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Accounting Research Manager®
Weekly Summary of Developments
ARM Weekly Summary April 30 - May 4, 2012
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ACCOUNTING AND SEC HEADLINES:
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JOBS Act -- SEC Staff Updates Guidance on Scaled
Disclosure Under JOBS Act
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
The SEC Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin)
has updated its guidance, “Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act Frequently Asked
Questions: Generally Applicable Questions on Title I of the JOBS Act.” This
document includes frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the general
applicability under Title I of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act).
Title I provides scaled disclosure provisions for emerging growth companies (as
defined), including, among other things:
-Two years of audited financial statements in a
registration statement for an initial public offering of common equity
securities;
-The smaller reporting company version of Item 402
of Regulation S-K; and
-No requirement for Sarbanes-Oxley Act Section
404(b) auditor attestations of internal control over financial reporting.
Corp Fin has added questions 18-41 to this guidance
with this update. The JOBS Act was signed into law on April 5, 2012, and is
intended to increase American job creation and economic growth by improving
access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies.
Trust Indenture Act -- SEC Staff Issues Updated
Guidance on the Trust Indenture Act
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
Corp Fin has issued an updated Compliance and
Disclosure Interpretation (C&DI), Trust Indenture Act of 1939. This
C&DI provides interpretations by Corp Fin of various provisions of the
Trust Indenture Act of 1939 (the Act) which applies to debt securities such as
bonds, debentures, and notes that are offered for public sale. Question 202.01,
relating to the application of the Act to asset-backed securities in the form
of certificates, was updated to reflect new guidance from Corp Fin.
SEC Regulations Committee -- SEC Regulations
Committee Meeting Minutes Published
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
The Center for Audit Quality SEC Regulations
Committee has issued minutes from its joint meeting with the staff of the SEC
held on March 27, 2012. This committee meets periodically with the SEC staff to
discuss emerging technical accounting and reporting issues relating to SEC
rules and regulations. Topics discussed at this meeting included the following:
-Various financial reporting matters including: (a)
management’s use of third-party pricing services; (b) disclosures under Rule
3-10 of Regulation S-X; (c) loss contingency disclosures; and (d) goodwill
impairment disclosures.
-Update on the SEC staff’s “IFRS Work Plan.”
-Implementation issues related to CF Disclosure
Guidance, Topic No. 3: Cybersecurity, and CF Disclosure Guidance, Topic No. 4:
European Sovereign Debt Exposure.
-SEC staff observations related to XBRL filings.
-Application of FASB Accounting Standards Update
No. 2011-05, Comprehensive Income (Topic 220): Presentation of Comprehensive
Income, to parent-only and guarantor financial statement reporting
requirements.
-Disclosure requirements for an existing registrant
that no longer meets the definition of a “Smaller Reporting Company.”
-Disclosure requirements for auditor changes within
an international network under Item 304 of Regulation S-K.
Liquidation Basis of Accounting -- FASB Discusses
Disclosures Related to Liquidation Basis of Accounting and Other Matters
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
As reported in its "Summary of Board
Decisions" publication, the FASB met on May 2, 2012, and discussed the
following topics: (a) disclosures about risks and uncertainties and the
liquidation basis of accounting; and (b) definition of a nonpublic entity.
Regarding its project on disclosures related to the
liquidation basis of accounting, the FASB decided that a limited-life entity should
prepare financial statements using the liquidation basis of accounting when
significant management activities are limited to those necessary to carry out a
plan of liquidation other than that which was contemplated in the entity’s
governing documents. In addition, the FASB decided that it will revisit the
question of whether management should be required to assess whether there is
doubt about an entity’s ability to continue as a going concern in light of its
recent decision not to pursue going-concern-type disclosures in its project
about liquidity and interest rate risk disclosures.
Regarding its project on the definition of a
nonpublic entity, the FASB decided that a for-profit entity that is a conduit
bond obligor for conduit debt securities that are traded in a public market
would not be deemed a private company for standard-setting purposes even if the
entity otherwise meets the characteristics of a private company as defined in
this project.
