SEC unwraps ‘roadmap’ to IFRS

GAAP is dead. Long live IFRS.

SEC Proposes Roadmap Toward Global Accounting Standards to Help Investors Compare Financial Information More Easily

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Washington, D.C., Aug. 27, 2008 (SEC) — The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted to publish for public comment a proposed Roadmap that could lead to the use of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by U.S. issuers beginning in 2014.

Early reactions:

What do you think? Leave a comment here.

Currently, U.S. issuers use U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (U.S. GAAP). The Commission would make a decision in 2011 on whether adoption of IFRS is in the public interest and would benefit investors. The proposed multi-year plan sets out several milestones that, if achieved, could lead to the use of IFRS by U.S. issuers in their filings with the Commission.

The increasing integration of the world’s capital markets, which has resulted in two-thirds of U.S. investors owning securities issued by foreign companies that report their financial information using IFRS, has made the establishment of a single set of high quality accounting standards a matter of growing importance. A common accounting language around the world could give investors greater comparability and greater confidence in the transparency of financial reporting worldwide.

“An international language of disclosure and transparency is a goal worth pursuing on behalf of investors who seek comparable financial information to make well-informed investment decisions,” said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. “The increasing worldwide acceptance of financial reporting using IFRS, and U.S. investors’ increasing ownership of securities issued by foreign companies that report financial information using IFRS, have led the Commission to propose this cautious and careful plan. Clearly setting out the SEC’s direction well in advance, as well as the conditions that must be met, will help fulfill our mission of protecting investors and facilitating capital formation.”

Chairman Cox noted that since March 2007, the Commission and staff have held three roundtables to examine IFRS, including one earlier this month regarding the performance of IFRS and U.S. GAAP during the subprime crisis. Almost one year ago, the Commission issued a concept release on allowing U.S. issuers to prepare financial statements using IFRS.

Today, more than 100 countries around the world, including all of Europe, currently require or permit IFRS reporting. Approximately 85 of those countries require IFRS reporting for all domestic, listed companies.

Public comment on the SEC’s proposing release should be received by the Commission no later than 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register.

See original at the SEC…

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Posted on August 28, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

How’s the job and hiring outlook?

We’ve been asking, you’ve been answering.

CPA Careers: The Outlook for Hiring Trends and New Job Opportunities — Join the survey; get the results.

One of the questions is: In your own words, how do you REALLY feel about business and employment conditions today?

The comments are rolling in. Here’s an early sampling…

  1. Things are slowing down in hiring at the entry levels but we are not hurting. Growth will continue and the need for CPAs will continue.
  2. It stinks. I’m employed in the real estate development industry and this recession (especially in the real estate sector) is far worse than the one in the 1990s. The sub-prime mortgage debacle and its effect on the economy almost caused the collapse of the US economy (need I mention “Bears Stearns”?). Frankly, I don’t think the financial and investing sectors could have done much worse if they were trying to cripple the US economy. As it happens, they have managed to damage enough of the economy to displace America’s dominant position in the world market. This in turn will prolong the recession and real (as opposed to government statistics) unemployment and underemployment will continue for a couple of years.
  3. Our office is still very busy so we have not seen a downturn, however, some of our clients in the construction industry have seen quite a reduction in income and have laid off employees. Our clients in the fast food industry, however, are doing better than last year. So, it depends on the occupation. Also, I have tried to keep the different services that we use so that they would not, at least from me, see a reduction in there income.
  4. not too bad
  5. It’s tough, very tough, all around.
  6. No slow down other that I can see other than slightly lower raises.

    7. Read more

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Posted on August 27, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 4 Comments

Is it time to scrap ‘independence?’

For comps and reviews, maybe.

Who really needs or wants an “independent” accountant, anyway?

Leading accounting firms are pushing a revamp of the rules for compilations and reviews that would drop the traditional ‘independence’ requirement and replace it, instead,  with a new standard aimed at reliability. The idea has been cooking for a couple years, but it’s only now starting to get some buzz in the profession.

The AICPA’s powerful Accounting and Review Services Committee is now looking at the idea, pushed there by an ad hoc Reliability Task Force of the AICPA PCPS executive committee.

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Posted on August 26, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 3 Comments

Filling Finance with Foreign Nationals

While many finance chiefs complain about the shortage of talent, some are filling the gap by hiring foreign nationals.

