Financial Accounting Standards Research Initiative

Hi everyone, So i was yabbering on and on today in class about the risk & uncertainty items in the financial statements & notes … and those in the MD&A. I was saying the MD&A, which is in the front end of the annual report, etc… blah blah blah.  A student came up and said he [...] Read more > >

If you read our ABOUT page at the top menu of the FASRI website, you will see that FASRI doesn’t just lead discussions about accounting research (as fascinating as that may be).  We also actively support researchers who are willing to work with FASB staff to conduct original research studies.  At next week’s Round Table [...] Read more > >

A few weeks ago, in a post entitled “Why Do Standard Setters Make Such Awful Decisions?,”  I cited Zoe-Vonna Palmrose as one of several academics who think that the FASB’s embrace of fair-value accounting is so obviously mistaken that even children could see it.  Bill Kinney pointed out that my recollection of Zoe-Vonna’s 2005 presentation [...] Read more > >

Need to know about new securitization rules for your classes this fall?  Have no fear!  Check out this webcast being offered by the FASB, which promises to be an excellent chance to catch up on the new rules related to securitization: FASB Webcast Series Amendments to the Accounting for Securitizations and Special Purpose Entities The Financial Accounting Standards [...] Read more > >

The FASB has approved an Editorial Assistant position for FASRI.net.  This highly visible job provides an excellent opportunity for someone who likes writing and is interested in policy-oriented accounting research.   While the details of the position will be open to modification, based on the interests of the applicant and the changing needs of FASRI, [...] Read more > >

On Tuesday, August 25th, 4 pm ET, we will be joined by Ted Christensen and Jeff Wilks (both of Brigham Young University) as we discuss the FASB and IASB’s proposed changes to revenue recognition. As you may know, Jeff played a significant role in the FASB/IASB joint project on revenue recognition during his time as an [...] Read more > >

The comment letter deadline for the IASB/FASB discussion paper on revenue recognition was June 19, 2009. The staff recently presented a high-level summary of the 200+ comment letters received by the boards. Given my recent posts (July 30 and Aug. 11) on the AAA FASC’s comment letter, I thought it might be useful to consider [...] Read more > >

I have been diving in to the FASB’s (and IASB’s) newly-energized discussions on cash flow reporting.  One of the most contentious aspects of the issue is that users want direct cash flow data that reports the inflows and outflows, broken down by the function and nature of the spending.  For example, is that cash outflow [...] Read more > >

We had a record audience for today’s talk with Steve Kachelmeier:  almost 50 people on the web and 30 people in Second Life.  And no one had to get stuck in an airport.  If you missed it, just go to our LIVE page and follow the instructions to see his talk ‘on demand’. In other news, [...] Read more > >

As reported in the FEI Financial Reporting Blog, a CFO.com article by David McCann captured some recent remarks made by Wayne Carnall, the SEC Division of Corp. Fin. Chief Accountant.  In response to questions about whether firms would have to amend existing filings to make specific references from the legacy body of GAAP literature consistent [...] Read more > >

One of the topics that came up in last week’s Round Table on Alternative Conceptual Frameworks was a discussion of the true and fair override. It came up when we were talking about one difference between US GAAP and IFRS being that the FASB’s conceptual framework is not authoritative. Even though IFRS requires [...] Read more > >

Has anyone read MYTH OF THE RATIONAL MAN?  This is written by Justin Fox (time reporter and previously Fortune, i believe).  It was recommended to me.. has anyone read it? Read more > >

The Author As indicated below, Steve Kachelmeier, Senior Editor of The Accounting Review, will be joining us for a Round Table discussion on Wednesday, August 19th at 11am ET. For preparation, I would strongly recommend that you take a look at this fascinating (and very easy-reading) essay by former editor of the American Economic Review, Preston McAffee, [...] Read more > >

During today’s Round Table Discussion, an issue arose as to why (some, many?) accountants feel the need for a conceptual framework.  One contributor noted that Basu and Waymire have a paper that observes other business disciplines (e.g., marketing) do not appear to have conceptual frameworks.  Why accounting? My own speculation is that while accounting and marketing [...] Read more > >

So far, no one has responded to my questions about the importance of contracts for revenue recognition. So, let me venture to ask a few more questions that occurred to me while reading the FASC’s comment letter on the revenue recognition discussion paper. In their response to Q9, the authors state: The traditional “income statement” approach suggests [...] Read more > >

Steve Kachelemeier, Senior Editor of The Accounting Review, will join us on Wednesday, August 19th, at 11am ET.  As usual, Steve will take a few minutes to make his opening points, and then we will turn to Q&A.  Please come prepared with questions, and feel free to suggest some in the comment thread below. To get [...] Read more > >

Following up on my last post, I had a very entertaining discussion with a Very Successful Accounting Researcher (VSAR) last week at the AAA meetings on the topic.  After VSAR criticized some decision or other of the FASB, I asked “Why do standard setters make such awful decisions?”  We were talking in a noisy room [...] Read more > >

Everyone, it seems, likes to complain about the decisions of the FASB and IASB.  Some complain that the Boards are too beholden to the wishes of preparers, by allowing them to park debt off their balance sheets, hide volatile income numbers in the Statement of Changes in Shareholder’s Equity (rather than running through earnings), and [...] Read more > >

I just saw this over the weekend in Fortune (see link right here).  Quite funny on how companies report their earnings and how the press reports on them. Is this a testable idea? Probably – the congruence between co. reports and the press reports. Read more > >

Tuesday, August 11th at 4pm we will be discussing two alternatives to the FASB’s Conceptual Framework Project. One is this document from by the AAA’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee, which Jeffrey has already written about.  I dissented from this document, primarily because it didn’t attempt to specify the objectives of financial reporting (you can read [...] Read more > >

The AAA’s Financial Accounting Standards Committee recently put together a proposal for an alternative conceptual framework. Conceptual frameworks (CF), by their nature, deal with such fundamental and far-reaching concepts that these types of intellectual ventures are bound to generate disagreement. This proposal is no exception, as evidenced by the dissenting opinions, and is [...] Read more > >

At the last round table session, we were discussing something and a comment came up about “history matters….” I was thinking that I should clarify where that comment comes from .. give an example. Just a couple of years ago, I had no idea what that phrase meant. Here goes … Should the accounting differ depending on [...] Read more > >

These are tough times for academic departments around the world.  Hiring is down, budgets are tight, many faculty are already teaching overloads, and workshop series and PhD seminars are often the first to come under the Dean’s scrutiny when looking for places to trim costs. So as the FASRI Editorial Board prepares for the AAA Annual [...] Read more > >