SEC AIMS AT BALANCE SHEET 'WINDOW-DRESSING'

Many privately held companies wonder where the accounting standard-setters will lead them. The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are working toward eliminating differences between U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards, and many wonder if they should transition to IFRS, stay with GAAP, or if there are other alternatives.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board is asking stakeholders for input on how to improve the accounting for insurance contracts in financial reports.

In the previous issue, we republished a column from 2008 to help readers who might be confused or even baffled by the massive paradigm shift contained in the recent lease accounting exposure draft issued jointly by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board. When implemented, the proposal would capitalize all leases, finally closing down a 35-year-old loophole that has proven to be insanely popular with managers for achieving off-balance-sheet financing. The prior column described why this change is for the best.

The U.S. Department of Labor and the American Institute of CPAs have launched an interactive website to help small businesses select a retirement plan suitable for their employees.

With only weeks to go before next month’s game-changing midterm Congressional elections, the accounting profession is in position to make record-breaking contributions to the campaigns of key House and Senate candidates.

On the last day of the American Institute of CPAs Fall Meeting of Council, members elected a new chairman and adopted a resolution supporting the Blue Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board are soliciting input on when to have their new accounting standards take effect.

Renewing its vision is the new theme for the American Institute of CPAs as it gets ready to welcome in a new chair and enter its 125th year as an organization.

IMGCAP(1)]Check out the digital edition of the October 25 issue of Accounting Today.

Few CPAs are trying to learn or implement International Financial Reporting Standards until the Securities and Exchange Commission decides next year on whether to approve incorporating IFRS into the U.S. financial reporting system, according to a new survey.

The CPA Exam will be offered outside the U.S. for the first time in 2011, as an agreement was reached by the American Institute of CPAs, National Association of State Boards of Accountancy and Prometric, the three organizations that jointly offer the CPA Exam in the United States.

Sunday afternoon proved to be anything but sleepy as the American Institute of CPAs Fall Meeting of Council kicked off the first day with a lively discussion among members of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Standard Setting for Private Companies.

The American Institute of CPAs has told the Securities and Exchange Commission that accountants need an adequate transition period if the SEC decides next year to incorporate International Financial Reporting Standards into the U.S. financial reporting system.

The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board has released new proposals for how to audit complex financial instruments such as derivatives whose trading contributed to the financial crisis.

As the incoming chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board, Hans Hoogervorst has been named to a key position in the global accounting profession at a time of dramatic changes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new rule, based on requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, that would help those managing their own family's financial portfolios determine whether their “family offices” can continue to be excluded from the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Members of the American Institute of CPAs have voted by an 81.39 percent majority to modernize the AICPA's admission requirements to allow more people to join the institute, even if they no longer practice accounting or were never practitioners.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an exposure draft of proposed changes in the standards for financial reporting about troubled debt restructurings.