But he is like millions of other small businesses in this country, with financial reporting needs as different from entities such as General Electric or IBM as the distance between Rome and Asuncion.

At last week's Fall Meeting of Council of the AICPA, the three-decade-old debate on separate reporting standards for private companies emerged once again, particularly in light of the SEC refocusing its attention on the roadmap to adoption of IFRS.

Judith H. O'Dell, chair of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee - a joint task force between the American Institute of CPAs and the Financial Accounting Standards Board - told several hundred attendees that it's time to give separate GAAP serious consideration.

But while the issue has progressed somewhat, it's also been stymied. Despite the incredible census divide between the number of public companies and private entities, the reporting needs of public investors have always come first on the "to-do" docket.

At the conference O'Dell revealed the results of a recent study conducted by Big Four firm Deloitte, which showed that 51 percent of the respondents indicated the need for a separate GAAP for private companies.

But statistics and surveys aside, the reality of the situation is that FASB has never forged a reputation for expediency when setting GAAP, and without accelerants such as lawmakers pounding on their door to modify fair value, you can be certain no one in Norwalk will be elbowing their way to take the lead in setting private standards.

Nor is it likely that the recent issuance of IFRS for SMEs by the International Accounting Standards Board will the panacea for the needs of private companies as evidenced by the fact that several international standard-setters have not accepted them.

But something resembling measured progress in this area will probably have to happen fairly quickly, or it will likely be again buried - this time amidst a flurry of current headline-grabbing issues like financial market reform, ObamaCare and of course, IFRS.

Until then, Fernando will continue to record sales of his entrées like the spectacular calamari fra diavalo the same way GE does.