Tag Archives: Accountant

It’s 10-K Time!

02/12/2015UncategorizedAccountancy, Accountant, ACCOUNTING, Audit, Corporate, Credit, Financial Reporting, SEC, SEC PROFESSIONALS, SEC REPORTING, TaxAndrea Sachs

As we move into February, the filing deadlines for Form 10-K annual reports for calendar year-end companies are approaching quickly! And, as we do every year, we are all thinking about two key issues:

1. Are there any new issues that should be dealt with in this year’s 10-K, and

2. Are there any areas where I can make the 10-K better.

At the end of January Carol and George presented a One-Hour Briefing to help start the 10-K Tune-Up process. We are going to present a series of blog entries to explore some of those issues and dig a bit more deeply into some of them than we could in the One-Hour Briefing.

(In case you missed it the One-Hour Briefing is archived at:

www.pli.edu/Content/OnDemand/First_Annual_Form_10_K_Tune_Up/_/N-4nZ1z122ez?fromsearch=false&ID=250112 )

These are the topics we addressed:

New and emerging Issues

Conflict minerals & Form SD disclosure
SAB 74 disclosures for the new Revenue Recognition standard
Disclosure effectiveness
Changes in key assumptions for defined benefit plans
Operations in highly-inflationary countries
ICFR and COSO
Optional IFRS

Frequent SEC Comment Areas:

Segments – a new approach?
Statement of Cash Flows
Critical accounting estimates

So, for this first follow-on, as review, check out our latest posts on:

Cybersecurity – seciblog.pli.edu/318

SAB 74 Disclosures for the new Rev Rec Standard- seciblog.pli.edu/171

These are two key areas to address in this year’s 10-K.

Later this week – Critical Accounting Estimates – The SEC’s Current Focus

Cybersecurity – What the what??

01/20/2015UncategorizedAccountancy, Accountant, ACCOUNTING, Audit, Business, cyber-attack, Cybersecurity, Financial, SEC, SEC PROFESSIONALS, SEC REPORTINGAndrea Sachs

After all the chaos and drama surrounding the most recent cybersecurity hack at Sony, the focus on this area has become even more intense.

Clearly, the first priority is doing whatever is possible to manage cybersecurity risk. Action steps must depend on each company’s specific situation, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. To help in this regard PLI is presenting a One Hour Briefing on February 18, 2015 titled “ Cyber Security After Sony: Practice Points and Risk Mitigation Strategies”. You can learn more about the program at:

www.pli.edu/Content/Seminar/Cyber_Security_After_Sony_Practice_Points/_/N-4kZ1z120mn?fromsearch=false&ID=247142

We also have archived the webcast of our one-day program on managing cybersecurity at:

www.pli.edu/Content/OnDemand/Cybersecurity_2014_Managing_the_Risk/_/N-4nZ1z12f7s?fromsearch=false&ID=178337

From a disclosure perspective, the issues and the high public profile of the Sony hack raise the question whether cybersecurity risk should be disclosed in more detail or depth in upcoming filings. As a reminder, the SEC’s current guidance for cybersecurity risk disclosures is in CorpFin Disclosure Guidance Topic 2 at:

www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/guidance/cfguidance-topic2.htm

A point to remember for now, which is brought out in the Disclosure Guidance Topic, is this area may not be just a risk factor disclosure. Depending on the nature of the cybersecurity risk your company faces and cybersecurity issues you have encountered, disclosure in:

The business section
Legal proceedings
MD& A, and
The financial statements

may be necessary.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and feedback!

IFRS – The SAGA Continues

12/11/2014UncategorizedAccountancy, Accountant, ACCOUNTING, Audit, Business, Corporate, Credit, Financial, Financial Reporting, Governance, SEC, SEC PROFESSIONALS, SEC REPORTING, securities law, TaxAndrea Sachs

As most accountants have heard, Jim Schnurr, the new Chief Accountant at the SEC has been speaking about the SEC possibly continuing to consider the use of IFRS by domestic companies.

At the AICPA’s annual SEC/PCAOB conference in Washington, DC on Monday he delivered his latest update on the status of IFRS, and you can read that speech at:

www.sec.gov/News/Speech/Detail/Speech/1370543609306#.VIcHnYupqrI

In his speech he said “When I arrived at the Commission two months ago, Chair White asked me to take a hard look at where the staff had been on the issue and make a recommendation to her as to the path forward.”

