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Accounting Research Manager®
Weekly Summary of Developments
March 5-9, 2012
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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@hkcmcpa.us

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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
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Nonpublic Entities -- FASB Adds Project on Defining Nonpublic Entities
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As reported in its "Summary of Board Decisions" publication, the FASB met on March 7, 2012, and discussed the following topics: (a) agenda decision announcement on the definition of a nonpublic entity; and (b) insurance contracts. The FASB Chairman announced the addition of an agenda project to re-examine the definition of a “nonpublic entity.” The decision to add the agenda project was based on comments from stakeholders requesting clarification of the existing definitions and ongoing questions about which definition of a nonpublic entity was being used in various projects. According to the FASB, there is also a similar need for clarity on the definition of a nonpublic entity with respect to the private company decision-making framework that the FASB staff has been developing. This project is expected to provide an opportunity to simplify the definition of a nonpublic entity, address a few known practice issues, and help to identify the scope of entities that would be considered in future discussion about potential differences in requirements for nonpublic entities.

Regarding its project on insurance contracts, the FASB discussed accounting for investment contracts with discretionary participation features. The FASB tentatively decided that investment contracts with discretionary participation features should not be included within the scope of the insurance contracts standard and therefore should be accounted for under the financial instruments guidance if the contracts do not meet the definition of insurance.

EITF Materials -- FASB Issues Additional Materials for March 15, 2012 EITF Meeting
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The FASB has issued the following additional materials for the March 15, 2012 EITF meeting:

-EITF Issue No. 11-A, "Parent's Accounting for the Cumulative Translation Adjustment (CTA) upon the Sale or Transfer of a Group of Assets within a Consolidated Foreign Entity That Meets the Definition of a Business" (issue summary supplement);
-EITF Issue No. 12-B, "Not-for-Profit Entities: Services Received from Employees of an Affiliated Entity" (issue summary); and
-EITF Issue No. 12-C, "Subsequent Accounting for an Indemnification Asset Recognized at the Acquisition Date as a Result of a Government-Assisted Acquisition of a Lending Institution" (issue summary).

Risk Alert -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert on Understanding the Clarified Auditing Statements
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The AICPA has issued an Audit Risk Alert, Understanding the Clarified Auditing Standards - 2012. This publication is intended to provide auditors with an overview of the clarified standards to be used in the planning and performance of a financial statement audit. Specifically, this publication provides guidance to assist auditors in understanding and transitioning to the clarified auditing standards issued as part of the AICPA's Clarity Project. The Auditing Standards Board has released Statement on Auditing Standards (SASs) Nos. 122-125, substantially completing the Clarity Project to redraft all of the auditing sections in "Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards" contained in AICPA Professional Standards.

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."

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AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
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SEC Filings -- AICPA Standard Discussed
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We have added a GAAS Update Service that provides discussion and analysis of a clarified SAS, Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Under the Securities Act of 1933, which was finalized as part of the AICPA's Clarity Project and subsequently designated as AU-C Section 925, Filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Under the Securities Act of 1933, by SAS 122, Statements on Auditing Standards: Clarification and Recodification. AU-C Section 925 will supersede SAS 37 (AU Section 711), Filings Under Federal Securities Statutes.

AU-C Section 925 will be effective for filings under the Securities Act of 1933 that include audited financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2012.

Risk Alert -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alert on Understanding the Clarified Auditing Statements
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us

As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC Summaries, the AICPA has issued an Audit Risk Alert, Understanding the Clarified Auditing Standards - 2012. This publication is intended to provide auditors with an overview of the clarified standards to be used in the planning and performance of a financial statement audit. Specifically, this publication provides guidance to assist auditors in understanding and transitioning to the clarified auditing standards issued as part of the AICPA's Clarity Project. The Auditing Standards Board has released Statement on Auditing Standards (SASs) Nos. 122-125, substantially completing its Clarity Project to redraft all of the auditing sections in "Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards" contained in AICPA Professional Standards.

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."

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

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GOVERNMENT HEADLINES:
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Economic Condition Reporting -- GASB Preliminary Views Discussed
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We have added a Governmental GAAP Update Service that discusses the GASB publication of Preliminary Views, Economic Condition Reporting: Financial Projections. The preliminary views document is the initial step in a due process that could last through 2013 when a final standard is expected to be released. This update discusses the following topics:

-Defining economic condition;
-Components of fiscal sustainability;
-Projecting financial information; and
-Other alternative views expressed by some members of the GASB.

Comments on the GASB's preliminary views document are due on March 16, 2012.

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