The International Federation of Accountants has released its 2006 handbook of standards.
The "2006 Handbook of International Auditing, Assurance and Ethics Pronouncements" is now available in both print and electronic formats and includes all the statements issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants through the end of 2005.
The handbook also contains the revised "Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants," which was issued by the group's ethics board in June 2005.
Two electronic versions of the 2006 handbook are available: a free downloadable PDF version, as well as an online eComPress version. The eComPress version has features designed to make accessing the pronouncements fully searchable and can be annotated by the user.
Print versions of the handbook will run $100, will the eComPress download is available for $50. More information is available at the IFAC online bookstore,
Separately, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has voted unanimously to issue a document to tighten the accounting and financial reporting of derivatives by state and local governments
The in a Preliminary Views document, the board said that there has been a substantial increase in both the number and dollar amounts of governmental derivative contracts and it believes the public needs access to more information about the risks such transactions pose and the impact they could have on government financial positions.
"To evaluate the inherent risks that derivatives potentially pose to the financial health of governments, the public needs to better understand the nature of these transactions, including how their value and cash flows change over time," said GASB Chairman Robert Attmore, in a statement.The document, along with a plain-English companion, will be available for download from the GASB Web site,
