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Accounting Research Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of Developments
December 20-22, 2010
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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:

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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

Other Expenses -- FASB Provides Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Fee Expense Guidance
Goodwill -- FASB Amends Goodwill Impairment Test
Business Combinations -- FASB Issues Guidance on Disclosure of Pro Forma Information
New Accounting Standards -- Checklist Updated
Health Insurers -- FASB Proposes Health Insurers Fee Expense Guidance
Revenue Recognition -- FASB Proposes Health Care Entity Revenue Presentation Guidance
Fair Value Measurement -- FASB Discusses Fair Value Measurement and Other Matters
EITF Matters -- November 19, 2010 Meeting Minutes Published
Contingencies -- PCAOB Publishes Staff Practice Alert on Auditor Consideration of Litigation and Other Contingencies
Asset-Backed Securities -- SEC Adopts Extension of Filing Accommodation for Static Pool Information
Income Taxes -- IASB Issues IAS 12 Amendment
International Accounting -- 2011 Edition of International Accounting/Financial Reporting Guide Published
Inflation -- IASB Amends IFRS 1

Auditing and Internal Controls Headlines

Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit -- Clarified Statement on Auditing Standards Discussed
Independence -- AICPA Publishes SSAE No. 17
AICPA Professional Standards -- Checklist Updated
Contingencies -- PCAOB Publishes Staff Practice Alert on Auditor Consideration of Litigation and Other Contingencies

Government Headlines

Service Concession Arrangements -- GASB 60 Issued
Financial Reporting Entity -- GASB 61 Issued
GASB Standards -- GASB 60, 61 and 62 Discussed

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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
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Other Expenses -- FASB Provides Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Fee Expense Guidance
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The FASB has issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-27, Other Expenses (Topic 720): Fees Paid to the Federal Government by Pharmaceutical Manufacturers. This ASU provides guidance resulting from EITF Issue No. 10-D on how pharmaceutical manufacturers should recognize and classify in their income statements fees mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (the Acts).

The Acts impose an annual fee on the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry for each calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2011. An entity’s portion of the annual fee is payable no later than September 30 of the applicable calendar year and is not tax deductible. A portion of the annual fee will be allocated to individual entities on the basis of the amount of their branded prescription drug sales for the preceding year as a percentage of the industry’s branded prescription drug sales for the same period. An entity’s portion of the annual fee becomes payable to the U.S. Treasury once a pharmaceutical manufacturing entity has a gross receipt from branded prescription drug sales to any specified government program or in accordance with coverage under any government program for each calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

The amendments in this ASU specify that the liability for the fee should be estimated and recorded in full upon the first qualifying sale with a corresponding deferred cost that is amortized to expense using a straight-line method of allocation unless another method better allocates the fee over the calendar year that it is payable.

The amendments in this ASU are effective for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010, when the fee initially becomes effective.

Goodwill -- FASB Amends Goodwill Impairment Test
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The FASB has issued ASU No. 2010-28, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): When to Perform Step 2 of the Goodwill Impairment Test for Reporting Units with Zero or Negative Carrying Amounts. This ASU reflects the decision reached in EITF Issue No. 10-A. The amendments in this ASU modify Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with zero or negative carrying amounts. For those reporting units, an entity is required to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment test if it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists. In determining whether it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists, an entity should consider whether there are any adverse qualitative factors indicating that an impairment may exist. The qualitative factors are consistent with the existing guidance and examples, which require that goodwill of a reporting unit be tested for impairment between annual tests if an event occurs or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit below its carrying amount.

For public entities, the amendments in this ASU are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is not permitted. For nonpublic entities, the amendments are effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those years, beginning after December 15, 2011. Nonpublic entities may early adopt the amendments using the effective date for public entities.

Business Combinations -- FASB Issues Guidance on Disclosure of Pro Forma Information
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The FASB has issued ASU 2010-29, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business Combinations. This ASU reflects the decision reached in EITF Issue No. 10-G. The amendments in this ASU affect any public entity as defined by Topic 805, Business Combinations, that enters into business combinations that are material on an individual or aggregate basis.

The amendments in this ASU specify that if a public entity presents comparative financial statements, the entity should disclose revenue and earnings of the combined entity as though the business combination(s) that occurred during the current year had occurred as of the beginning of the comparable prior annual reporting period only. The amendments also expand the supplemental pro forma disclosures to include a description of the nature and amount of material, nonrecurring pro forma adjustments directly attributable to the business combination included in the reported pro forma revenue and earnings.

The amendments are effective prospectively for business combinations for which the acquisition date is on or after the beginning of the first annual reporting period beginning on or after December 15, 2010. Early adoption is permitted.