IFRS for SMEs -- New IFRS for SMEs Q&As
Published
The SME Implementation Group (SMEIG) has published
two additional question and answer documents (Q&As) on the International
Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for
SMEs):
-IFRS for SMEs - Fallback to IFRS 9 Financial
Instruments (Section 11, Issue 1); and
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
-IFRS for SMEs - Recycling of Cumulative Exchange
Differences on Disposal of a Subsidiary (Section 30, Issue 1).
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
These two final Q&As reflect the input that the
SMEIG received on the publication of two draft Q&As in November 2011 on
these topics. Although Q&As are approved by the IASB they are issued as
informal guidance and not mandatory standards. Consequently, they are published
in the name of the SMEIG rather than the IASB. The non-mandatory Q&As are
intended to help those who use the IFRS for SMEs to think about specific
accounting questions. They are not intended to modify in any way the
application of full IFRSs.
IFRS for SMEs -- IASB Issues IFRS for SMEs Update
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
The IASB staff has issued its periodic "IFRS
for SMEs Update" publication which is a summary of news relating to the
IFRS for SMEs. This update includes discussion of the following topics:
-Content revised version of IFRS for SMEs guide;
-SMEIG publishes four final Q&As;
-Status report on Q&As about the IFRS for SMEs
and future plans;
-News about adoptions of the IFRS for
SMEs-Bangladesh;
-Status report on IFRS for SMEs translations;
-Additional Arabic- and Spanish-language training
modules;
-Upcoming "train the trainers" workshops
in Cameroon and Bangladesh; and
-Where to obtain IFRS for SMEs materials.
Risk Alerts -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alerts
The AICPA has issued the following Audit Risk
Alerts:
-Understanding the Responsibilities of Auditors for
Audits of Group Financial Statements - 2012;
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
-Employee Benefit Plans Industry Developments -
2012 ; and
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
-Not-for-Profit Entities Industry Developments -
2012.
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
AICPA Audit Risk Alerts provide users with a
detailed overview of recent industry, technical, regulatory, or professional
developments. Topics covered in each Alert include: (a)legislative and
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. In addition, each Alert includes a "Resources
Central" section listing resources practitioners may find useful.
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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AUDITING AND INTERNAL CONTROLS HEADLINES:
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AICPA Clarity Project -- 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 discuss the AICPA’s Clarity Project. On
June 18, 2010, we published “A Closer Look: The Clarity Project - The AICPA
Moves to Converge and Clarify Its Auditing Standards.” This issue of “A Closer Look” revisits the undertaking and updates our
prior discussion.
The Clarity Project is now nearly complete, and its
new standards are effective for audits and associated engagements related to
financial statements for periods ending on or after December 15, 2012.
Discussion of the Clarity Project in this edition of "A Closer Look"
includes the following topics:
-Format of the clarified standards;
-Project status;
-Organization of the clarified Codification of
Statements on Auditing Standards;
-Substantive changes to audit standards, including
new AU-C Section 600, Special Considerations - Audits of Group Financial
Statements (Including the Work of Component Auditors); and
-Planning for implementation.
See our Literature Update for complete details.
Risk Alerts -- AICPA Issues Audit Risk Alerts
As discussed above in our Accounting and SEC
Summaries, the AICPA has issued the following Audit Risk Alerts:
-Understanding the Responsibilities of Auditors for
Audits of Group Financial Statements - 2012;
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
-Employee Benefit Plans Industry Developments -
2012 ; and
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
-Not-for-Profit Entities Industry Developments -
2012.
For detail, please contact info@hkcmcpa.us
AICPA Audit Risk Alerts provide users with a
detailed overview of recent industry, technical, regulatory, or professional
developments. Topics covered in each Alert include: (a)legislative and
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. In addition, each Alert includes a "Resources
Central" section listing resources practitioners may find useful.
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