Accounting & Auditing

Amid crumbling pension plans and cries for fair value accounting and plain English disclosure, accounting standard setters have decided to take a look at overhauling the rules governing pension accounting. The Financial Accounting Standards Board said it will begin with a short-term project to bring footnote disclosures onto the balance sheet, to cast more light […]

In a recent no-action letter, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it was okay for a Deloitte & Touche member firm in the United Kingdom to sell actuarial software to SunGard, saying the deal wouldn’t trigger a violation of the SEC’s auditor independence rules. As most Compliance Week subscribers know, the Securities and Exchange Commission […]

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has finalized its guidance on three separate accounting issues that have raised questions in corporate finance circles. First, FASB issued its staff position—No. FAS 123(R)-3, Transition Election Related to Accounting for the Tax Effects of Share-Based Payment Awards—on how companies should report the tax impact of stock option expensing if […]

The Financial Accounting Standards Board decided not to take up a project requested by first-time adopters of new accounting rules in Europe to relieve some reporting or reconciliation requirements. FASB said it was asked to eliminate certain differences between net income and equity as reported under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles for companies that are […]

As standard setters try to steer the accounting profession toward a more principles-based approach to accounting rules, the rule makers and their advisors continue to wrestle with how to achieve the shift and how much implementation guidance to offer along the way. In the latest annual survey of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, which […]

A nonprofit association for financial analysts has written up its vision for how financial statements can be rewritten to become more investor friendly. The CFA Centre for Financial Market Integrity, an arm of the CFA Institute (formerly the Association for Investment Management and Research), presented its proposed financial reporting model to the Financial Accounting Standards […]

With the goal of ensuring that companies are reporting accurate revenue numbers, it may not be surprising that Sarbanes-Oxley is causing public companies to carefully scrutinize their revenue recognition policies. But what is surprising is that SOX isn’t the primary cause of public companies’ revenue recognition related headaches, according to a recent survey. Indeed, more […]

There can be no guarantees in auditing. On that much, the financial community seems in agreement. But how much assurance can auditors provide when offering their opinion on the soundness of financial statements? How can or should that assurance be measured? That’s a question emerging as corporate failures and incidents of fraud continue to unfold, […]

Investors used to view a company’s appointment of new auditors with suspicion. Did it signal a disagreement between management and the old accountants that could cast doubt on the integrity of the financial statements? Companies never admitted as much, but investors learned to be skeptical; to some, a change in auditor sent a clear signal: […]