Taking Stock of Christopher Cox: Part 2 of 2
In the previous post I listed and described the major SEC rulemaking initiatives that have come out since Christopher Cox took charge. It looks like an impressive list, but most of the improvements to financial reporting regulation have been la…
Taking Stock of Christopher Cox: Part 1 of 2
Christopher Cox, the current SEC chairman, is sure to head out the door soon after a new prez is inaugurated. So, just as last night's State of the Union address stimulated debate about the incumbent's record and what his legacy…
Pension Accounting Reform Ducks for Cover Just When Investors Need It
The backdrop for today's post is the present dive in stock prices at the same time the Federal Reserve is trying to stimulate the economy by decreasing interest rates. What I'm fixin' to describe is how it will -- and…
Peeling the Onion on the New Business Combination Standards: FAS 141R and FAS 160
This post examines the onion skin, if you will, of the new business combination standards. I'm going to explain the differences between the so-called 'purchase' method of accounting and the new 'acquisition' method. As is my habit, let's begin with…
Fair Value v. Replacement Cost: A Working Paper
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post entitled "FAS 157: Fair Value Has left the Station--But Is It on the Wrong Track?" Walter Teets of Gonzaga University and I have converted it to a working paper. The new title…
The Fallout from SAB 108: A Concrete Illustration of the Need for Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation
I'm going to write about auditing in this post, and my remarks are motivated by a report published by Audit Analytics on the number of restatements engendered by the adoption of SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 108 (SAB 108) on…
SEC’s “Simplified Method” for Estimating Stock Option Cost is Ripe for Manipulation
Would you like your staff to learn more aboutSEC reporting? Click here for a sample in-house training agenda!Call me cynical, but I am wary of accommodations that permit companies to freely choose between their best estimates and something less. Even…
Making Myself Clearer on the Topic of Liabilities and Equity
I made a conscious decision to eschew formulas in my recent post on the difficulty the FASB has had in creating a standard that results in a reasonable classification of liabilities and equity. An exchange of emails with Accounting Onion…