While he did not say anything definite, it is clear the IFRS is no longer on the back burner!

He also said “Based on the progress of our collective efforts, I am hopeful to be in a position in the coming months to commence discussions with the Chair and the Commissioners about the different alternatives for potential further incorporation of IFRS and the related issues/concerns of each alternative with the objective of reaching a recommendation on what, if any, further incorporation or use of IFRS by US registrants would be permitted or required. And, of course, any rulemaking proposal that the Commission decides to consider would be subject to the normal notice and comment process.”

In the Q&A session Mr Schnurr elaborated on some ideas to incorporate, perhaps electively, IFRS information (in adition to US GAAP financial statements) into US registrant’s filings that would be useful for investors when comparing US registrants using US GAAP and those using IFRS. The ideas run the gamut of including IFRS measures in Selected Financial Data, IFRS data in MD&A, non-GAAP measures calculated using IFRS, and full financial statements in IFRS. He asked for feedback on these areas and input on additional ideas to consider.

So, this will not be a speedy process……

As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome!

When-fore art thou revenue recognition?

11/10/2014UncategorizedAccountancy, Accountant, Audit, Business, Corporate, Credit, FASB, Financial, Financial Reporting, Governance, Revenue Recognition, SEC, SEC REPORTING, TaxAndrea Sachs

With every revenue recognition workshop we have presented to date participants have had strong opinions on the new standard’s implementation date. (For public companies the new standard must be implemented for periods beginning after December 15, 2016, years after December 15, 2017 for non-public companies.)

The FASB and IASB put this date into the public discussion well before the final standard was issued. That said, as soon as the final standard was published late last May constituents began voicing concerns about the feasibility of meeting this date. (Yes, given the protracted timing building new accounting standards many of us still don’t pay attention to the standard setting process until the new standard is final!)

In June and July, after feedback from constituents about the effective date began to flow in, the board indicated that they would be listening and be ready to react to this feedback.

At the Transition Resource Group meeting on October 31, 2015, it became clear that, as they always do, the board is listening. At this meeting of the FASB Vice Chair Jim Kroeker announced that the Board and the FASB Staff will conduct additional outreach with both public and private companies over the next several months to gauge their progress in preparing to implement the new revenue recognition standard.

Mr. Kroeker emphasized that the Board is considering whether or not to defer the effective date of the new revenue standard. He also said that a decision will be made no later than the second quarter of 2015.

You can check out the archived webcast of the entire TRG meeting at:

www.fasb.org/cs/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=FASB%2FPage%2FSectionPage&cid=1176164066683

As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated!

Do you think the date should be deferred? Lets us know, and we will summarize everyone’s thoughts!

XBRL Starting to Bubble-Up to the Comment Letter Surface?

07/14/2014UncategorizedAccountant, ACCOUNTING, Audit, FASB, FASB/IASB, Finance, Financial, Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Committee, Financial Reporting, Financial Statements, SEC, SEC PROFESSIONALS, SEC REPORTING, securities law, Tax, XBRLadmin

One of the questions that SEC reporting companies have asked about XBRL (among the many questions we ask about XBRL!) is when will the SEC start to write comments about XBRL submissions?

Very few companies have ever seen a comment letter include any mention of their XBRL submissions.

It appears that comments may be starting to be issued about XBRL. One of the ways the SEC sends messages in in a kind of generic comment letter that they call a “Sample Letter Sent to Public Companies”, which we refer to as a “Dear CFO Letter”.

While this seems to lack the impact of a comment letter sent directly to a company, the Dear CFO Letter is actually just as important as a directly received comment letter. It is a message to a broad group of companies about an issue that the SEC thinks is pervasive, and is, in essence, a broadly transmitted comment letter.

The most recent Dear CFO Letter actually deals with XBRL! You can find it at:

http://www.sec.gov/divisions/corpfin/guidance/xbrl-calculation-0714.htm

The letter reminds registrants to be sure to include all calculation relationships.

It also includes this language:

“Acceptance of your filing by EDGAR does not mean that your filing is complete or in compliance with the Commission’s requirements.”

This Dear CFO letter coupled with the XBRL report we blogged about last week could be the start of a greater emphasis on XBRL matters in filings.

We would love to hear your comments! Leave them here or email Carol or George.

The SEC Institute Blog

Updates and discussions regarding FASB and the SEC