AICPA Collaborating on New Valuation Credential

The American Institute of CPAs is working with the American Society of Appraisers, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and other organizations on issues facing the valuation profession and how to address them, including a new credential to enhance consistency and transparency in the fair value measurement process.

The credential would be issued to third-party valuation specialists who perform fair value measurements for entities and intangible assets for U.S. public company financial reporting purposes. Some components of this new credentialing program will include ongoing quality oversight and compliance with a Mandatory Performance Framework that will help define how much work is necessary to provide supportable, auditable fair value measurements.

The AICPA, the ASA and the RICS are seeking comments on the scope of a proposed Mandatory Performance Framework and the related exposure draft, Application of the Mandatory Performance Framework, and whether their contents will provide the right parameters to improve the documentation and auditability of fair value measurements. Among the questions are:

1. Are the objectives of the documentation guidance clearly stated?
2. Are there any topics or subtopics that should be included that are not currently in the document?
3. Would illustrative examples be helpful in providing instructive guidance for the application of the Mandatory Performance Framework?

Comments can be emailed to FVM@aicpa.org and will become part of the public record. The comment period ends June 24, 2016.

More details on the initiative can be found in the Assessment of the Current Professional Infrastructure Governing Fair Value Quality Progress Report.