Accounting standards

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a set of improvements in financial reporting on consolidations that would affect all companies required to evaluate whether they should consolidate another entity.

The Financial Accounting Foundation plans to host a series of three public roundtables early next year and a live webcast later this month to give constituents an opportunity to provide their feedback on its recent proposal to create a Private Company Standards Improvement Council.

Candidly, it has taken much longer than it should for us to fully comprehend and explain the gaping distinction between financial accounting and financial reporting. Since we figured it out, though, we've looked at things differently, to the point that we now believe a company's own transactions are not valid sources of useful information.

IMGCAP(1)]In mid-2011, the American Institute of CPAs established a Service Organization Controls reporting framework in hopes of providing the public and CPAs with a clearer understanding of the reporting options for service organizations.

More than half of global businesses are unaware of pending lease accounting changes that would virtually eliminate the use of off-balance sheet leases, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released two proposed accounting standards updates to clarify the criteria for investment company accounting and develop guidance for investment property accounting.

The American Institute of CPAs has launched a new letter-writing campaign aimed at pressuring the Financial Accounting Foundation to set up a separate standard-setting board for private company accounting.

Chief financial officers and investors have increased their support for global accounting standards since the start of the economic crisis in 2008, according to an international survey published Thursday by the global Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced Thursday that it had permanently barred a Denver-based audit partner and permanently revoked the registration of a registered public accounting firm because the audit partner had participated in audits while subject to a previous bar.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board said Wednesday that it would consider postponing the effective date of certain provisions of a recently issued standard on the presentation of comprehensive income.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board voted Tuesday to propose requiring PCAOB-registered accounting firms to disclose the name of the engagement partner in the audit report they file for a corporate client and on the PCAOB Annual Report form.

In his first speech in the U.S. as chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Hans Hoogervorst made the case for why the U.S. should adopt International Financial Reporting Standards.

The American Institute of CPAs has stepped up its campaign to dislodge control of private accounting standard-setting from the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released a new Accounting Standards Update aimed at improving employer disclosures for multiple-employer pension plans.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman said that many of the priority projects slated for convergence with the International Accounting Standards Board probably will not be settled until next year at the earliest.

Financial Accounting Standards Board chair Leslie Seidman argued Tuesday that the board has been increasing its outreach to private company accountants as FASB awaits a report from the trustees of its parent organization on whether oversight of private company accounting standards should be handed to a separate board.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has finalized a new standard aimed at simplifying how organizations test goodwill for impairment.

The Public Accounting Oversight Board will host a public roundtable Thursday, Sept. 15, to discuss its concept release on possible changes to the auditor’s reporting model.

The Treasury Department proposed regulations Friday for a Premium Tax Credit for buying health insurance as part of the effort to implement the health care reform law.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has approved an updated accounting standard to simplify how an entity should test goodwill for impairment.