Accounting Archives

CFOs and CIOs called upon to give views on ESG progress

International accounting standards group Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) is seeking input from corporate finance and investment chiefs on trends and views on the evolving ESG investment landscape.

Annual reports are dreadful says auditor

The Accounting Standards Board (ASB) published the results of its review of narrative reporting on 29 October, and its release was trailed by separate reports from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte. PwC “recognise that reporting is not made easy by the regulatory demands imposed on all companies today, but sadly too many reports display the dead […]

US accounting regulator taps investors for perspectives

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. the US accounting standard setter, has announced the 19 members of the inaugural Investor Advisory Group. The group will provide a forum for the board to obtain the views of, and advice from, the broader investor community. The board established the group in July and sought nominations for its membership. […]

Global audit standards “negligible” differences

An independent report commissioned by the European Commission has concluded that the differences between US and international audit standards are “negligible”. The study, prepared by the Maastricht Accounting, Auditing and Information Management Research Center (MARC), evaluated the differences between International Standards in Auditing (ISAs) and the standards of the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). ISAs […]

Accounting Standards: too important to leave to accountants

European Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has gone public with his concerns about role and structure of the International Accounting Standards Board. In his usual direct way McCreevy has pointed out that: “Accounting is now far too important to be left solely to accountants!” Speaking at a recent European Commission’s conference, Financial Reporting in a Changing World, […]

US reforms dodge fair value accounting reform

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s recently announced proposals for US recovery have attracted extreme criticism in many quarters for failing to address the issue of Fair Value Accounting. Alex Pollock of the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute and a long-standing critic of mark-to-market accounting rules sees a missed opportunity for a more radical overhaul, as outlined in a recent […]