More Accounting Changes by Herz, Robert -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Copyright Dedication Contents Foreword

Preface Acknowledgments 1 My First 49 Years

Jersey Boy Don’t Cry for Me Argentina Rule Britannia The Early Accountant Hello Miami, Goodbye Miami (and PW), and Hello Boston (and Coopers & Lybrand) Return of the Prodigal Son The Roaring ’80s and Bad Bob Poacher Turned Gamekeeper Professional Affairs A Merger of Equals and “The Dream Team” Could You See It Coming? Efforts to Improve and Expand Corporate Reporting — The Jenkins Committee, ValueReporting, and the FASB Business Reporting Research Project International Bob Unforgettable Events and a Fork in the Road Some Basics about the FASB

2 Charting Course

Improving Standard Setting Can We Make Things Simpler?

International Convergence Setting Course

3 Stock Option Controversies — Take Two

What’s the Problem? Addressing the Accounting Issues in the Face of Pressure Politics

4 International Convergence

The Urge to Converge and Wherefore IFRS? What Does the Law Require? Views of Standard Setters on International Convergence The Norwalk Agreement Short-Term Convergence Projects Undertaking Major Joint Projects The 2005 SEC Staff “Roadmap” and the 2006 FASB-IASB MoU Conceptual Framework The SEC Eliminates the Reconciliation Requirement and Explores Potential Adoption of IFRSs in the United States Improve and Adopt IFRS The SEC Proposes a New “Roadmap” to IFRSs Adoption, and the FASB and IASB Update the MoU Mixed Responses to the SEC “Roadmap” Some Begin to Question America’s Commitment to Global Accounting Standards The G20 Leaders Push for Rapid International Convergence of Accounting Standards The FASB and the IASB Respond to the G20 Call by More Than Redoubling the Convergence Effort A Necessary Change in Plans Waning of the Urge to Converge In the Meantime, Back at the SEC As the World Turns So, Bob, What Do You Really Think about Convergence and IFRSs? Nobody Said This Would Be Easy Now Where? Conclusion

5 The Financial Crisis

Accounting Did Not Cause the Financial Crisis, and Accounting Will Not End It Were There Warning Signs? The Addiction to Off-Balance Sheet Accounting

Off-Balance Accounting 101 Did They Qualify? SIVs, Conduits, and Other VIEs The Lehman Repo 105 and 108 Transactions

Fair Value, Mark-to-Market Accounting, and Impairment of Financial Assets

Some History Then Came the Crisis The Year 2008 Draws to a Close Into 2009 — Congress Weighs In Our Response

The World Goes On, But It’s Not the Same Some Lessons Learned Measuring Financial Instruments — Amortized Cost versus Fair Value

Some Arguments for Using Amortized Cost Some Arguments for Using Fair Value So, Who Is Right? Another Alternative

Continuing Conceptual Challenges

6 Complexity

Does It Need to Be So Complex? The Reporting Scandals and the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 Conceptual Controversy and Complexity

Asset and Liability View Revenue and Expense View My Opinion An Example Back to Concepts Theory and Practice

Suggestions on an Overhaul of the Accounting Framework Can We Handle a More Principles-Based System? A Call to Action

CIFiR The FASB Simplification Initiative Disclosure Overload The SEC Undertakes a Disclosure Review Project Can Technology Help? Private Company Reporting

So Where Are We on Complexity?

Conclusion

7 Looking Back and Moving Forward

Proud Accomplishments Opportunities for Further Improvement Some Regrets, Mistakes, and Disappointments Changes in Financial Reporting — A Challenging but Necessary Process Some Words of Advice to Colleagues and Successors Is the United States the Leader in Financial and Corporate Reporting? So Now What, Bob? Sustainability Reporting and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board So What’s in It for Companies and Investors? Is Less More?

References About the Author Index