On April 19th, FASB Chair Robert Herz submitted a letter to the House Financial Services Committee, explaining the accounting standards that applied to Lehman's repo transactions. In desperate hope that the Committee will also ask whether and how those repo…
I recently recorded a podcast for Compliance Week with editor Matt Kelly, who interviewed me on the SEC's most recent statement on IFRS—a clear detour from the original Roadmap by any reasonable estimation. Matt gave me some sample questions in…
I am, and have always been, a very reluctant user of pen and paper. Even on the rare occasion where I am sufficiently moved to take handwritten notes, they frequently end up to be little more than random doodling. Soon…
The Koss Corp. fraud case has been in the news since the end of December, so why am I just getting around to writing about it now? Because, that's the way I roll, man. I don't know if anyone has…
The accounting world has been all aflutter since last Friday, February 19th, when at what must have been the latest possible moment, the SEC announced that it will hold a meeting tomorrow, February 24th, to "…consider whether to publish a…
Far too often (like here), I have been compelled to point out that "presented fairly" is much more sizzle than steak. I, myself, am sizzled over the fact that convergence with IFRS seems to be pushing financial reporting further from "fair,"…
It took seven years for the FASB and IASB to publish its "preliminary views" exposure draft (ED) on the fundamental issues addressed by the Boards' joint financial statement presentation project. And just recently, the FASB staff has posted a ten-page…
I have written about initial recognition of goodwill on numerous occasions. I suppose it might be less bothersome if goodwill had the good grace to sit and stay like a good dog on the balance sheet at its opening 'value';…
I had believed that one of the few positives to come out of the wave of accounting scandals that broke at the beginning of the just-completed decade would be a general awareness of the critical role that financial reporting and…
My blog 'readership' (shame on me for using such a stuffy term!) primarily consists of preparers, auditors and journalists. But, for those intrepid analysts who actually do read my blog, this week I have something especially for you! I humbly…