New Accounting Standards -- Checklist Updated
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We have updated our publication "Summary Checklist of Recent Authoritative U.S. Accounting Standards." This checklist is intended to serve as a reference tool to help users ensure that they have considered authoritative standards recently issued or approved by the FASB. The checklist is updated shortly after the FASB adds content to the Codification. The standards are listed by source and a summary of the transition guidance is provided with a reference to the relevant Codification paragraph(s). Effective dates and application (adoption) requirements are also presented.

We have updated our checklist to reflect the issuance of ASU 2010-27, 2010-28 and 2010-29 discussed above.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

Health Insurers -- FASB Proposes Health Insurers Fee Expense Guidance
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The FASB has issued for public comment a proposed ASU, Other Expenses (Topic 720): Fees Paid to the Federal Government by Health Insurers. The objective of this proposed ASU is to address questions on how health insurers should recognize and classify in their income statements fees mandated by the Acts. This ASU reflects the decisions reached in EITF Issue No. 09-H.

The Acts impose an annual fee on health insurers for each calendar year beginning on or after January 1, 2014. A health insurer’s portion of the annual fee is payable no later than September 30 of the applicable calendar year and is not tax deductible. A portion of the annual fee will be allocated to individual health insurers based on the ratio of both of the following amounts incurred by individual health insurers in relation to the amounts incurred by all covered entities: (a) the amount of their net premiums written with respect to health insurance for any U.S. health risk that is written during the preceding calendar year; plus (b) 200% of the covered entity’s third-party administrative agreement fees. A health insurance entity’s portion of the annual fee becomes payable to the U.S. Treasury once the entity provides health insurance for any U.S. health risk for each applicable calendar year.

The amendments in this proposal specify that the liability for the fee should be estimated and recorded in full once the entity provides qualifying health insurance in the applicable calendar year in which the fee is payable with a corresponding deferred cost that is amortized to expense using a straight-line method of allocation unless another method better allocates the fee over the calendar year that it is payable. Additionally, the proposal indicates that the fee would not meet the definition of an "acquisition cost" as amended by FASB ASU No. 2010-26, Financial Services-Insurance (Topic 944): Accounting for Costs Associated with Acquiring or Renewing Insurance Contracts.

As proposed, this ASU would be effective for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2013, when the fee initially becomes effective.

Comments on this proposal are due by April 18, 2011.

Revenue Recognition -- FASB Proposes Health Care Entity Revenue Presentation Guidance
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The FASB has issued for public comment a proposed ASU, Health Care Entities (Topic 954): Presentation and Disclosure of Net Revenue, Provision for Bad Debts, and the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. The amendments in this proposed ASU would require a health care entity to change the presentation of its statement of operations by reclassifying the provision for bad debts from an operating expense to a reduction from revenue (net of contractual allowances and discounts). Additionally, a health care entity would be required to provide enhanced disclosure about how it considers collectibility in determining the amount and timing of revenue and bad debt expense. The amendments also would require disclosures of revenue, net of contractual allowances and discounts, as well as a reconciliation of the activity in the allowance for doubtful accounts by major payor type.

The effective date for the amendments in this proposal will be determined after the EITF considers the feedback on the proposed amendments.

Comments on this proposal are due February 15, 2011.

Fair Value Measurement -- FASB Discusses Fair Value Measurement and Other Matters
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As reported in its "Summary of Board Decisions" publication, the FASB met on December 21, 2010, and discussed the following issues: (a) fair value measurement; and (b) accounting for financial instruments: classification and measurement. The FASB continued its deliberations on its project on fair value measurement and tentatively decided not to permit exceptions for nonpublic entities to the fair value principles and concepts applicable to the measurement of fair value in the amendments to Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures. The FASB tentatively decided that the amendments to Topic 820 will require nonpublic entities to disclose a number of items, including the current use when a nonfinancial asset is measured subsequently at fair value and the highest and best use of the asset differs from its current use as well as the reasons why the asset is being used in a manner that differs from its highest and best use. The FASB also tentatively decided that nonpublic entities will not be required to disclose the following:

-The level in which a fair value measurement would be categorized within the fair value hierarchy for assets and liabilities not recognized at fair value but for which disclosure of fair value is required;
-Transfers between Levels 1 and 2 of the fair value hierarchy; and
-A qualitative discussion about the sensitivity of a Level 3 fair value measurement to changes in unobservable inputs and any inter-relationships between those inputs that magnify or mitigate the effect on the measurement.

