Financial reporting

We're drafting this column in January, when many were surely puzzling over Securities and Exchange Commission Chief Accountant Jim Kroeker's December announcement that the commission would not, after all, decide by year end whether the International Accounting Standards Board and International Financial Reporting Standards would replace the Financial Accounting Standards Board and U.S. GAAP.

The column you regularly publish by Profs. Miller and Bahnson has finally reached the point where it can no longer be ignored. While I cannot be labeled a regular reader, I do gaze at it just to see who or what they have decided to flagellate.

A SLOW START

The American Institute of CPAs and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants formally launched their Chartered Global Management Accountant designation on Tuesday with a joint event in New York and London.

Baker Tilly International said Friday that revenues of its global accounting firm network grew 5 percent to $3.2 billion for the year ending June 30, 2011.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board said Friday they would work together on seeking to reduce the differences in their classification and measurement models for financial instruments.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed an updated standard on impairment testing of intangible assets with indefinite lives, such as trademarks, licenses and distribution lives.

The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and the American Institute of CPAs have both given their final approval to a revised set of standards for providers of continuing professional education programs for accountants.

International Accounting Standards Board chairman Hans Hoogervorst told attendees at an accounting conference in Moscow on Monday that he believes the U.S. will ultimately decide to support International Financial Reporting Standards.

The American Institute of CPAs has begun offering a revenue-sharing arrangement to state CPA societies if they help market the new Chartered Global Management Accountant designation to their members.

European Commission plans to bring the European Union into line with the possibly less stringent Sarbanes-Oxley measures to ban audit firms from offering tax and other non-audit services to audit clients are facing controversy as the issue moves to the European Parliament.

Firm News - January 20

Five Accounting Firms Make Fortune's Best Companies List

Succession planning, recruiting, M&A and developing top talent and pricing pressures were among several front-burner issues that came to the forefront during a roundtable discussion by members of the Advisory Board.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said in a new report that it expects the U.S. will still move forward with plans to incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards into U.S. GAAP, but in a “prolonged, cautious and incremental way.”

HA&W Names Next MP

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has made available the 2012 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, which can be used to submit XBRL-format financial filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Canada’s three legacy accounting bodies—the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Certified Management Accountants of Canada, and the Certified General Accountants of Canada—presented a proposed framework to their members Tuesday for uniting Canada’s accounting profession.

More than three-quarters of investment bankers surveyed by BDO USA indicated that Chinese accounting scandals have led them to increase their due diligence when vetting China-based offerings.