A Publication of the Accounting Standards Executive Committee and the Accounting Standards Team of the AICPA

Purpose of AcSEC

The Accounting Standards Executive Committee (AcSEC) is the senior technical committee of the Institute for financial reporting. It is authorized to make public statements on behalf of the Institute on financial reporting matters without the clearance of either the Council or the board of directors of the Institute and to clear statements of other committees that include references to financial reporting positions.

The mission of AcSEC is to determine the Institute's technical policies regarding financial reporting standards and to be the Institute's spokesbody on those matters, with the ultimate purpose of serving the public interest by improving financial reporting.

AcSEC accomplishes this mission primarily by—

• Influencing the form and content of pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and other bodies having authority over financial reporting standards, such as the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), and the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB).
   
• Seeking to identify, through cooperation with other AICPA bodies and others, financial accounting issues for which guidance from the FASB or others is needed.
   
• Providing needed nonauthoritative guidance on financial reporting matters that authoritative-standards setters either are not expected to address or are not expected to address in a timeframe that AcSEC considers desirable.

Meetings

AcSEC generally meets six times a year. Meetings are open to the public except for sessions dealing with administrative or confidential matters, which are not open to the public. Immediately preceding each meeting is a nonpublic meeting of AcSEC's Planning Subcommittee (PSC). The PSC assists the chair of AcSEC in the execution of certain strategic, administrative, and technical responsibilities. With the AcSEC chair, the PSC establishes the AcSEC agenda and sets priorities for AcSEC projects and monitors their progress. It reviews AcSEC agendas, meeting dates, and locations, and it provides such other administrative and technical advice as the chair may request.

Audit and Accounting Guides

The objective of audit and accounting guides is to deal with particular areas in financial reporting that require attention, such as financial reporting of pension plans, or with industries, such as the construction industry, that have specialized accounting practices, significant or unique accounting issues, or unique regulatory considerations.

Various committees or task forces of the Institute may draft and issue audit and accounting guides. However, descriptions of accounting principles and financial reporting practices in audit and accounting guides require the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of AcSEC and ultimately represent the views of AcSEC. Guides are subject to AcSEC's full due process.

Letters of Comment

AcSEC is generally responsible for letters of comment to groups outside the AICPA, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the FASB, the GASB, the IASB, the FASAB, or other agencies or groups, on proposals that relate to financial reporting.

Public Statements

As a senior technical committee, AcSEC is authorized by the Council to make public statements without clearance with the Council or the board of directors on matters related to its area of operations.

Members of AcSEC

AcSEC usually consists of 15 members who by and large are members of the AICPA¹. The chair and members of AcSEC are appointed annually by the chair of the board of the Institute, with the approval of the board of directors. The chair must be a member of the AICPA. The chair may appoint a vice-chair from among the AcSEC membership and delegate certain of the chair's duties to the vice-chair. Each member would normally not serve more than three years, though the chair may serve as chair for up to three years in addition to service as a nonchair member. Former members who have been off AcSEC for at least one year are eligible to become members again.

As of October 2008 the members are:

Members of AcSEC – Biographical Information

Jay Hanson (AcSEC Chair) is a partner and National Director of Accounting in McGladrey & Pullen's National Office, where he is responsible for accounting guidance and training on all accounting topics. Jay began working for McGladrey & Pullen in 1979 and was promoted to partner in 1988. He has served clients ranging from small businesses and not-for-profit organizations to multinational public companies. Jay graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, with a BA in Business Administration/Accounting and Math. He has also completed the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, RSM McGladrey Business Advisor School.

David Alexander rejoined JPMorgan Chase in 2008 as a Managing Director and Global Controller of the firm's Chief Investment Office as well as Chief Financial Officer for the firm’s private equity businesses. David first worked at JPMorgan Chase from 2002 through 2007 primarily in a technical accounting capacity before spending one year as a Global Controller in General Electric's Corporate Accounting Center of Excellence. From 1992 to 2002, David worked at Arthur Andersen LLP spending the last two years as a senior manager within the firm's national office. David graduated with honors from New Mexico State University.

Rick Arpin is the Vice President of Financial Accounting at MGM MIRAGE. Previously, he was with the Las Vegas office of Arthur Andersen, where his clients included many of the major gaming operators. He was also instrumental in training and firm policy matters related to gaming. At MGM MIRAGE, Mr. Arpin’s responsibilities include all aspects of external reporting, managing accounting policies, assisting the Company’s operating subsidiaries with accounting and internal control matters, and corporate finance matters. Mr. Arpin is currently a member of the task force which is updating the AICPA Audit and Accounting Guide, Audits of Casinos. Mr. Arpin has also presented on various industry and accounting matters and was the Chairman of the organizing committee for the 28th Annual Nevada Society of CPAs Gaming Conference. Mr. Arpin holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and is a licensed CPA in Nevada and Mississippi.

Kimber Bascom is a partner in KPMG’s Department of Professional Practice in New York. Mr. Bascom specializes in leasing, consolidation, equity method, joint venture and real estate accounting matters. His responsibilities include addressing issues involving the accounting for transfers and servicing of financial assets and derivatives, including issues involving special-purpose entities. Kimber is a principal author of KPMG’s Guide to Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, an analysis of FASB Interpretation No. 46R. From 2000 to 2002, Kimber was a Practice Fellow at the FASB. He received a BS in Accounting and Business Administration from Atlantic Union College. He holds CPA licenses in Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. Kimber currently serves as a member of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s Financial Accounting Committee.

