AICPA News Update - April 27, 2012 

The U.S. House of Representatives on April 25 passed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act, or DATA Act. The legislation calls for federal agencies and recipients of federal funds to report spending using nonproprietary standards, such as eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). It will also establish standards for electronic publishing of federal spending. The AICPA has advocated for this legislation to enhance transparency since its introduction and was an early champion of XBRL. Read the statement by AICPA President and CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, in response to the bill’s passage.

The AICPA and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland hosted a panel discussion, Shaping the Future: Lessons from Accounting Standards Leaders, on April 24 at the AICPA's headquarters in New York, on strategic matters related to financial reporting – past, present and future. The discussion focused on the Securities and Exchange Commission's pending decision on whether to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards for U.S. public issuers and what effect that decision could have on other major economies. The panelists also talked about political pressures in accounting standard setting; integrated reporting; financial reporting overload; and other topics. Read this JournalofAccountancy.com article for more information.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently announced, in its 2012 schedule of Forums on Auditing Smaller Broker-Dealers, upcoming forums in Houston, Tex., (May 23), Jersey City, N.J. (Oct. 25) and San Diego, Calif. (Nov. 8). These forums are designed to serve as a venue through which feedback from auditors of smaller broker-dealers may be considered by the PCAOB as it continues its rulemaking for a permanent inspection program for auditors of broker-dealers. The PCAOB’s interim temporary inspection rule, adopted June 14, 2011, includes all auditors of all broker-dealers. PCAOB members have noted that the final inspection program – expected in 2013 – may be more targeted, depending on the findings of the interim program and that feedback from auditors working with smaller brokers and dealers will be considered. The AICPA has communicated its position to the PCAOB, and is encouraging members who audit introducing broker-dealers who do not hold client funds to make their views known to the PCAOB as well. If your firm is directly affected by the interim inspection rule and you have an interest in attending one of these upcoming forums, contact AICPA Senior Technical Manager Irina Portnoy at iportnoy@aicpa.org or 212.596.6058 for more details. 

In Nov. 2011, the AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee (FinREC) issued working drafts of two AICPA Accounting and Valuation Guides: Testing Goodwill for Impairment and Assets Acquired to Be Used in Research and Development Activities. Feedback on these working drafts will be accepted until May 24. The AICPA is looking for input from valuation specialists, preparers, auditors, financial statement users and other interested parties to further inform the development of these guides, which will be issued as final once comments are received, considered and appropriately acted upon by FinREC. All comments will be kept confidential. If you would like to provide comments, email them to Yelena Mishkevich at ymishkevich@aicpa.org.

You can connect to fellow CGMAs and read insightful blog posts from CGMA leaders from around the world by logging into cgma.org. Find out what your peers are saying about management accounting, learn best practices and start your own discussions about the important issues you are dealing with. If you do not already have the CGMA designation, learn more about the designation and how to become a CGMA.