AICPA SPOTLIGHTS LATEST M&A GUIDANCE
The American Institute of CPAs has included the latest guidance from the Financial Accounting Standards Board on accounting for mergers and acquisitions in the newest edition of its book Accounting Trends & Techniques. The reference helps preparers, management accountants and auditors incorporate new and existing accounting and reporting guidance into financial statements.
Global M&A volume totaled $716.3 billion in the first quarter of 2011. It is expected to reach $3.04 trillion in 2011, the most activity in five years, according to a recent report by Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting Services. Accountants preparing financials for companies involved in these deals need to understand the requirements of SFAS No. 141R (FASB ASC 805), Business Combinations.
The standard recently introduced the acquisition method of accounting to achieve better comparability of the information about business combinations provided in financial reports.
Accounting Trends & Techniques, now in its 64th edition, surveys 500 public companies for illustrative examples from actual financial statements and annual reports from a wide range of companies. The book costs $135 for AICPA members or $168.75 for non-members.
CAREER-LONG ETHICS EDUCATION PROPOSED
New York - The International Accounting Education Standards Board has proposed changes in its ethics standards to provide for learning and development activities in professional values and ethics for accountants throughout their careers.
The IAESB, which operates under the auspices of the International Federation of Accountants, released a proposed revision of International Education Standard 4, Professional Values, Ethics and Attitudes. In addition to a formal program assessment and a learning outcome approach, the IAESB also proposes a requirement for reflective activity - where accountants and students document experiences relating to lessons learned from ethical dilemmas and situations.
