News

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United Nations will adopt IPSASs

06 Sep 2006

The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) has approved a financial management reform program that calls for the adoption of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSASs) by the UN.

As a result, the UN will move from a system of modified accrual to full accrual. IPSASs are developed by the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board, an independent standard-setting body within the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). The standards set out the requirements for financial reporting by governments and other public sector organisations. Click for IFAC Press Release (PDF 78k).
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Reminder about September comment deadlines

05 Sep 2006

We remind you of the upcoming deadlines for responding to the following documents: Amendment to IAS 23 Borrowing Costs – comments due 29 September 2006 Draft Due Process for the International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee – comments due 30 September 2006: Consultation Document (PDF 299k). Press Release (PDF 44k). .

We remind you of the upcoming deadlines for responding to the following documents:

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Where do our IFRS e-learning downloaders come from?

04 Sep 2006

On 26 August 2006 we reported that, since Deloitte's IFRS e-learning was launched in January 2004, 693,777 IFRS e-learning modules have been downloaded by visitors to IAS Plus from over 150 jurisdictions.

Where exactly do our IFRS e-learning downloaders come from? We only know the origin of a little over half of them. For the 60,000 non-Deloitte downloaders during the first eight months of 2006, the table below shows where the top 20 came from. (We're surprised and pleased to see a sizeable number of developing countries on the list.) Deloitte is making our IFRS e-learning available to all in the public interest without charge. Please click on the light bulb icon on the IAS Plus home page.

  • 1. Unknown Origin 47.2%
  • 2. United States 24.6%
  • 3. United Kingdom 2.0%
  • 4. Singapore 1.9%
  • 5. Hong Kong 1.6%
  • 6. Saudi Arabia 1.5
  • 7. Germany 1.3%

  • 8. Colombia 1.2%
  • 9. Pakistan 1.1%
  • 10. Australia 1.0%
  • 11. South Africa 0.9%
  • 12. Belgium 0.9%
  • 13. New Zealand 0.9%
  • 14. Russian Federation 0.9%

  • 15. India 0.7%
  • 16. Viet Nam 0.7%
  • 17. Netherlands 0.6%
  • 18. Turkey 0.6%
  • 19. Italy 0.5%
  • 20. Malaysia 0.5%
  • Other Jurisdictions 9.4%
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'Technical Library' is new name of DART

02 Sep 2006

The Deloitte Accounting Research Tool (DART) is now called 'Technical Library: The Deloitte Accounting Research Tool.

Maintained by Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA), Technical Library is comprehensive online collection of accounting and financial disclosure literature – both official publications and Deloitte's own accounting manuals and other interpretive guidance. Updated every business day, Technical Library has an intuitive design and navigation system and powerful search features that enable users to quickly locate information any time, from any computer. Additionally, Technical Library subscribers receive periodic emails highlighting recent additions to the Technical Library.

Contents of Technical Library

  • Deloitte's proprietary interpretive guidance
  • The Financial Accounting Standards Board literature
  • Emerging Issues Task Force consensus decisions and issue materials
  • Securities and Exchange Commission rules, regulations, and forms
  • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants accounting and auditing literature
  • International Accounting Standards Board literature
For more information, including subscription details and an online Technical Library demonstration, visit Deloitte's Technical Library.
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Accounting Roundup – August 2006

01 Sep 2006

We have posted the (PDF 327k) published by Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA).

Topics covered in this issue include:

GASB Developments

  • GASB Issues Proposed Concepts Statement Elements of Financial Statements
AICPA Developments
  • Conforming Changes Made to Standard on Reporting on a Non-issuer's Internal Control Over Financial Reporting To Achieve Consistency with SAS 112
  • Audit Risk Alert: Not-for-Profit Organizations Industry Developments
SEC Developments
  • SEC Finalises Disclosure Requirements for Executive and Director Compensation
  • Extension of Section 404 Compliance for Certain Companies
  • SEC Moving Forward to Develop Software to Demonstrate the Interactive Capabilities of XBRL
  • SEC and CESR Launch Work Plan Focused on Financial Reporting
International Developments
  • IFRIC Issues Draft Interpretation on Asset Ceiling and Minimum Funding Requirements Related to Employee Benefits
  • IASB Posts Latest Version of Exposure Draft on Small and Medium-Sized Entities
Other Developments
  • GAO Releases a Report Studying Financial Restatements
You will find past issues of Accounting Roundup Here.
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Heads Up on compensation, SOx 404

31 Aug 2006

Deloitte & Touche LLP (USA) has published a (PDF 408k) dealing with two issues: Show Me the Money! – SEC Finalizes Disclosure Requirements for Executive Compensation Oh, What a Relief It Is! – SEC Proposes Extension of Section 404 Compliance Deadlines for Smaller Public Companies and Finalizes Extension for Certain Foreign Private Issuers .

