August

We comment on three proposed auditing standards

06 Aug 2007

Deloitte has recently submitted letters of comment to the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) on the following three proposed International Standards on Auditing (ISA).

In each case, while offering some suggestions for improvement, we concluded that we are supportive of the proposed auditing standard. You can find Past Deloitte letters to the IAASB Here. Members of the new advisory committee include J. Michael Cook, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte & Touche LLP, and James H. Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, New York, NY. Phil Laskawy, Chairman of the Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the IASB, is an observer.

 

Heads Up on SEC staff views

04 Aug 2007

On 10 July 2007, the SEC Regulations Committee of the American Institute of CPAs held its second meeting of the year with the Securities and Exchange Commission staff.

The Regulations Committee is composed of representatives from various public accounting firms, industry, and academia. The Committee meets periodically with the SEC staff to discuss emerging technical accounting and reporting issues relating to SEC rules and regulations, as well as ongoing SEC staff projects and final rule releases. Deloitte & Touche LLP (United States) has published a Heads Up Newsletter (PDF 82k) summarising the meeting. Among the issues discussed were:
  • Executive compensation disclosures*
  • Disclosure of risk factors related to the financial reporting process – for example, disclosure of potential risks that the registrant might be required to restate or make other changes to financial statements*
  • Reporting on internal controls in a reverse merger*
  • Providing summarised financial information for equity investee(s) for periods in which the investee is not significant
  • Providing financial statements of a to-be-acquired business in registration statements covering secondary offerings
  • Significance calculations for determining financial statement requirements for equity investees
  • When stock-based executive compensation that is capitalised or deferred should be reported in the summary compensation table
*These are described as 'time sensitive'.

 

Accounting Roundup – July 2007

03 Aug 2007

We have posted the July 2007 Edition of Accounting Roundup published by Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA).

Topics covered in this issue include:

FASB Developments

  • FASB Issues Proposed FSP on Statement 140
  • FASB Issues Proposed Implementation Issue on Statement 133
AICPA Developments
  • AICPA Issues Auditing Interpretation of Section 325
SEC Developments
  • SEC Staff Provides Views on First-Time IFRS Reporting
  • Additional Proposed Rules Issued Related to Capital Raising and Disclosure Requirements for Smaller Companies
  • SEC Extends Voluntary XBRL Program to Mutual Funds
  • SEC Votes to Adopt Antifraud Rule Under Investment Advisers Act
PCAOB Developments
  • PCAOB Proposes New Ethics and Independence Rule and Amends Existing Tax Service Rule
  • PCAOB Enters Into Cooperative Arrangement With Australian Securities and Investments Commission
GASB Developments
  • GASB Issues New Standard on Intangible Assets
International Developments
  • IASB Issues Interpretation on IAS 19
  • IASB Issues Proposed Guidance on Real Estate Sales
  • IASB Issues Proposed Guidance on Hedges of a Net Investment in a Foreign Operation
  • Meeting to Promote Global Convergence in Emerging and Transition Economies
  • India Announces Convergence With IFRSs Beginning in 2011
Click to view the July 2007 Edition of Accounting Roundup (PDF 239k). You will find past issues of Accounting Roundup Here.

 

Core portions of IFAC website translated into five languages

03 Aug 2007

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has begun translating core portions of its website (www.ifac.org) into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish.

These languages, in addition to English, which is IFAC's official language, are the official languages of the United Nations. Translated sections of the IFAC website include the home page, information about the organization, its structure, governance and membership, as well as key information about IFAC's independent auditing, ethics, education, and public sector accounting standard-setting boards. In addition, the home pages for IFAC's resource centers for professional accountants in business and small and medium practices have been translated.

 

FASB invitation to comment on insurance accounting

03 Aug 2007

The US Financial Accounting Standards Board has issued an Invitation to Comment on Accounting for Insurance Contracts by Insurers and Policyholders.

The IASB is currently working on a project that addresses those issues. In May 2007, it issued a Discussion Paper (DP) Preliminary Views on Insurance Contracts, describing the main components of a proposed accounting model for insurance contracts. Although the scope of the IASB's project includes accounting by the policyholder, the IASB's DP does not include preliminary views on policyholder accounting and reporting issues. FASB invites comment on a range of issues, including:
  • Whether it should undertake a project on accounting for insurance contracts.
  • Whether it should do the project jointly with the IASB.
  • Whether the IASB's preliminary views would be suitable starting point for a joint project.
  • Whether the scope of the project should include accounting by policyholders.
  • How the project should interact with other major FASB-IASB joint projects that address similar issues, for example, the conceptual framework and revenue recognition projects.
Click here for FASB's Press Release (PDF 19k). Comment deadline is 16 November 2007.

 

IAS Plus quarterly newsletter for July 2007

02 Aug 2007

The July 2007 IAS Plus Quarterly Newsletter has been published.

The newsletter reports on the 2nd quarter 2007 activities of the IASB, the IFRIC, and the IASC Foundation, and also on worldwide issues and events relating to international financial reporting:

 

US SEC appoints financial reporting advisory committee

01 Aug 2007

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced the appointment of the members of the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting.

The advisory committee, established last month, will hold its first meeting on 2 August 2007 at the SEC's Washington DC headquarters. Click for Press Release (PDF 51k). The committee will study the US financial reporting system with the goals of reducing unnecessary complexity and making information more useful and understandable for investors. The advisory committee will focus on the following areas:
  • the current approach to setting financial accounting and reporting standards;
  • the current process of regulating compliance by registrants and financial professionals with accounting and reporting standards;
  • the current systems for delivering financial information to investors and accessing that information;
  • other environmental factors that drive unnecessary complexity and reduce transparency to investors;
  • whether there are current accounting and reporting standards that impose costs that outweigh the resulting benefits, and
  • whether this cost-benefit analysis is likely to be impacted by the growing use of international accounting standards.
Members of the new advisory committee include J. Michael Cook, retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Deloitte & Touche LLP, and James H. Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, New York, NY. Phil Laskawy, Chairman of the Trustees of the International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation, which oversees the IASB, is an observer.

 

Update on financial reporting in Cuba

01 Aug 2007

We have added a Country Page for Cuba describing the background and current status of the accounting framework in Cuba.

In January 2006, the Cuban government issued, through the Cuban Accounting Standards Committee (Comité de Normas Cubanas de Contabilidad), a set of Cuban Financial Information Standards (Normas Cubanas de Informacion Financiera, or NCIF).

The Normas Cubanas de Informacion Financiera are composed of eight sections:

  1. Background and general information, including a preface to the NCIF, the purpose of the Cuban Accounting Standard Committee, and the conceptual framework related to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements.
  2. Cuban Accounting Standards, including measurement and disclosure standards, general standards, specific standards, and accounting interpretations.
  3. Standards relating to disclosure of forecasted activity (budget).
  4. Account descriptions.
  5. Deals with governmental accounting.
  6. Cuban standards for cost accounting.
  7. Glossary.
The measurement and disclosure standards and general standards in Section 2 are generally harmonised with International Financial Reporting Standards. The specific standards in Section 2 address economic issues not covered by the general standards that are unique to the local economic activity. Click here for Country Page for Cuba and Links to Other Jurisdiction Pages on IAS Plus. We have updated our Table Summarising Use of IFRSs.

 

Correction list for hyphenation

These words serve as exceptions. Once entered, they are only hyphenated at the specified hyphenation points. Each word should be on a separate line.