Glenn Bradley is partner with CHILTON & MEDLEY PLC in Louisville, Kentucky. Glenn has significant accounting and auditing experience in a diverse array of industries, including manufacturing, mining, energy, distribution, real estate, service, agribusiness and retail, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, complex transaction analysis, working capital settlements, debt and equity offerings and reorganizations. At his firm, Glenn also serves as a technical resource in a variety of areas and leads the Manufacturing and Distribution industry group. He graduated with Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, with honors, from Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Glenn holds a CPA license to practice in Kentucky and New York. Glenn is a member of FASB’s Small Business Advisory Committee. He frequently lectures on a variety of accounting issues.

Neri Bukspan is a Managing Director with Standard & Poor’s Rating Services. Neri is Standard & Poor’s global chief accountant and chief quality officer, and is responsible for providing direction on the manner in which financial statement information is analyzed and incorporated into Standard & Poor’s financial analysis and ratings considerations. Mr. Bukspan chairs Standard & Poor’s accounting task force, directs the financial reporting specialists supporting Standard & Poor’s credit analysts at the industry groups, and is a member of Standard & Poor’s Analytical Policy Board. Prior to joining Standard & Poor’s, he served in Ernst & Young’s National Accounting office. Neri is a CPA, licensed in New York and California. He co-chairs the FASB’s Investors Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) and serves on the FASB’s User Advisory Council. He is a current and past member of several FASB and IASB advisory working groups.
Neri holds a BA in Accounting and Economics from Tel-Aviv University, an MBA from Anderson School of Business at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Masters in Taxation from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. 

Brett Cohen is a National office partner in the Accounting Consulting Services group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Florham Park, NJ) specializing in issues related to accounting for income taxes and revenue recognition. He joined the Albany office of the firm in 1985 and was admitted into the partnership in 1996. He is a licensed CPA in New York and New Jersey. Mr. Cohen obtained his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany.

Jim Dolinar is a partner with Crowe Horwath LLP and is currently the Executive In-Charge of Accounting of the Assurance Professional Practice (APP), which serves as the firm’s national office. In that role he is responsible for the firm’s position on accounting matters, both internally and externally. As a member of APP he also participates in peer review and other inspections, including PCAOB, coordinates, develops and instructs training courses, and performs pre-issuance review of public and private annual reports and filings. Jim has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting, focusing on business combinations, revenue recognition and matters affecting financial institutions. Prior to APP, he served both public and private company clients as an audit executive in commercial industries, specializing on manufacturing, distribution and construction. Jim has a B.S. in Accounting from Northern Illinois University.

Chuck Evans is a partner in the Accounting Principles Group of Grant Thornton LLP. His areas of specialization include business combinations, accounting for income taxes, and share-based compensation. Prior to joining Grant Thornton’s National Office, Chuck was an assurance partner in the Houston office, where he served private and public companies in a number of industries, including oil and gas exploration, manufacturing and distribution, and retail. Mr. Evans holds a BBA in Accounting from Texas A&M University.

Bruce Johnson is the Director of Professional Programs in Accounting and Sidney G. Winter Professor of Accounting at College of Business Administration at the University of Iowa.  Prior to joining the Iowa faculty in 1988, he held various faculty positions at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Wisconsin.  He has also taught at the Chinese European International Business School (Beijing and Shanghai).  He is a member of several Advisory Boards and a board member for The AdTrack Corporation.  Bruce co-authored Financial Reporting and Analysis (4th Ed.), a textbook for securities analysts, credit analysts, accountants, and auditors and wrote numerous scholarly publications in academic and professional journals.  Bruce received Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Oregon, and Master of Science and Ph.D. in Accounting from The Ohio State University.

Lisa Kelley is the Chief Financial Officer for Asurion Supply Chain & Risk Management headquartered in the Nashville Tennessee area. Asurion’s primary line of business is providing handset insurance and warranty protection to the wireless industry. Before joining Asurion Lisa was the Chief Accounting Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer at Brightpoint, Inc. and held various senior financial management positions with Plexus Corp. Lisa also has public accounting experience. She is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant with a MBA from the University of Wisconsin.

Jeff Slate is a partner in Ernst & Young’s New York based National Accounting Standards group. Jeff currently leads the E&Y professionals focused on the application of, and the development of interpretive guidance for, the various standards relating to revenue recognition. He is one of the primary authors of Ernst & Young’s publications relating to SOP 97-2, Software Revenue Recognition, EITF Issue No. 00-21, Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables, and FASB Interpretation No. 46, Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities (FIN 46). Additionally, he has authored numerous other publications relating to revenue recognition topics and is a member of the FASB’s revenue recognition resource group. Jeff has significant experience serving companies in the oil and gas industry and the software, internet, service and e-commerce segments of the technology industry. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, and is a licensed CPA in the states of Texas and New York.

Randall Sogoloff is a partner in the Accounting Standards and Communications Group at Deloitte & Touche LLP’s National Office in Wilton, Connecticut, where he leads the subject matter team for leasing, consolidations, and income taxes. Randall is responsible for monitoring the activities of the various standard setters, preparing responses to exposure drafts and discussion documents, updating firm guidance, and writing internal and external publications on newly issued accounting guidance. Randall is also a participant in Deloitte’s Global IFRS Leadership Team and part of Deloitte’s IFRS Centre of Excellence for the Americas region. Randall participated in a two-year fellowship program with the Financial Accounting Standards Board prior to joining to the Accounting Standards and Communications Group. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Florida and a Master of Science degree in Accounting from Florida International University.