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Accounting Research Manager®
Weekly Summary of Developments
September 19-23, 2011
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Accounting Research Manager
subscriber,
The Accounting Research Manager
database now contains this week's weekly summary of developments. Click the
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of this week's Weekly Summary.
Accounting and SEC
Headlines
Auditor's Role -- New Issue of "A Closer
Look" Published
Retirement Plans -- FASB Issues Guidance on
Multiemployer Plan Disclosures
New Accounting Standards -- Checklist Updated
Proxy Rules -- SEC Issues Notice of Effective
Date for Shareholder Proposal Rule
Leases -- FASB and IASB Discuss Leases and
Other Matters
Mine Costs -- IFRS Interpretations Committee
Discusses Levies Charged and Other Matters
Auditing and Internal
Controls Headlines
Auditor's Role -- New Issue of "A Closer
Look" Published
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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
=============================
Auditor's Role -- New Issue
of "A Closer Look" Published
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
We have prepared and published
another edition of “A Closer Look.” In this edition, we provide a discussion
and analysis of the following two concept releases issued by the PCAOB related
to improving auditors’ level of performance and the adequacy of communication
in their audits of public companies:
- Concept Release on
Possible Revisions to PCAOB Standards Related to Reports on Audited Financial
Statements and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards (Auditor’s Report
Concept Release) and
- Concept Release on
Auditor Independence and Audit Firm Rotation (Independence Concept Release)
The Auditor’s Report Concept
Release discusses alternative potential changes to the auditor’s report based
on concerns of investors and other financial statement users. Those
alternatives are intended to increase the transparency and relevance of the
auditor’s reporting. The Independence Concept Release focuses on the importance
of independence, objectivity, and professional skepticism to the auditor. In
addition, this concept release presents the PCAOB's
consideration of mandatory auditor rotation.
See our Literature Update for
complete details.
Retirement Plans -- FASB
Issues Guidance on Multiemployer Plan Disclosures
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
The FASB has issued Accounting
Standards Update (ASU) No. 2011-09, Compensation-Retirement
Benefits-Multiemployer Plans (Subtopic 715-80): Disclosures about an Employer’s
Participation in a Multiemployer Plan. ASU 2011-09 is intended to address
concerns from various users of financial statements on the lack of transparency
about an employer’s participation in a multiemployer pension plan. Users of
financial statements have requested additional disclosure to increase awareness
of the commitments and risks involved with participating in multiemployer
pension plans. The amendments in this ASU will require additional disclosures
about an employer’s participation in a multiemployer pension plan. Previously,
disclosures were limited primarily to the historical contributions made to the
plans.
ASU 2011-09 applies to
nongovernmental entities that participate in multiemployer plans. For public
entities, ASU 2011-09 is effective for annual periods for fiscal years ending
after December 15, 2011. For nonpublic entities, ASU 2011-09 is effective for
annual periods for fiscal years ending after December 15, 2012. Early adoption
is permissible for both public and nonpublic entities. ASU 2011-09 should be
applied retrospectively for all prior periods presented.
New Accounting Standards --
Checklist Updated
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
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 or revises content in the FASB Accounting Standards CodificationTM (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 2011-08, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other
(Topic 350): Testing Goodwill for Impairment. ASU 2011-08 will allow an
entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is necessary
to perform the two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. Under these
amendments, an entity would not be required to calculate the fair value of a
reporting unit unless the entity determines, based on a qualitative assessment,
that it is more likely than not that its fair value is less than its carrying
amount.
We have also updated our
checklist to reflect the issuance of ASU 2011-09, discussed above.
See our Literature Update for
complete details.
Proxy Rules -- SEC Issues
Notice of Effective Date for Shareholder Proposal Rule
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
The SEC has issued a notice of
effective date for its final rule, Facilitating Shareholder Director
Nominations. This final rule includes amendments to Rule 14a-8, the
shareholder proposal rule. Under those amendments, eligible shareholders are
permitted to require companies to include shareholder proposals regarding proxy
access procedures in company proxy materials.
