===================================================
Accounting Research Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of Developments
June 22-26, 2009
===================================================

Accounting Research Manager subscriber,

The Accounting Research Manager database now contains this week's weekly summary of developments. Click the link below to access and print the fully-formatted Weekly Summary:

For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

If you do not have immediate Internet access to the Accounting Research Manager database, below is the text of this week's Weekly Summary.

Accounting and SEC Headlines

Credit Losses -- FASB Proposes Guidance to Enhance Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and Allowance for Credit Losses
Noncontrolling Interests -- FASB Discusses the Scope of Provisions in Statement 160
PCAOB Inspections -- PCAOB Publishes Amendments to the Inspection Frequency Requirements for Non-U.S. Firms
Management Commentary -- IASB Proposes Guidance for the Preparation and Presentation of Management Commentary

Auditing and Internal Controls Headlines

Accounting and Review Services -- SSARS 18 Discussed
PCAOB Inspections -- PCAOB Publishes Amendments to the Inspection Frequency Requirements for Non-U.S. Firm

Government Headlines

GASB Activities -- GASB's Technical Plan Discussed

=============================
ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
=============================

Credit Losses -- FASB Proposes Guidance to Enhance Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and Allowance for Credit Losses
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The FASB has issued for public comment an exposure draft, Disclosures about the Credit Quality of Financing Receivables and the Allowance for Credit Losses. This proposal would require enhanced disclosures about the allowance for credit losses and the credit quality of financing receivables. As proposed, this guidance would apply to financing receivables held by all creditors, including public and nonpublic entities that prepare financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. This proposal defines two levels of disaggregation: (1) portfolio segment; and (2) class of financing receivable. A portfolio segment is a higher level of aggregation and generally will have more than one class of financing receivables. A portfolio segment is defined as the level at which a creditor develops and documents a systematic methodology for determining its allowance for credit losses. A class of financing receivable is defined as a level of information that enables users of its financial statements to evaluate the nature and extent of the exposure to credit risk arising from financing receivables that a creditor holds at the date of the financial statements. This proposal provides additional implementation guidance to determine the appropriate level of disaggregation of information.

This proposal would create the following six major categories of disclosures:

-Allowance for credit losses;
-Rollforward schedules of financing receivables;
-Fair value;
-Credit quality information;
-Impaired financing receivables; and
-Nonaccrual status.

As proposed, this guidance would be effective beginning with the first interim or annual reporting period ending after December 15, 2009. Early application is encouraged.

Comments on this proposal are due August 24, 2009.

Noncontrolling Interests -- FASB Discusses the Scope of Provisions in Statement 160
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

As reported in its "Summary of Board Decisions" publication, the FASB met on June 24, 2009, and discussed the scope of certain provisions within FASB Statement No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements. Specifically, the FASB discussed input it had received from investors on its previous decisions on how to clarify the scope of the partial sale and deconsolidation provisions of Statement 160, and affirmed the following decisions:

-Modify the scope of Statement 160 such that the partial sale and deconsolidation provisions would apply only to subsidiaries that are businesses or nonprofit activities;
-Address the matters raised in EITF Issue No. 08-10, “Selected Statement 160 Implementation Questions,” for which the EITF had not yet reached a final consensus;
-Modify EITF Issue No. 01-2, “Interpretations of APB Opinion No. 29,” to clarify that the exchange of a group of assets that constitutes a business in return for an equity interest should be accounted for in accordance with the deconsolidation provisions of Statement 160;
-The partial sale and deconsolidation provisions of Statement 160 would not apply to in-substance real estate transactions; and
-Statement 160 would apply when a subsidiary is transferred to an equity method investee or joint venture.

The FASB also decided to propose the following additional disclosure requirements:

-When an entity deconsolidates a subsidiary but retains a direct or indirect retained investment in that former subsidiary, the entity would measure that retained interest at fair value at the deconsolidation date. It would disclose the valuation technique(s) used to measure the fair value of that retained investment and any other information that enables users of its financial statements to assess the inputs used to develop the measurement.
-When an entity achieves a business combination in stages, it would remeasure to fair value the equity interest in the acquiree that it owned before the business combination. In those cases, the acquirer would disclose the valuation technique(s) used to measure the fair value of that retained investment and any other information that enables users of its financial statements to assess the inputs used to develop the measurement.
-When an entity deconsolidates a subsidiary, the entity would disclose the nature of its continuing involvement in the deconsolidated subsidiary.
-An entity would apply these new disclosure requirements upon its adoption of Statement 160. If an entity has already adopted Statement 160, it would apply these new requirements retroactively to all prior periods presented beginning in periods ending after December 15, 2009.

