Accounting standards

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has beefed up its standards for multiple-employer pension plans, requiring employers to provide more information about their pension plan obligations, particularly for unionized employees.

The London-based International Valuation Standards Council has published a set of new International Valuation Standards covering a wide range of assets.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued a “preliminary views” document Monday on the recognition and measurement of elements of financial statements.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is proposing some far-reaching changes in the field of pension accounting that should affect public employees and state and local governments across the country.

The International Accounting Education Standards Board has proposed a set of clarified standards and revisions governing the practical experience requirements for aspiring professional accountants.

Hans Hoogervorst, who took over as chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board this month, said he anticipates the U.S. will ultimately adopt International Financial Reporting Standards.

The American Institute of CPAs has issued new attest guidance that enables CPAs to report on the controls at a service organization, particularly ones that provide outsourced services to other companies via technologies like cloud computing.

The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee received an update on the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s efforts to bring U.S. GAAP into line with International Financial Reporting Standards, especially in how that effort would relate to private companies.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is expected to issue new proposals this week that would require state and local governments to be more open about their pension-funding obligations.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board issued amendments Thursday to improve and align the presentation of items of other comprehensive income in financial statements prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. GAAP.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board agreed Wednesday to re-expose their revised proposals for a common revenue recognition standard, allowing people to offer further suggestions for changes.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has begun a new educational webcast series that will provide continuing professional education credit to those who participate in the live broadcasts

The Financial Accounting Foundation said Wednesday that, as part of its oversight of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, it has commissioned an independent academic study of the purposes of financial accounting and reporting of state and local governments.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released a new consultation paper seeking views on how to enhance the quality, relevance and value of auditor reporting on an international basis.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have published new requirements for fair value measurement and disclosure.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is still aiming to preserve its job as the standard-setter for private company accounting, while expanding its outreach and consultation with representatives of privately held businesses.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman gave an overview of the work of the board as it tries to achieve its convergence goals with the International Accounting Standards Board, and said they were taking extra time to get the standards right and trying to simplify them to make them easier for accountants to apply.

Our regular readers know that our shtick is criticizing generally accepted accounting principles, as well as those who create and implement them without fully anticipating their negative impact on the quality of the resulting financial statements. This time we're going after accounting for income tax effects, which has roots dating back to 1967 and APB Opinion 11. Even though the Financial Accounting Standards Board tried to reform tax accounting with SFAS 109 20 years ago, we don't see much actual improvement.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an Accounting Standards Update that would revise the rules for how companies can deal with repurchase agreements like the kind Lehman Brothers used to temporarily move billion of dollars of assets temporarily off its books before reporting its quarterly results.

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board has published its 2011 Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Pronouncements.