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New Guidance Regarding Auditing Conflict Minerals Reports
Among the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act are mandated disclosure rules, passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in August 2012, about the use of “conflict minerals.” The SEC final rule requires issuers who use conflict minerals—and have determined that those minerals originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the surrounding areas—in their manufacturing processes and supply chain to file a “Conflict Minerals Report” with the SEC and publish it on the issuer's website. The report must be independently audited in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and can consist of either an examination attestation engagement or a performance audit. New questions and answers that describe the key similarities and differences between these two services have been issued to provide nonauthoritative guidance. Visit the “AICPA Conflict Minerals Resources” webpage for background and other useful information about the use of conflict minerals.
Comprehensive Update to the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide Property and Liability Insurance Entities Now Available
The AICPA, Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC), Auditing Standards Board (ASB), and Property and Liability Insurance Entities Overhaul Guide Task Force are excited to issue the first comprehensive revision of Audit and Accounting Guide Property and Liability Insurance Entities since 1990.
This guide, when used in conjunction with AICPA Professional Standards, is designed to provide assistance in the unique preparation, auditing, accounting, and reporting of financial statements for property and liability insurance entities. In an effort to address practitioner questions and needs, this comprehensive revision addresses real world concerns that have been brought to the attention of the AICPA in recent years.
Accounting content includes both U.S. GAAP and Statutory Accounting Principles (SAP), as well as a new section that includes expanded discussion and examples of premium deficiency calculations, a new chapter on captive insurance entities that provides an overview of captives and also specific accounting and auditing considerations, plus a revised section on auditing loss reserves that includes the clarified auditing standards as well as a discussion of current approaches in practice today.
The authoritative auditing content of the guide has been conformed to reflect the changes resulting from the Clarity Project, including coverage of audit planning, risk assessment, relevant assertions, example audit procedures, and illustrative letters and reports (including illustrations of the auditor’s report on general use financial statements of an insurance enterprise prepared in accordance with SAP under both GAAS and PCAOB standards).
Available now in eBook, the paperback is available for preorder and will be available in late May.
The Online Professional Library subscription for the guide is also available. The subscription also includes the current version of the associated Audit Risk Alert Insurance Industry Developments, which will be updated in the fall and included within your year-long subscription.
Interview with Bob Herz, Former FASB Chairman, on AICPA Insights
From the reporting scandals of 2001 and 2002 to the recent global financial crisis and efforts at international convergence of accounting standards, former Financial Accounting Standards Board Chairman Robert Herz discusses critical issues and much more in his new book Accounting Changes: Chronicles of Convergence, Crisis, and Complexity in Financial Reporting.
Herz tells the story from the perspective of his front row seat on many of the major developments affecting accounting and financial reporting during his tenure.
Read the interview with Bob Herz at AICPA Insights.
Journal of Accountancy Podcast Not-for-Profits, Rolling with the Changes
Not-for-profit accounting and auditing has undergone significant changes in recent years as the number of nonprofits (NFPs) registered with the IRS ballooned from 1.2 million in 1999 to more than 1.5 million 10 years later.
In this podcast, CPA not-for-profit experts Chris Cole (AICPA), Jennifer Hoffman (Grant Thornton, LLP), Frank Jakosz (Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C.), and Andrew Prather (Clark Nuber P.S.) discuss current NFP issues that face CPA preparers and auditors. The experts describe how the AICPA’s newly updated Audit and Accounting Guide Not-for-Profit Entities can be a resource for NFPs.
Discussion topics include recent FASB updates, changes in the NFP investment arena, revenue recognition, gifts-in-kind valuation, and taxes and regulatory considerations.
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