ASU 2010-19: When a Dollar of Cash Is More Than a Dollar on the Balance Sheet
If you think you can find a larger wart on the backside of US GAAP than the one I am about to describe, then give it your best shot. Here it is in a nutshell: a careful and cynical application…
Failed Convergence of R&D Accounting: Only Politicians and Opportunists Would Have Downplayed the Implications
Unlike BP, which eventually came to admit the actual rate at which oil has been spurting into the Louisiana Gulf, the FASB and IASB continually resist any acknowledgement that the gulf between the two financial reporting regimes will remain vast, even under…
Is Mary Schapiro a “Mythbuster” or a Myth Maker?
On the science/entertainment TV show, Mythbusters, a zany cast of characters attempt to smash various colorful or popular myths to smithereens (often literally) using the scientific method (sort of). Can duct tape really be used to float a boat? Which…
Accounting for a Sweet Co-Co
Prof. Robert Bloomfield of Cornell University posted an interesting accounting question on the FASRI (FASB Research Initiative) blog. I'm taking the liberty of repeating it here in its entirety: A policy proposal floating around these days is to require banks…
Accounting Convergence Dysfunction: The Case of the Liability/Equity Project
A recurring theme of my blogging is that financial accounting standards could (and should) be much simpler, and also much better if they were simpler. I have also placed some of the blame for the recent lack of progress, especially…
FASB Could Have Easily Stopped the Repo Accounting Games: They Should Explain Why They Haven’t
On April 19th, FASB Chair Robert Herz submitted a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, explaining the accounting standards that applied to Lehman's repo transactions. In desperate hope that the Committee will also ask whether and how those repo…
On IFRS, CA Magazine Publishes what JofA Won’t
The April issue of CA Magazine, which is published by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, has a lengthy feature article provocatively entitled "IFRS: Dead in the USA?". It author is Lawrence Quinn, a freelance writer based in Atlanta. Thus,…
EU to IASB: It’s Our Way, or the Highway
The EU is simply too committed to pertuating the giddy notion that financial statements can serve investors -- and be smoothed at the same time. That's why I predicted that they would soon respond negatively and vociferously to the SEC's…