Building the Foundations of Financial Reporting: The Conceptual Framework

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), together with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), has embarked on a project to rebuild the foundations of financial reporting by revising the Conceptual Framework. The Conceptual Framework is like a constitution for financial reporting, providing the foundation for standards. The Conceptual Framework provides structure to the process of creating financial reporting standards and ensures that standards are based on fundamental principles. This helps prevent standards from becoming ad hoc and transitory. Full Story

The Value of Including Public Members on NYSSCPA Committees

The NYSSCPA is home to more than 65 committees, most of which are composed entirely of CPAs. That is as it should be; the Society’s primary goals include protecting the interests of its CPA members and helping accounting professionals succeed. But the Society also exists to protect the public interest, and doing so requires a willingness to seek out diverse perspectives. With these ideals in mind, in 2004 then–president John Kearney appointed two “public” non-CPA members to sit on the Society’s Quality Enhancement Policy Committee (QEPC). Full Story

SFAS 159: The Fair Value Option

For more than 20 years, FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been on a steady march to radically overhaul the foundations of corporate accounting in Europe and the United States. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) 159, The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Fianancial Liabilities, enacted in February 2007, represents a watershed event in FASB’s drive toward a full fair-value basis for financial accounting. While most CPAs are at least broadly familiar with recent controversies over fair value measurement, the scope of FASB’s fair value agenda remains largely underappreciated by the profession. Full Story