CFO magazine reports Alliant Credit Union has hired four in four years and Pitney Bowes has 16 foreign nationals on the company’s 515-member corporate finance team. They hail from  China, India, Bulgaria, France, and Venezuela. Most have master’s degrees in finance-related fields, and all carry H-1B visas

The strategy does more than just fill open slots — it adds diversity, experience and foreign language skills to the department.

Despite the growing number of foreign nationals skilled in finance, hiring them can be both a challenge and a risk, thanks to the limited number of H-1B visas available. The United States awards 65,000 visas annually in the general category, through a computer-generated random-selection process. Another 20,000 visas are reserved for foreign nationals who have advanced degrees from U.S. universities. Demand for the visas is high: over the past two years corporate applicants have outnumbered visas roughly 2 to 1. The annual selection process is conducted in the spring, and quotas are typically filled within a few days.

More at CFO.com…

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Posted on August 25, 2008
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SEC sees XBRL, gets an ‘IDEA’

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SEC Announces Successor to EDGAR Database – “IDEA” Will Make Company and Fund Information Interactive.

Washington (SEC) – Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox unveiled the successor to the agency’s 1980s-era EDGAR database, which will give investors far faster and easier access to key financial information about public companies and mutual funds.

The new system is called IDEA, short for Interactive Data Electronic Applications. Based on a completely new architecture being built from the ground up, it will at first supplement and then eventually replace the EDGAR system. Read more

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Posted on August 20, 2008
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New video: Career tips for accountants

Now posted in the CPA Trendlines Videos section.

Click to see our CPA Insider Video Snack: Careers & Accounting – Four Keys to Success

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Posted on August 20, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 2 Comments

CPA Career Advice Changes with Age

“Get along with people” is the wisdom of age.

But apparently it takes a lifetime to learn that.

Retired CPAs are virtually unanimous: The ability to relate to people, get along and communicate are the most important ingredients to a successful career in accounting, according to most CPAs, especially retirees. But not as many new and aspiring CPAs understand.

Bay Street Group’s CPA Trendlines research shows that most CPAs agree on six keys to success:

  1. Relating to people
  2. Integrity and good character
  3. Constant, life-long learning
  4. Up-to-date technical knowledge
  5. Knowing how to balance life and work, and
  6. Making the right connections.

In this question, we asked 890 CPAs: “What are the most important ingredients in a successful career as a CPA?” And here, we slice the responses by age.

Clearly, career advice changes over time.

Young newbies start their careers with the best of intentions, believing in all the right things. But after a few years in the workforce, we see some disillusionment set in — with declines in work-life balance and the importance of integrity and character.

Later in life, we see the march of maturity — with rising ratings for skills development and a new focus on work-life balance.

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Posted on August 18, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

Seven Tech Tools for Work-Life Balance

But can you deduct the boat as a second office? Learn how CPAs manage work on the go. Join the survey; get the answers.

by Rick Telberg/At Large

For CPAs, working outside of the office is not just a matter of getting more work done. It could improve your life.

“Being connected through a smart phone and e-mail allow me to work toward achieving that ever-elusive work-personal life balance,” says a senior staffer at an accounting firm, who adds that those devices allow him to be accessible to clients even when he is working at home for family reasons.

Rodney Almaraz, a senior manager in the Austin, Texas office of Clifton Gunderson, says the one to ten hours that he typically works outside of the office “allow for flexibility of scheduling personal life commitments while still maintaining productivity.” He also notes that his firm is “growing fast and places great emphasis on work-life balance.”

Both CPAs are among the 75 percent of our panelists from all walks of the accounting spectrum who rate the ability to work out of the office as “very important,” according to a CPA Trendlines study by Bay Street Group LLC. Only 3 percent say it’s not that important. Also, 66 percent say that working away from the office increases their productivity.

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Posted on August 18, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

New Confidence in Working at Home

The series of CPA Trendlines studies by Bay Street Group LLC has canvassed 2,361 CPAs about their work-at-home habits and opinions.

In a sign that CPAs are growing more confident in their systems, 17% of CPAs now working at home identify technology breakdowns as a major challenge, down from 26% in 2005.

Today, new office furniture is top item on the wish list. Three years ago, technology staples, such as laptop computers and printer/fax/copier machines, topped the shopping lists of work-at-home accountants.

Meanwhile, 80% of today’s work at-home CPAs identify the right technology set-up as essential to their successes, up from 63% three years.

Join the survey; get the results.

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Posted on August 15, 2008
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 2 Comments

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