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By the logic of others, which I can’t explain, fuzzy lines in accounting standards have come to be exalted as “principles-based” and bright lines are disparaged as “rules-based.”  One of my favorite examples (actually a pet peeve) of this phenomenon is…

FAS 157 on fair value measurements was supposed to provide comprehensive guidance for determining the fair value of pretty much any asset or liability.  Yet, almost two years after its initial publication, and well after companies have had to apply the…

Coming on the heels of accusations that the SEC is trending toward less vigorous enforcement against financial reporting violations, the SEC published here and here its settlements with the two Arthur Andersen partners that planned and supervised the 2001 audit…

I thought I had beaten flat the CAQ's survey of audit committee members in my last post.  Lo and behold, here is one more nasty tidbit brought to my attention that merits sunlight. Among the organizations that with whom CAQ…

Much ado has been made lately of the insubstantial contribution business school professors have made to practice through research.  Accounting research of the last forty years, being no exception, was blasted in a commentary in the Chronicle for Higher Education…

The SEC has been one of the most prominent and well-respected of federal agencies during most of its history.  Strict adherence to a focused mission on disclosure in regards to the regulation of financial reporting by public companies has been…

Note: This post was published about 12 hours prior to publication of Justin Hyde's article on the same topic in the Detroit Free Press.  Justin was the one who brought the topic to my attention, and I made the decision…

"Breaking the Rules and Admitting It" is the title of Floyd Norris's column describing the accounting by Société Générale for the losses incurred by their rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel; the title is provocative enough, but it's still not adequate to…