The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have published a joint set of proposals to account for the impairment of financial assets such as loans managed in an open portfolio.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have published a proposal to establish a common approach to offsetting financial assets and liabilities on the balance sheet.

Sherron Watkins, the former vice president at Enron who tried to blow the whistle on the accounting violations at the scandal-plagued Houston energy-trading giant, told an audience at a seminar Friday on the new whistleblower provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act that she and other whistleblower employees would probably take their concerns to WikiLeaks rather than the Securities and Exchange Commission now.

Several top accounting firms made Fortune Magazine's recently released 2011 100 Best Companies to Work For list.

The Texas Society of CPAs executive board has adopted a resolution in support of the implementation of a new GAAP model for private companies.

The Small Business Administration announced the first six of a series of grants to Small Business Development Centers around the country to expand access to programs to help entrepreneurs start or grow their businesses and create jobs.

The Small Business Tax Credit Calculator, developed by Tax Credits LLC, is able to complete lines 1 to 14 of Form 8941 for tax preparers in all 50 states.

The Blue-Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies submitted a report Wednesday recommending that the Financial Accounting Foundation set up a separate board to determine private company accounting standards.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has taken a step back on previous plans to require companies to report all of their financial instruments at fair value.

The European Commission said it would recognize the equivalence of the audit oversight systems of the United States and nine other countries, laying the foundation for greater international cooperation on the supervision of auditors and auditing firms.

The Financial Accounting Foundation has released the 2011 U.S. GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy, pending final acceptance by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released a set of proposals to address the growing need for robust international standards for services that can be used by entities that are either not required or do not elect to be audited.

The AICPA has posted a sample client letter that accountants and tax practitioners can download, personalize and use to inform their clients about how the legislation extending the Bush-era tax cuts could affect them.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has inked a cooperative agreement with the Professional Oversight Board in the United Kingdom to facilitate cooperation in the oversight of auditors and public accounting firms that practice in the two regulators’ respective jurisdictions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed James R. Doty as chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, and Jay D. Hanson and Lewis H. Ferguson as members.

JANUARY

The American Institute of CPAs, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, and Prometric launched the new Uniform CPA Examination on Wednesday, which now includes questions on International Financial Reporting Standards and other significant changes.

Check out the digital edition of the January 2011 issue of Accounting Today.

FASB, GASB STANDARDS UNDER REVIEW

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