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Accounting Research Manager(TM)
Weekly Summary of Developments
December 27-31, 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:

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

Financial Instruments -- 2011 Edition Published
Service Organizations -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert
Risk Assessment Standards -- SEC Approves PCAOB Rules
Summary Checklist -- Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules
IASB Update -- IASB Meetings
IFRS for SMEs -- IFRS for SMEs Training and Other Matters Discussed

Auditing and Internal Controls Headlines

Proposed SAS -- Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards
Service Organizations -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert
Risk Assessment Standards -- SEC Approves PCAOB Rules
Summary Checklist -- Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules

Government Headlines

GASB Standards -- Summary Checklist of GASB Standards Updated
Government Accounting Standards -- 2011 Edition of Governmental GAAP Guide
State and Local Audits -- 2011 Edition of Knowledge-Based Audits of State and Local Governments with Single Audits

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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
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Financial Instruments -- 2011 Edition Published
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have published the 2011 edition of Financial Instruments. The primary objective of this publication is to serve as a comprehensive reference manual of GAAP in the U.S. for financial instruments, including loans, securities, securitizations, and derivatives. Examples of the literature that this edition has been updated to reflect include:

-FASB Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2010-01, Equity (Topic 505) – Accounting for Distributions to Shareholders with Components of Stock and Cash;
-ASU No. 2010-06, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Topic 820) – Improving Disclosures about Fair Value Measurements;
-ASU No. 2010-10, Consolidation (Topic 810) – Amendments for Certain Investment Funds;
-ASU No. 2010-11, Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815) – Scope Exception Related to Embedded Credit Derivatives; and
-New SEC guidance, including several positions communicated by members of the SEC staff in speeches and letters to industry.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

Service Organizations -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The AICPA has issued an Audit Risk Alert, Service Organizations - New Reporting Options -- 2010-2011.

Audit Risk Alerts are intended to provide auditors of financial statements with an overview of recent economic, industry, technical, regulatory, and professional developments that may affect the audits and other engagements they perform. Topics covered in these Alerts include: (a) regulatory activities; (b) economic and industry developments or trends; (c) recent auditing and attestation pronouncements and related guidance; (d) recent AICPA independence and ethics pronouncements; and (e) future or emerging issues to monitor.

Risk Assessment Standards -- SEC Approves PCAOB Rules
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The SEC has issued, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; Order Approving Proposed Rules on Auditing Standards Related to the Auditor’s Assessment of and Response to Risk and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards. This order approves the following eight PCAOB auditing standards related to the auditor’s assessment of, and response to, risk in an audit:

-PCAOB Auditing Standard (AS) No. 8, “Audit Risk”;
-AS No. 9, “Audit Planning”;
-AS No. 10, “Supervision of the Audit Engagement”;
-AS No. 11, “Consideration of Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit”;
-AS No. 12, “Identifying and Assessing Risks of Material Misstatement”;
-AS No. 13, “The Auditor’s Responses to the Risks of Material Misstatement”;
-AS No. 14, “Evaluating Audit Results”; and
-AS No. 15, “Audit Evidence.”

These rules are effective for audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2010.

Summary Checklist -- Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have updated our Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules. The checklist now includes the eight PCAOB auditing standards discussed above.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

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

The IASB reported in its "IASB Update" a staff summary of the tentative decisions reached by the IASB at the IASB/FASB joint board meeting and the IASB Board meeting that took place between December 13-17, 2010. Topics discussed included:

-Asset and liability offsetting;
-Consolidation;
-Fair value measurement;
-Financial instruments: hedge accounting (education session);
-Financial instruments: impairment;
-IFRS 1 - severe hyperinflation;
-Insurance contracts (education session);
-Post-employment benefits; and
-Revenue recognition.

IFRS for SMEs -- IFRS for SMEs Training and Other Matters Discussed
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The IASB staff has issued "IFRS for SMEs Update" which is a staff summary of news relating to the International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-Sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs). This update includes discussion of the following topics:

-Spanish training presentations are available;
-Brazilian Portuguese translation published;
-Upcoming train the trainers workshops in Kazakhstan, Singapore, and Caribbean;
-News about adoptions of the IFRS for SMEs; and
-Where to obtain IFRS for SMEs materials.

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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AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
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Proposed SAS -- Proposed Statement on Auditing Standards
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

The AICPA Auditing Standards Board issued for public comment a proposed Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), Alert as to the Intended Use of the Auditor’s Written Communication (Redrafted). This proposed statement is being issued as part of the AICPA's "Clarity Project" and would supersede SAS No. 87, Restricting the Use of an Auditor’s Report (AU sec. 532).

