has been a regular contributor to Compliance Week since 2005. Her work has also appeared in industry journals and periodicals including Journal of Business Strategy, Strategy & Leadership, Compensation & Benefits Review, Inc, Buyside, and myriad others. Whitehouse welcomes questions and comments from readers; she can be reached via e-mail at twhitehouse@complianceweek.com.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
2016 GAAP Taxonomy Ready for Use, Pending SEC Approval
Tammy Whitehouse | December 21, 2015
FASB has released its final update of the 2016 GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, pending acceptance by the SEC, to allow public companies to prepare to use it to complete their XBRL filings. The annual update allows FASB staff to make the taxonomy easier to navigate and more effective in reflecting financial information consistently across entities. The 2016 update in particular reflects changes suggested by the banking and insurance sector as well, FASB says.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
After audit, IRS agrees to revisit Schedule UTP
Tammy Whitehouse | March 29, 2018
Encouraged to modify or do away with the filing entirely, the IRS is taking a look at how it might revise Schedule UTP regarding uncertain tax positions.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA Begins Floating Revenue Recognition Drafts
Tammy Whitehouse | November 3, 2015
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants has assembled 16 industry task forces to examine industry-specific implementation questions that are emerging as companies prepare to adopt the new principles-based revenue recognition standard. The working drafts provide insight and examples around nine specific questions, says Kim Kushmerick, senior technical manager at the AICPA. Details inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA delivers more revenue recognition working drafts
Tammy Whitehouse | October 18, 2017
In the ongoing movement to new methods for recognizing revenue in financial statements, the AICPA has issued yet more new guidance for companies to consider.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA issues 7 new drafts on revenue recognition questions
Tammy Whitehouse | October 4, 2016
Tammy Whitehouse looks at the AICPA’s seven new working drafts to address some of the hardest revenue recognition questions in software, telecommunications, and other sectors.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA issues five new revenue recognition drafts
Tammy Whitehouse | March 1, 2017
In the steady march to new accounting for revenue recognition, the AICPA has five more new industry-specific implementation drafts for companies to consider.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA issues more revenue recognition guide drafts
Tammy Whitehouse | July 5, 2017
Companies adopting new revenue rules have yet more guidance to consider as the AICPA releases four more working drafts for its evolving revenue recognition guide.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
AICPA offers views on revenue recognition implementation issues
Tammy Whitehouse | July 12, 2016
In the ongoing quest for consistent interpretations of the new revenue recognition standard, task forces at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants have issued several new papers for public comment.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Bank regulators back scaling of CECL model for smaller banks
Tammy Whitehouse | January 18, 2017
Bank regulators issued a year-end Q&A on new credit loss rules to assure examiners and institutions understand that scaled modeling of loan loss allowances is permitted. Tammy Whitehouse explores.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Bankers expect big accounting change under CECL model
Tammy Whitehouse | October 11, 2016
Bankers expect CECL, a new rule on how to reflect credit losses in financial statements, to produce big accounting changes. According to Tammy Whitehouse, some say it is the biggest change ever.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Banking regulators approve CECL relief measure
Tammy Whitehouse | December 19, 2018
Banking regulators issued some relief for banks worried about the effects of adopting CECL, but bankers are still concerned it won’t go far enough.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Banking regulators propose new capital rules under CECL
Tammy Whitehouse | April 16, 2018
Banking regulators are proposing changes to regulatory capital requirements to address forward-looking credit losses under a new accounting standard.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Banks appeal to Treasury to intervene on CECL
Tammy Whitehouse | October 19, 2018
Banks are asking Treasury to intervene on CECL and delay it, worried implementation will threaten financial stability in a future recession.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Banks reconsider business approaches as CECL draws near
Tammy Whitehouse | May 20, 2018
A pending new requirement for how to reflect loan losses in financial statements is beginning to affect how banks do business, according to a recent poll.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Big 4 get input on how to treat GILTI under tax law
Tammy Whitehouse | September 5, 2018
Big 4 firms are meeting with FASB and SEC staff to sort out how to report certain effects of tax reform when clarity on provisions within the tax law is still elusive.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Big changes in store for goodwill testing, report says
Tammy Whitehouse | October 24, 2018
Big changes in tax and accounting rules should produce big changes in goodwill impairment testing this year, according to a new report from Mercer.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
CAQ nudges audit committees on revenue recognition oversight
Tammy Whitehouse | December 13, 2016
Citing an “urgent” need for audit committees to get up to speed on implementation of the new revenue recognition standard, the Center for Audit Quality offers some pointers. Tammy Whitehouse has more.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
CAQ offers tips to audit committees on leasing
Tammy Whitehouse | April 3, 2018
The Center for Audit Quality is offering some tips to audit committees on how to query senior management regarding readiness for new lease accounting standards.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
CAQ Reminds Auditors of Hot-Button Audit Issues
Tammy Whitehouse | December 4, 2014
A new Center for Audit Quality alert highlights issues that auditors will need to pay special attention to in the year-end review, such as revenue recognition, related-party transactions, and more. “This alert summarizes potential areas of risk and can be a useful resource for our auditing firm members as they head into the 2014 audit cycle,” CAQ Executive Director Cindy Fornelli said.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Companies get new rules to govern cash flow classification
Tammy Whitehouse | August 29, 2016
FASB has approved a new Accounting Standards Update meant to clear up inconsistencies in how companies classify cash payments and receipts on the cash flow statement. Tammy Whitehouse has more.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Companies have new rules on accounting for contributions
Tammy Whitehouse | July 6, 2018
Companies have some new guidance on how to account for contributions they receive and make that are not clearly governed by revenue recognition rules.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Companies Increase Use of ‘Step Zero’ Test on Impairment
Tammy Whitehouse | September 16, 2014
Companies are making increased use of the “step zero” method for determining whether goodwill on the balance sheet should be marked down, according to an analysis from Duff & Phelps. In 2013, 41 percent were able to take that initial test without having to perform the usual two-step test for assessing goodwill, up from 33 percent in 2012. More findings inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Study: Companies Stall on Assessing, Adopting Revenue Rule
Tammy Whitehouse | October 27, 2015
A recent survey of 335 finance executives by PwC and Financial Executives Research Foundation found that 27 percent of executives said their companies had not yet started an initial impact assessment of the new revenue standard as of summer 2015, and 48 percent had started but not completed it yet. Dusty Stallings, a PwC partner, said: “It’s very difficult to know what else you need to do to be prepared for this standard. There is still a good pocket of the population that hasn’t gotten going yet.” More inside.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Companies make progress, face more work on revenue
Tammy Whitehouse | November 28, 2017
Third-quarter filings suggest companies are making progress implementing new revenue rules, but still have plenty of work to do in the fourth quarter.
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Accounting & Auditing Update Blog
Companies Pause on New Discontinued Operations Rule
Tammy Whitehouse | June 18, 2015
Companies are hitting bumps as they attempt to apply FASB’s new approach to defining discontinued operations. The standard says a discontinued operation is a major strategic shift and has a major impact on the entity, although it doesn’t provide guidance on how to define those terms, says Beth Paul, a partner with PwC. “As companies start to dispose of things and apply the standard, they’re pausing to determine if its meets that criteria,” she says. More inside.
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