Can the Devil in the Details of GAAP be Exorcised?
Rule complexity is not solely the province of accounting in the world of business. Just trying to list the others--taxes, securities, labor, environmental, trade, etc.--boggles my mind. But, I do know that accounting rules can, and should, be a lot…
IAS 23 and FAS 34: Political Interests Trump Accounting for Interest
In Finance 101 it is taught that the decision to acquire assets involves two steps. First, you figure out which assets you want to acquire (capital budgeting), and second, you figure out how to pay for them (capital structure). If…
FAS 158: Pension Accounting Crawls its Way Towards Reality
The FASB has belatedly, and only half-way closed the proverbial barn door on misleading pension accounting in FAS 158. In re-measuring pension assets and liabilities on the balance sheet, Paragraph 16a of SFAS 158 requires that the effect on equity…
AS 5: The Latest Chapter in the SOX 404 Saga
Following an extended comment period, Auditing Standard No. 5, which supersedes AS 2, was approved by the SEC on July 25, 2007. Now that another chapter in the regulatory saga of SOX 404 is complete, it is time once again…
EITF 07-03: Which Part of ‘Nonrefundable’ Doesn’t EITF Understand?
EITF Consensus 07-03, Accounting for Nonrefundable Advance Payments for Goods or Services to Be Used in Future Research and Development Activities, is very straightforward and basic; so much so that it might require less than one class period of Accounting…