Financial Reporting

IASB proposes improvements to financial instruments disclosures of information

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has published for public comment proposals to improve the information available to investors and others about fair value measurements of financial instruments and liquidity risk. The proposals form part of the IASB's response to the credit crisis and follow recommendations of the Financial Stability Forum, which had the support of the Group of Seven (G-7) Finance Ministers.
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SEC to study mark-to-market accounting

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced additional details on the process and initial steps that the SEC has undertaken to conduct a study on "mark-to-market" accounting, as authorized by Sec. 133 of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, recently signed into law by President Bush.Under the legislation enacted to help stabilize financial markets, the SEC is required to conduct a study of "mark-to-market" accounting. The study is to be completed by Jan.
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A&A

SEC, FASB issue clarifications on fair value accounting

The current environment has made questions surrounding the determination of fair value particularly challenging for preparers, auditors, and users of financial information. The SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant and the staff of the FASB have been engaged in extensive consultations with participants in the capital markets, including investors, preparers, and auditors, on the application of fair value measurements in the current market environment.
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Technology

Conversion to IFRS will challenge information systems and IT personnel

Changes in filing requirements and accounting standards will drive conversion to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in an organization, but the process of conversion will impact general business information technology systems, according to an analysis published by KPMG, International Financial Reporting Standards: The information systems impacts of IFRS. Every system within an organization that uses financial information will be affected by conversion to
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Sarbanes-Oxley requirements have made financial statements more confusing

The goal of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act was to make corporate accounting more transparent. In practice, a new Cato Institute study finds, the law's requirements have had the opposite effect.Sarbanes-Oxley sought to achieve its aims by having the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) mandate that corporations use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in reporting their balance sheets to shareholders. In the Cato Institute Briefing Paper FASB: Making Financial Statements Mysterious, T.J.
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A&A

FASB looking for feedback on proposed earnings per share revision

The Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued a revised Exposure Draft (ED) of a proposed Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, Earnings per Share — an amendment of FASB Statement No. 128. The proposed Statement seeks to improve financial reporting by clarifying and simplifying the method of calculating earnings per share (EPS), while promoting the international convergence of accounting standards by eliminating major differences that currently exist between FASB Statement No. 128, Earnings per Share, and International Accounting Standard (IAS) 33, Earnings per Share.
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IFRS - No promulgation without representation please

By Darla Sycamore The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines promulgation as1: to make (as a doctrine) known by open declaration: or2 a: to make known or public the terms of (a proposed law) b: to put (a law) into action or forceThe FASB refers to the promulgation of accounting standards in its Mission Statement (sometimes the process of issuing accounting standards is also referred to as pronouncing).
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SEC offers recommendations to improve financial reporting

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox has received the final report of an SEC advisory committee containing 25 recommendations to make financial information more useful and understandable to investors.Last year, Chairman Cox announced the creation of the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting, comprised of members representing investors and other key constituencies in America's capital markets.
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SEC roundtable on IFRS, GAAP, and subprime crisis

The Securities and Exchange Commission will host a roundtable on Monday, August 4 to analyze the performance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP) during the recent period of market turmoil."This roundtable will provide the Commission with valuable insights from investors, issuers, auditors, and others about the way that both IFRS and U.S. GAAP performed in the context of the current pressures on the marketplace," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.
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Technology

Levi Strauss blames profit drop on SAP enterprise software system

In its 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the quarter that ended on May 25 this year, Levi Strauss said the $47 million drop in profits from the equivalent period last year reflected its implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system at the beginning of the quarter.
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IFRS in the USA: Be Prepared!

By Darla Sycamore"Be Prepared" is the motto of the Scout movement and goes back to before the First World War. To be prepared means "you have to be prepared at any moment to face difficulties and even dangers by knowing what to do and how to do it."So how can you be prepared for the coming of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to America? The smart money is on the eventual adoption of IFRS at some time in the USA.
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SEC roundtable looks at fair value in retrospect

Panelists at a July 9 Securities and Exchange Commission roundtable from affected communities that included auditors and corporate financial officers exchanged views on the challenges of implementing fair value standards, principally FAS 157, during the past few months, conducting what Thomas J.
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Survey results show many companies are unprepared for XBRL

A new survey from Compliance Week suggests that many publicly held companies are barely aware of XBRL, the financial reporting technology the Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to impose on Corporate America later this fall. The SEC has already published a proposal to mandate XBRL for all companies by 2011, starting with Fortune 500 companies as soon as next spring. The public comment period on that proposed rule is already half over, and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox has repeatedly called for a final rule to be voted on and in place before he leaves office in January.
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A&A

FASB issues Exposure Draft on Accounting for Hedging Activities

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has issued an Exposure Draft (ED) of a proposed Statement of Financial Accounting Standards, Accounting for Hedging Activities — an amendment of FASB Statement No. 133.
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A&A

FASB will add disclosure requirements to Statement 140

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) continued its review of Statement 140, Accounting for Transfers and Servicing of Financial Assets and Extinguishments of Liabilities, (SFAS 140) and FASB Interpretation No.
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A&A

FASB issues Statement No. 163, Accounting for Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts

Last week The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued FASB Statement No. 163, Accounting for Financial Guarantee Insurance Contracts. The new standard clarifies how FASB Statement No. 60, Accounting and Reporting by Insurance Enterprises, applies to financial guarantee insurance contracts issued by insurance enterprises, including the recognition and measurement of premium revenue and claim liabilities. It also requires expanded disclosures about financial guarantee insurance contracts.
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Technology

Understanding and using benchmark data

By Brian Hamilton, Developer, Profitcents.com“Benchmarks” are of interest to many types of financial professionals. The topic has been covered substantially lately because, if they are gathered and used properly, they can be helpful to the financial analysis process.As used here, “benchmarks” are financial metrics/ratios/results which show the average ranges of financial performance by companies in a given industry. There are many different types of financial benchmarks.
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Test your financial reporting skills on the Revenue Recognition Challenge game

Congratulations! You've just been hired as the new CFO of Worldwide Faulty Enterprises where Murphy's Law is a corporate value. Only you can save the company and resuscitate its stock price. The Revenue Recognition Challenge is a new game about the complexities of revenue recognition. There are three key concepts presented in the game: Careful judgments are required to make the right revenue recognition and deferred revenue decisions.Constant vigilance is needed to keep revenue recognition up to date with business activities and events.
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Technology

SEC unveils 'Financial Explorer' investor tool using XBRL

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox has announced the launch of the "Financial Explorer" on the SEC Web site to help investors quickly and easily analyze the financial results of public companies. Financial Explorer paints the picture of corporate financial performance with diagrams and charts, using financial information provided to the SEC as "interactive data" in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).
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Tax

New research provides resources on fraud prevention and financial reporting

Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International (FEI), has announced the release of two important new pieces of research designed to aid public company management and corporate boards in the efficient evaluation of their assessment of reporting issues and internal controls.A new FERF Study, entitled "What's New in Financial Reporting: Financial Statement Notes from Annual Reports," examines disclosures from 2006 annual reports for the 100 largest publicly-traded companies which used particularly innovative techniques to clearly a
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What makes a company a great place to work? Experience, a ConnectEDU company, uses criteria that include benefits, career advancement opportunities, culture, and work/life balance to form its annual list of the Best Places to Work for Recent Grads. BDO USA and Ernst & Young both made the Top 25 list. Read what makes these firms stand out and find out what can be done at your firm to entice college grads.

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