On September 6, 2011, SEC
Chairman, Mary L. Schapiro, issued a statement confirming that the SEC will
seek neither rehearing nor Supreme Court review of the decision by the U.S.
Court of Appeals in
The shareholder proposal rule
is effective September 20, 2011.
Leases -- FASB and IASB
Discuss Leases and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
As reported in its
"Summary of Board Decisions" publication, the FASB and IASB (the
Boards) met on September 19, 2011, and discussed the following topics:
- Leases; and
- Insurance contracts.
Regarding their joint project
on lease accounting, the Boards discussed the following topics: (a) a
scope issue for assets treated as inventory; (b) the application of
financial asset guidance to the right to receive lease payments; (c)
other subsequent measurement issues for lessors; and
(d) the accounting for residual value guarantees by lessors.
The Boards reached a number of tentative decisions on these matters, including
the following:
- Not to provide a scope
exclusion from the leases standard for assets often treated as inventory, such
as non-depreciating spare parts, operating materials, and supplies, and that
are associated with the leasing of another underlying asset;
- A lessor
should subsequently measure the right to receive lease payments using the
effective interest method;
- A lessor
should refer to existing financial instruments guidance to assess the
impairment of that right to receive lease payments;
- A lessor
should refer to IAS 36, Impairment of Assets, or Topic 360, Property,
Plant, and Equipment, as appropriate, to assess the impairment of the
residual asset; and
- A lessor
should recognize changes in the right to receive lease payments due to
reassessments of variable lease payments that depend on an index or a rate
immediately in profit or loss.
Regarding their joint project
on insurance contracts, the Boards continued their discussions on disclosures
related to insurance contracts. The Boards tentatively decided to retain the
disclosures proposed in paragraphs 90-97 of the IASB's
Exposure Draft, Insurance Contracts, with certain changes, including to delete the requirement that an insurer shall not
aggregate information relating to different reportable segments to avoid a
conflict with the principle for the aggregation level of disclosures.
The FASB held a separate
meeting on September 19, 2011, and discussed whether the effective date of the
proposed revenue recognition standard should be deferred for nonpublic entities
beyond the effective date for public entities and decided that the effective
date of the new guidance for nonpublic entities will be a minimum of one year
after the effective date for public entities. The FASB previously indicated
that it expected the effective date for public entities to be no earlier than
annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2015. The FASB is expected to
reconsider the proposed effective date, and other aspects of the proposed
revenue recognition standard, before issuing a final standard.
Mine Costs -- IFRS
Interpretations Committee Discusses Levies Charged and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
As reported in its "IFRIC
Update" publication, the IFRS Interpretations Committee (IFRIC) met on
September 8-9, 2011, and discussed the following topics:
- Current agenda (levies
charged for participation in a market on a specified date);
- IFRIC agenda decisions and
tentative agenda decisions;
- IFRIC other issues
considered (first-time adoption of IFRS and operating segments);
- Issues considered for the
Annual Improvements Project; and
- Work in progress.
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@hkcmcpa.us
=======================================
AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS
HEADLINES:
=======================================
Auditor's Role -- New Issue
of "A Closer Look" Published
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
As discussed above in our
Accounting and SEC Summaries, we have prepared and published another edition of
“A Closer Look.” In this edition, we provide a discussion and analysis of the
following two concept releases issued by the PCAOB related to improving
auditors’ level of performance and the adequacy of communication in their
audits of public companies:
- Concept Release on
Possible Revisions to PCAOB Standards Related to Reports on Audited Financial
Statements and Related Amendments to PCAOB Standards (Auditor’s Report
Concept Release); and
- Concept Release on
Auditor Independence and Audit Firm Rotation (Independence Concept Release)
.
The Auditor’s Report Concept
Release discusses alternative potential changes to the auditor’s report based
on concerns of investors and other financial statement users. Those
alternatives are intended to increase the transparency and relevance of the
auditor’s reporting. The Independence Concept Release focuses on the importance
of independence, objectivity, and professional skepticism to the auditor. In
addition, this concept release presents the PCAOB's
consideration of mandatory auditor rotation.
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@hkcmcpa.us