PCAOB Inspections -- PCAOB Publishes Amendments to the Inspection Frequency Requirements for Non-U.S. Firms
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The PCAOB has published, Final Rule Concerning the Timing of Certain Inspections of Non-U.S. Firms, and Other Issues Relating to Inspections of Non-U.S. Firms. This rule adopts an amendment to the inspection frequency requirements of PCAOB Rule 4003, Frequency of Inspections. Specifically, this amendment will give the PCAOB the ability to postpone, for up to three years, the first inspection of any foreign registered public accounting firms that the PCAOB is otherwise required to conduct before the end of 2009 and that is in a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has not conducted an inspection before 2009.

This final rule release also discusses a new transparency measure that the PCAOB intends to take that relates to the new rule. The PCAOB is expected to post a list of registered firms that have not yet had their first PCAOB inspection, even though more than four years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which they first issued an audit report while registered with the PCAOB. This particular list will be updated in January and July of each year.

The amendment to PCAOB Rule 4003 will take effect upon approval by the SEC.

Management Commentary -- IASB Proposes Guidance for the Preparation and Presentation of Management Commentary
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The IASB has issued for public comment an exposure draft, Management Commentary, which provides a proposed non-mandatory framework to help entities prepare and present a narrative report, often referred to as “management commentary.” Management commentary is an opportunity for management to outline how an entity’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows relate to management’s objectives and its strategies for achieving those objectives. The information contained in management commentary is of interest to investors and other users of financial statements. However, while management commentary reporting is mandatory in many jurisdictions, some do not have guidance for this type of narrative report. Many preparers and users therefore indicated a need for the IASB to provide such guidance. This proposal draws upon international best practice in the preparation and presentation of management commentary. The IASB believes that providing non-mandatory guidance will improve the consistency and the comparability of management commentary across jurisdictions.

Comments on this proposal are due March 1, 2010.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

=======================================
AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
=======================================

Accounting and Review Services -- SSARS 18 Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have added a GAAS Update Service that provides discussion and analysis of AICPA Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) No. 18, Applicability of Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services. SSARS 18 amends the existing guidance in AR Section 100, Compilation and Review of Financial Statements, so that SSARSs do not apply when the provisions of Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 116 (AU Section 722), Interim Financial Information, apply.

SSARS 18 is effective for compilations and reviews of financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2009. Early application is permitted.

PCAOB Inspections -- PCAOB Publishes Amendments to the Inspection Frequency Requirements for Non-U.S. Firms
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC Summaries, the PCAOB has published, Final Rule Concerning the Timing of Certain Inspections of Non-U.S. Firms, and Other Issues Relating to Inspections of Non-U.S. Firms. This rule adopts an amendment to the inspection frequency requirements of PCAOB Rule 4003, Frequency of Inspections. Specifically, this amendment will give the PCAOB the ability to postpone, for up to three years, the first inspection of any foreign registered public accounting firms that the PCAOB is otherwise required to conduct before the end of 2009 and that is in a jurisdiction where the PCAOB has not conducted an inspection before 2009.

This final rule release also discusses a new transparency measure that the PCAOB intends to take that relates to the new rule. The PCAOB is expected to post a list of registered firms that have not yet had their first PCAOB inspection, even though more than four years have passed since the end of the calendar year in which they first issued an audit report while registered with the PCAOB. This particular list will be updated in January and July of each year.

The amendment to PCAOB Rule 4003 will take effect upon approval by the SEC.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

======================
GOVERNMENT HEADLINES:
======================

GASB Activities -- GASB's Technical Plan Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have published a Governmental GAAP Update Service that discusses the GASB's approval of its updated technical plan. The most significant changes the GASB made to its technical plan include:

-Narrowing a project on public/private partnerships to a service concession arrangement project;
-Adding practice issue projects on: (a) codification of pre-November 30, 1989, FASB pronouncements; and (b) certain implementation issues associated with other postemployment benefits;
-Changing the expected completion dates for projects on: (a) service efforts and accomplishments; (b) conceptual framework-recognition and measurement attributes; and (c) financial instruments omnibus; and
-Adding a research project on government combinations.

Some of the documents listed above may not be accessible under your current subscription. For information about upgrading your subscription to include additional content, click here:
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com