Among the proposed changes, this proposal would establish an umbrella requirement to include an alert as to the intended use of the auditor’s written communication when the subject matter of that communication is based on the following:

-Measurement or disclosure criteria that are determined by the auditor to be suitable only for a limited number of users who can be presumed to have an adequate understanding of the criteria;

-Measurement or disclosure criteria that are available only to the specified parties; or

-Matters identified by the auditor during the course of the engagement that are not the primary objective of the engagement (commonly referred to as a by-product report).

The proposed SAS would be effective for written communications related to audits of financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2012, and, for all other engagements conducted in accordance with GAAS, for written communications issued on or after December 15, 2012. Comments are due April 29, 2011.

The AICPA’s Clarity Project is intended to make existing U.S. GAAS easier to understand, apply, and move toward converging such standards 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".

Service Organizations -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC Summaries, the AICPA has issued an Audit Risk Alert, Service Organizations - New Reporting Options -- 2010-2011.

Audit Risk Alerts are intended to provide auditors of financial statements with an overview of recent economic, industry, technical, regulatory, and professional developments that may affect the audits and other engagements they perform. Topics covered in these Alerts include: (a) regulatory activities; (b) economic and industry developments or trends; (c) recent auditing and attestation pronouncements and related guidance; (d) recent AICPA independence and ethics pronouncements; and (e) future or emerging issues to monitor.

Risk Assessment Standards -- SEC Approves PCAOB Rules
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC Summaries, the SEC has issued, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board; Order Approving Proposed Rules on Auditing Standards Related to the Auditor’s Assessment of and Response to Risk and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards. This order approves the following eight PCAOB auditing standards related to the auditor’s assessment of, and response to, risk in an audit:

-PCAOB Auditing Standard (AS) No. 8, “Audit Risk”;
-AS No. 9, “Audit Planning”;
-AS No. 10, “Supervision of the Audit Engagement”;
-AS No. 11, “Consideration of Materiality in Planning and Performing an Audit”;
-AS No. 12, “Identifying and Assessing Risks of Material Misstatement”;
-AS No. 13, “The Auditor’s Responses to the Risks of Material Misstatement”;
-AS No. 14, “Evaluating Audit Results”; and
-AS No. 15, “Audit Evidence.”

These rules are effective for audits of fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2010.

Summary Checklist -- Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have updated our Summary Checklist of Recent PCAOB Standards and Rules. The checklist now includes the eight PCAOB auditing standards discussed above.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

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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GASB Standards -- Summary Checklist of GASB Standards Updated
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have updated our “Summary Checklist of Recent GASB Standards,” which is intended to serve as a reference tool to review authoritative standards recently issued by the GASB. This checklist has been updated for the release of:

-GASB Statement No. 60, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Service Concession Arrangements; and
-GASB Statement No. 61, The Financial Reporting Entity: Omnibus - an amendment of GASB Statements No. 14 and No. 34.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

Government Accounting Standards -- 2011 Edition of Governmental GAAP Guide
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have published the 2011 edition of the Governmental GAAP Guide. This publication helps financial professionals who work with state and local governments stay current with emerging governmental standards. This edition has been updated to include:

-GASB Statement No. 57, OPEB Measurements by Agent Employers and Agent Multiple-Employer Plans;
-GASB Statement No. 58, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Chapter 9 Bankruptcies; and
-GASB Statement No. 59, Financial Instruments Omnibus.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

State and Local Audits -- 2011 Edition of Knowledge-Based Audits of State and Local Governments with Single Audits
For detail, please contact info@zy-cpa.com

We have published the 2011 edition of Knowledge-Based Audits of State and Local Governments with Single Audits. This publication addresses the requirements of the relevant AICPA Statements on Auditing Standards (SASs) and Audit and Accounting Guides, as well as the GAO's Government Auditing Standards, and other professional literature that relates to audits of local governments. This edition has been updated to reflect or include the following:

-Updated presentation and disclosure checklist through GASB Statement No. 59, Financial Instruments Omnibus;
-SAS No. 117, Compliance Audits;
-SAS No. 118, Other Information in Documents Containing Audited Financial Statements;
-SAS No. 119, Supplementary Information in Relation to the Financial Statements as a Whole;
-SAS No. 120, Required Supplementary Information; and
-Coverage of changes in OMB Circular A-133, including the recent annual OMB Compliance Supplement, and the changes due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

See our Literature Update for complete details.

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