EITF Matters -- November 19, 2010 Meeting Minutes Published
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The final meeting minutes of the November 19, 2010 EITF meeting have been issued. The minutes document the results previously described in our EITF Flash Report. As discussed in the minutes, the EITF reached a final consensus on:

-EITF Issue No. 09-H, "Health Care Entities: Presentation and Disclosure of Net Revenue, Provision for Bad Debts, and the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts" (see discussion of proposed ASU above);
-EITF Issue No. 10-A, "When to Perform Step 2 of the Goodwill Impairment Test for Reporting Units with Zero or Negative Carrying Amounts" (see discussion of ASU 2010-28 above);
-EITF Issue No. 10-D, "Fees Paid to the Federal Government by Pharmaceutical Manufacturers" (see discussion of ASU 2010-27 above); and
-EITF Issue No. 10-G, "Disclosure of Supplementary Pro Forma Information for Business Combinations" (see discussion of ASU 2010-29 above).

Contingencies -- PCAOB Publishes Staff Practice Alert on Auditor Consideration of Litigation and Other Contingencies
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The PCAOB has issued Staff Audit Practice Alert No. 7, Auditor Considerations of Litigation and Other Contingencies Arising from Mortgage and Other Loan Activities. This Alert advises auditors that the potential risks and costs associated with mortgage and foreclosure-related activities or exposures, such as those discussed in recent "Dear CFO" letters issued by the SEC staff that could have implications for audits of financial statements or of internal control over financial reporting. These implications might include accounting for litigation or other loss contingencies and the related disclosures. Auditors should consider the effect of these matters during their reviews of interim financial information, year-end audits, and attestation engagements on assessments of compliance with servicing criteria.

Asset-Backed Securities -- SEC Adopts Extension of Filing Accommodation for Static Pool Information
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The SEC has issued a final rule, Extension of Filing Accommodation for Static Pool Information in Filings With Respect to Asset-Backed Securities. This final rule includes an amendment to Rule 312 of Regulation S-T to further extend its application for eighteen months. Rule 312 provides a temporary filing accommodation for filings with respect to asset-backed securities that allows static pool information required to be disclosed in a prospectus of an asset-backed issuer to be provided on an Internet website under certain conditions. Under this rule, such information is deemed to be included in the prospectus included in the registration statement for the asset-backed securities. As a result of the extension, the rule will apply to filings with respect to asset-backed securities filed on or before June 30, 2012.

This final rule is effective December 31, 2010.

Income Taxes -- IASB Issues IAS 12 Amendment
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The IASB issued amendments to IAS 12, Income Taxes. The amendments, discussed in Deferred Tax: Recovery of Underlying Assets, result from proposals published for public comment in an exposure draft in September 2010. IAS 12 requires an entity to measure the deferred tax relating to an asset depending on whether the entity expects to recover the carrying amount of the asset through use or sale. It can be difficult and subjective to assess whether recovery will be through use or through sale when the asset is measured using the fair value model in IAS 40, Investment Property. Therefore, the amendment provides a practical solution to the problem by introducing a presumption that recovery of the carrying amount will normally be through sale.

As a result of the amendments, SIC-21, Income Taxes-Recovery of Revalued Non-Depreciable Assets, would no longer apply to investment properties carried at fair value. The amendments also incorporate into IAS 12 the remaining guidance previously contained in SIC-21, which is now withdrawn.

International Accounting -- 2011 Edition of International Accounting/Financial Reporting Guide Published
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We have published the 2011 edition of the International Accounting/Financial Reporting Standards Guide. The primary objective of this publication is to provide a resource for those who need to understand or interpret financial statements prepared following accounting principles issued by the IASB. This edition of the publication has been updated to incorporate new and revised international accounting and reporting requirements through early September 2010 relating to financial statements for years beginning on or after January 1, 2011.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

Inflation -- IASB Amends IFRS 1
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The IASB has issued Severe Hyperinflation and Removal of Fixed Dates for First-time Adopters: Amendments to IFRS 1. This guidance replaces references to a fixed date of "January 1, 2004" with "the date of transition to IFRSs," thus eliminating the need for companies adopting IFRSs for the first time to restate derecognition transactions that occurred before the date of transition to IFRSs. This guidance is intended to provide relief for first time adopters of IFRSs from having to reconstruct transactions that occurred before their date of transition to IFRSs. In addition, this guidance provides how an entity should resume presenting financial statements in accordance with IFRSs after a period when the entity was unable to comply with IFRSs because its functional currency was subject to severe hyperinflation.

Entities are required to apply the amendments for annual periods beginning on or after July 1, 2011. Earlier application is permitted.