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Including estimates of the future in today's financial statements

31 Aug 2006

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has posted on its website BIS Working Paper No 208, "Including estimates of the future in today's financial statements", by IASB Board Member Mary Barth.

The paper was presented last November at a BIS workshop on accounting, risk management, and prudential regulation. Below is an abstract of the paper. The full paper may be Downloaded from the BIS Website (PDF 140k).

This paper explains why the question is how, not if, today's financial statements should include estimates of the future. Including such estimates is not new, but their use is increasing. This increase results primarily because standard setters believe asset and liability measures that reflect current economic conditions and up-to-date expectations of the future will result in more useful information for making economic decisions, which is the objective of financial reporting. This is why standard setters seem focused on fair value accounting. How estimates of the future are incorporated in financial statements depends on the asset and liability measurement attribute, and on financial reporting definitions of assets and liabilities. The present definitions depend on identifying past transactions or events that give rise to expected inflows or outflows of economic benefits and, for inflows, control over the expected benefits. Thus, not all expected inflows or outflows of economic benefits are recognised. Note disclosures can help users understand recognised estimates, and can provide information about unrecognised estimates. Including more estimates of the future in today's financial statements would result in an income measure that differs from today's income, but arguably provides better information for making economic decisions.

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IFAC papers on sustainability management and reporting

30 Aug 2006

To help professional accountants in business better understand how they can advance, measure, and report on sustainable economic development, the Professional Accountants in Business (PAIB) Committee of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published two new information papers on the topic.

The papers are:

  • Why Sustainability Counts for Professional Accountants in Business provides an overview of enterprise sustainability and sets out the business case for addressing the risks and opportunities of sustainable development at the enterprise level.  It also discusses the ways in which professional accountants in business, especially those working for organisations with significant environmental or social impacts, will be involved with the measurement, recording and interpretation of sustainability-related information.
  • Professional Accountants in Business – At the Heart of Sustainability? provides first-hand commentary from eleven senior professionals working in various enterprises around the world on the role of PAIBs and the challenges they face in promoting and implementing sustainable development strategies.

Click for IFAC Press Release (PDF 80k). The press release includes hyperlinks for downloading the papers from IFAC's website. Downloading is free, but registration is required.

 

 

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A quiet revolution at the AASB?

29 Aug 2006

Deloitte (Australia) has published Accounting Alert 2006/09 A Quiet Revolution at the AASB? (available on-line, not PDF).

This Alert discusses the future role of the Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB). "The AASB's role may be very different in the future and the potential impacts for financial reporting in Australia are numerous." Among the issues discussed:
  • Towards true IFRS convergence. The AASB is developing an exposure draft that would seek to bring A-IFRSs much closer to IFRSs – reinstating options, deleting many additional disclosures and eliminating Australian guidance. But there will still be areas where differences exist, at least in the short term.
  • The 'missing link' in A-IFRSs. The AASB has negotiated with the IASB to make the 'IASB support materials' – the bases for conclusions, implementation guidance, illustrative examples and so on – freely available to Australian residents.
  • How many GAAPs does Australia need? Does one size really fit all? Recent developments are calling into question whether one set of standards based on IFRSs is the longer-term answer. Will not-for-profit and smaller entities have their own standards?
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FASB fair value measurement standard nears completion

28 Aug 2006

At its meeting on 16 August 2006, the US Financial Accounting Standards Board authorised its staff to prepare a final draft of a Statement on Fair Value Measurements for vote by written ballot.

The FASB plans to issue the Statement in September 2006. That Statement will form the basis of the next step of the IASB's project to develop fair value measurement guidance. The IASB plans to issue a discussion paper in the fourth quarter of 2006 that would:
  • indicate the IASB's preliminary views of the provisions of the FASB's Statement on Fair Value Measurements and
  • identify differences between the FASB Statement and fair value measurement guidance in existing IFRSs.
The IASB will invite respondents to comment on the provisions of the FASB's statement on fair value measurements and on the IASB's preliminary views about FASB's Statement. Those comments would be considered in conjunction with the development of an IASB exposure draft on fair value measurements.

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