Regulatory actions and programs

Proposed legislation would make it easier for small businesses to qualify for the home office tax deduction.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has proposed a new standard for disclosures about the credit quality of financing receivables and the allowance for credit losses.

Now that the largest public companies in the U.S. are scheduled to begin filing their financial statements using Extensible Business Reporting Language data-tagging technology this year, financial regulators are weighing additional areas to leverage the technology, said industry representatives at an XBRL International Conference in Paris.

Credit-rating agency Fitch Ratings said in a new report that it does not expect FASB’s recent amendments to off-balance-sheet accounting standards to result in negative rating actions, but it believes there will be challenges for issuers and analysts in transitioning to the new standards.

Nine trade groups representing the financial, insurance, banking, real estate and other industries have united to create a coalition with the goal of influencing accounting standard-setters who are working on revising the rules for financial instruments.

A new study of accounting-related fraud in Western Europe has found substantial differences in the approach taken to International Financial Reporting Standards by different countries and companies.

The Small Business Administration has begun offering interest-free loans of up to $35,000 to small businesses through SBA-approved lenders.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board plans to provide two different views of its new online FASB Accounting Standards Codification when it launches July 1.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued new standards aimed at fixing the way banks account for securitizations and off-balance-sheet special-purpose entities.

The International Accounting Standards Board is readying new revisions to its standards for accounting for impaired assets in response to pressure from European regulators who have threatened to upset support for International Financial Reporting Standards.

I have a friend with an accounting degree and a law degree whocomplained about the length and complexity of the annual reports,including those of General Electric (108 pages), Citigroup (242 pages),Warner Music Group (142 pages), Pfizer (170 pages) and Bank of America(192 pages).

A new academic study takes issue with claims that U.S. companies would benefit from adopting International Financial Reporting Standards.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board voted Wednesday to approve the FASB Accounting Standards Codification as the single authoritative, nongovernmental source of information on GAAP, with an official launch date set for July 1.

The International Accounting Standards Board has published draft guidance to try to settle the controversial issue of fair value measurement and calm some of the recent political pressure.

Proposed contract-based standards for revenue recognition are attracting some support, but also raising questions, according to a new survey.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has released FASB Statement No. 165, “Subsequent Events,” setting standards for the disclosure of events that occur after the balance-sheet date, but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., has introduced a bill that would ensure that small business government contracts go only to small businesses instead of the subsidiaries of large companies.

Members of the international Financial Crisis Advisory Group warned at a meeting in London that political pressure on accounting standard-setters posed a threat to “the very existence of international accounting standards.”

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued rules to help nonprofit organizations properly account for mergers and acquisitions involving other not-for-profits.

The Internal Revenue Service commemorated Small Business Week this week by calling attention to some recently enacted tax breaks for small businesses.