On Golden’s Con, Part III: Fixing the Disclosure Mess
...Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing ... If you have read my blog every now and then, it won't come as a…
On Golden’s Con — and Bain Capital’s Travels to Lilliput
There is so much I would like to write about, yet so little time... I could write about the latest half measure on the accounting for repurchase agreements (ASU 2014-11)— and that Tom Linsmeier’s lone dissent is highly similar to…
On Golden’s Con: Selling False Hope for Fundamental Changes to Financial Reporting
“FASB is preparing to consider foundational changes that could significantly alter financial reporting in the future as well as standards improvements that will reduce complexity, board Chairman Russell Golden said … in a speech at the 13th annual Financial Reporting Conference…
The Wild West of “Nonauthoritative” GAAP
Two posts ago, I provided two reasons for the PCAOB* to take the opportunity of its auditor’s report project to look closely at the meaning of, “fairly presented … in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”: Truth in labeling —…
High Frequency Trading: What Would Cicero Say?
This post is a little different from my posts on accounting issues. I’m going to weigh in on the high frequency trading (HFT) brouhaha that was ignited by the recent 60 Minutes report on Michael Lewis’s new book. There…
Look Beyond the Firms for the Root Causes of Audit Deficiencies*
The International forum of Independent Audit Regulators (IFIAR) has published its second annual survey of audit inspections of the Big Four plus BDO and Grant Thornton firms around the world: “The leading areas of deficiency in inspected auditors of ……
One Shouldn’t Have to be an Auditor to Understand an Audit Report
The PCAOB* has proposed a new standard to make the auditor’s report more informative. If finalized in its present form, it would provide more and/or better information concerning the following: Critical audit matters (as determined by the auditor). Auditor independence and…
Accounting Complexity: What if “Truth in Labeling” were an Accounting Principle?
“I do not deny that what happened to us is a thing worth laughing at. But it is not worth telling, for not everyone is sufficiently intelligent to be able to see things from the right point of view.” —…