A long time ago — in 2004, to be exact — the FASB and IASB announced that they would jointly develop a common “conceptual framework.” They divided the work into eight phases. It took them almost seven years to complete the…
It seems there is always good reason to write a post about revenue recognition. I can even envisage an entire blog on the FASB’s new standard (ASC 606). It could go on for years without running out of fresh material. That…
I hoped that my previous post would make a compelling argument for why a more focused objective for the FASB could lead to standards that would better serve the public interest. Some readers liked it; however, two former policy makers were…
The FASB has been prolific by any measure. The codification of authoritative GAAP alone is almost 8,000 pages for goodness sake. Believe it or not, that’s about twice as wordy as the U.S. Tax Code. “Financial Accounting” versus “Financial Reporting”…
With inspiration and encouragement from the John Hughes IFRS Blog, this post is a partial recycling from 2010 of Merrily We Roll Along — Forward and Up. I had observed way back then that with XBRL on the rise, analysts…
After years of trying to work with the FASB on a revised conceptual framework, the IASB finally decided to abandon the goal of a fully converged framework and to finish a document for its own use. A draft is imminent,…
“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…
Note: Some very helpful comments on my most recent post have led me to conclude that I made some factual and logical errors. Fortunately, though, my main message, that stock issuance costs should be recorded as an expense, is not affected;…
Over the years, the notion of accounting for "substance over form" has been trumpeted in IFRS circles as the apotheosis of principles-based accounting. From a practical standpoint, something like it is absolutely necessary for filling in the large gaps in…
To begin this second installment on the boards' (IASB and FASB) Conceptual Framework project, here is a brief summary of my first post. A 'bridge to nowhere' – The boards (FASB and IASB) are planning to construct a new conceptual…