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:
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AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
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Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit -- Clarified Statement on Auditing Standards Discussed
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We have added a GAAS Update Service that provides discussion and analysis of a clarified Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit, which was issued as part of the AICPA's Clarity Project. The clarified SAS will supersede SAS 107 (AU Section 312), Audit Risk and Materiality in Conducting an Audit, and addresses the auditor’s responsibility to apply the concept of materiality in planning and performing a financial statement audit.

The clarified SAS is effective for audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2012.

The AICPA’s Clarity Project is intended to make existing U.S. generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) easier to understand, apply, and move toward converging U.S. GAAS with International Standards on Auditing issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. For further information on the AICPA's Clarity Project, see our previously published discussion and analysis in our publication "A Closer Look."

Independence -- AICPA Publishes SSAE No. 17
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The Auditing and Review Services Committee of the AICPA has issued Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 17, Reporting on Compiled Prospective Financial Statements When the Practitioner’s Independence Is Impaired. SSAE 17 amends AT section 301 of the codified attestation standards to permit, but not require, accountants to disclose the reason for an impairment of independence in a report on compiled prospective financial information.

SSAE 17 is effective for compilations of prospective financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2010. Early application is permitted.

AICPA Professional Standards -- Checklist Updated
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We have updated our publication "Summary Checklist of Recent Authoritative AICPA Professional Standards." This checklist is intended to serve as a reference used to review those engagement and other related authoritative standards recently issued by the AICPA.

We have updated our checklist to reflect the issuance of SSAE 17, discussed above. The checklist has also been updated for the release of Statements on Quality Control Standards No. 8, A Firm’s System of Quality Control (Redrafted), issued in November 2010 by the Auditing Standards Board of the AICPA.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

Contingencies -- PCAOB Publishes Staff Practice Alert on Auditor Consideration of Litigation and Other Contingencies
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com


As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC Summaries, the PCAOB has issued Staff Audit Practice Alert No. 7, Auditor Considerations of Litigation and Other Contingencies Arising from Mortgage and Other Loan Activities. This Alert advises auditors that the potential risks and costs associated with mortgage and foreclosure-related activities or exposures, such as those discussed in recent "Dear CFO" letters issued by the SEC staff, that could have implications for audits of financial statements or of internal control over financial reporting. These implications might include accounting for litigation or other loss contingencies and the related disclosures. Auditors should consider the effect of these matters during their reviews of interim financial information, year-end audits, and attestation engagements on assessments of compliance with servicing criteria.

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


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GOVERNMENT HEADLINES:
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Service Concession Arrangements -- GASB 60 Issued
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The GASB has issued GASB Statement No. 60, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Service Concession Arrangements. GASB 60 addresses how to account for and report service concession arrangements (SCAs), a type of public-private or public-public partnership that state and local governments are increasingly entering into. Common examples of SCAs include long-term arrangements in which a government (the "transferor") engages a company or another government (the "operator") to operate a major capital asset in return for the right to collect fees from users of the capital asset. In these SCAs, the operator generally makes a large up-front payment to the transferor. Alternatively, the operator may build a new capital asset for the transferor and operate it on the transferor's behalf.

The requirements of GASB 60 are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after December 15, 2011. In general, its provisions are required to be applied retroactively for all periods presented.

Financial Reporting Entity -- GASB 61 Issued
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The GASB has issued GASB Statement No. 61, The Financial Reporting Entity: Omnibus. GASB 61 is designed to improve financial reporting for governmental entities by amending the requirements of GASB Statement No. 14, The Financial Reporting Entity, and GASB Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements-and Management's Discussion and Analysis-for State and Local Governments, to better meet the needs of users and address reporting entity issues that have come to light since GASB 14 and GASB 34 were issued in 1991 and 1999, respectively.

GASB 61 is intended to improve the information presented about the financial reporting entity, which is comprised of a primary government and related entities (component units). In addition, GASB 61 amends the criteria for blending - reporting component units as if they were part of the primary government - in certain circumstances.

The requirements of GASB 61 are effective for financial statements for periods beginning after June 15, 2012. Earlier application is encouraged.

GASB Standards -- GASB 60, 61 and 62 Discussed
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We have added a Governmental GAAP Update Service that discusses the issuance of GASB 60 and 61. See our discussion of GASB 60 and 61 above. In addition, this update discusses the expected issuance of GASB Statement No. 62, Codification of Pre-November 30, 1989 FASB and AICPA Pronouncements, which is expected to provide a complete set of all pre-November 30, 1989 FASB and AICPA pronouncements that are currently in place and in use by governments.

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