Accounting

Accounting News & Professional Insight

Accounting Today delivers news, rankings, thought leadership, and analysis for accounting professionals so they can navigate change in standards, firm strategy, technology adoption, talent, and the overall business environment.

Accounting professionals are facing rapid transformation, including shifting professional standards, demographic change, technology disruption, practice consolidation, and changing expectations for advisory services. Our coverage surfaces these strategic dynamics and provides insights and analysis for firms, leaders, and the accounting profession.

Finance

Changes Still to Come in Obamacare, Expert Notes

Not only are the requirements of the Affordable Care Act difficult and complicated for businesses to understand, but in many cases those aspects that businesses and their advisors think they understand are already slated to change in the future, according to one expert.

November 26
Audit

FASB Endorses Changes in Accounting Standards for Goodwill and Interest Rate Swaps

The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted Monday to endorse two accounting standards proposed by the Private Company Council pertaining to accounting for goodwill subsequent to a business combination and for certain types of interest rate swaps in an effort to modify the existing accounting standards for private companies.

November 25
Audit

Accounting for Income Taxes Standard Didn’t Make the Accounting Any Easier

A post-implementation review of a 1992 accounting standard addressing the accounting for income taxes found that the standard generally achieved its intended purpose, but may not have reduced the complexity of accounting for income taxes.

November 22
Audit

GASB’s Scope of Authority Clarified

The Financial Accounting Foundations Board of Trustees, who oversee the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has adopted a new policy clarifying the characteristics of the information that GASB can incorporate into the financial accounting and reporting concepts, standards, and guidance that it issues for state and local governments.

November 22
Audit

IASB Introduces New Hedge Accounting Model

The International Accounting Standards Board has introduced a new hedge accounting model as a major step forward in the financial instruments project on which it has been collaborating with the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

November 19
Audit

FASB Commemorates FASB@40

The Financial Accounting Foundation and the Financial Accounting Standards Board have launched a new section on the FAF Web site that features audio, transcripts and photos from the Septembers FASB@40 Conference hosted in New York to commemorate the FASBs 40th anniversary.

November 19
Audit

IASB Adjusts to Changing Relationship with FASB

The chairmen of the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standard Board appeared alongside each other Monday to discuss the status of their efforts to converge accounting standards over the past decade or more and their plans for the future as the convergence effort appears to be running out of steam.

November 18

Resources

The latest Accounting Today research and discussion:

Predicting the next 15 years in accounting

Take a look at what the accountant and the accounting firm of the future will look like with AICPA chief Mark Koziel.

Sponsored by BILL
The changing world of government financial reporting

The serious new pressures facing governments of all sizes are changing their financial reporting, says GASB Chair Joel Black.

Sponsored by Intuit Quickbooks
Special Report Technology and CAS

Handling the compliance work that is the foundation of modern CAS while also creating time and insights for the advisory overlay that really drives its value to clients requires the careful deployment of a suite of technology tools — and that suite is constantly evolving, meaning accountants need a strategy to keep up.

Sponsored by Canopy

Accounting: Key Questions & Analysis

What are the key trends and strategies emerging from accounting industry leaders?

Top leaders are focused on structural challenges facing firms, including succession planning, evolving service mix, and long-term sustainability of traditional models.

How are accounting firms positioning themselves for the profession’s next phase?

Firm leaders are redefining and evaluating their strategy for growth. This includes investing in people and systems as well as rethinking how firms deliver value to address changing client needs and competition.

What role does professional identity play as accounting continues to change?

Debate continues over how accounting defines itself. This is due to accounting expanding into advisory, consulting, and technology-enabled services. These changes can raise questions about standards, training, and long-term credibility.

How are accounting firms managing leadership and succession risk?

Demographic shifts are accelerating in accounting. This means more firms are confronting leadership transitions and ownership succession which can create critical strategic risks that influence growth, culture, and valuation.