The Private Company Financial Reporting Committee took a close look at the International Accounting Standards Board’s new “IFRS for SMEs” standards at its meeting last week.

IMGCAP(1)] All too often, professional leadership seminars fail to live up to their potential for lively, intellectually engaging discussions about current issues and those on the forefront. I recently returned from the AICPA’s Inaugural Leadership Academy in Chicago where 28 young CPAs discussed topics affecting accountants everywhere.

The House Small Business Committee heard testimony from small business owners about their ability to obtain SBA-backed financing.

The American Bankers Association is objecting to the newest proposed accounting standards for financial instruments, claiming that they would dramatically expand the use of the much-maligned mark-to-market accounting.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published a set of proposals on the classification of rights issues to clarify their accounting treatment when they are in a currency other than the issuer’s.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and XBRL US have completed their work in revising the XBRL U.S. GAAP Taxonomy to reflect the FASB Accounting Standards Codification that was released on July 1.

IMGCAP(1)] The National Association of State Boards of Accountancy called for independent funding of global accounting standard-setters.

Firm regulator mulls wider exposure of audit deficiencies

Accounting firm Plante & Moran has introduced a “Liquidity Stress Test” tool that manufacturing businesses can use to assess their working capital needs.

Grant Thornton has introduced a service designed to speed companies through the bankruptcy and workout process.

International Accounting Standards Board chairman Sir David Tweedie said that other countries are running out of patience waiting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to decide on whether to approve a roadmap for transitioning to International Financial Reporting Standards and that the U.S. would need to commit by 2011.

Eli Mason, whose career in public accounting spanned more than seven decades as a practitioner, and a proponent of the profession, has died after a long illness.

General Electric has agreed to pay $50 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company reported false and misleading results in its financial statements.

IMGCAP(1)]In Fall 2008, I read about AICPA Board Chair Ernie Almonte’s vision for the Leadership Academy with great interest. Fast forward eight months, where I had the opportunity to travel to Chicago and attend the Academy. After three inspiring days of networking and roundtable discussions, it was no surprise to hear Almonte express to the participants of the inaugural Academy that it was the culmination of “a dream come true.”

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, reassured attendees at the American Accounting Association’s Annual Meeting that he had no intention of legislating accounting standards.

BDO Seidman said the firm’s national director of accounting, Ben Neuhausen, has passed away after a prolonged illness.

More than two out of five business executives said in a recent poll that an accounting standard on business combinations is causing them to reassess their strategy for M&A deals.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has created an Investor Advisory Group to solicit input from investors on how to carry out the board’s responsibilities in overseeing public auditing firms.

Switching to International Financial Reporting Standards could prove to be a costly move for many companies’ IT departments, according to a new report by Ernst & Young.

The push for a “lowest common denominator” set of international accounting standards, along with the failure of Sarbanes-Oxley reforms to curb last year’s financial meltdown, are among the factors contributing to the ongoing global recession, experts in corporate governance told Congress.