FASB and AICPA seek small, private company input

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Institute of CPAs have announced a joint project whose aim is to seek “constituent feedback on proposed enhancements to the FASB’s standard-setting procedures that would determine whether the Board should consider differences in accounting standards for private companies.” This is the classic conundrum commonly known to thoseContinue reading “FASB and AICPA seek small, private company input”

More discussion of rules versus principles

Dennis over at AccMan Pro has commented on the difference between rules-based US GAAP and international principles-based IFRS, and his thoughts echo mine: Recent commentary has suggested the idea of convergence between US GAAP and IFRS won’t happen until hell freezes over. I’ve long held the view that the rules based US GAAP system isContinue reading “More discussion of rules versus principles”

Lease accounting to get overhaul

Apparently FASB is going to overhaul the US GAAP for leases. I’m not sure what exactly is going to be changed, or why it needs changing, but it’ll be interesting to see. Of course, Canadian standards are moving towards harmonization with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), so we might not see Canada following the USContinue reading “Lease accounting to get overhaul”

Materiality in auditing

Materiality is a concept in auditing that attempts to set a dollar value guideline for the scope of evidence testing at the substantive level, analytical procedures, and to a lesser extent, controls testing. According to Krupo: “Materiality is the smallest misstatement of a company’s finances that would cause a person to change how they valueContinue reading “Materiality in auditing”

Revenue recognition and Nortel

Nortel Networks Corp. once again will have to restate its financial results to fix accounting mistakes, the company said on Friday as it posted a fourth-quarter loss of $2.2 billion. Their chief executive maintains that the revenue was just recognized in incorrect periods, from 2002 through 2005. Revenue recognition is definitely a touchy subject theseContinue reading “Revenue recognition and Nortel”