Convergence Guidebook for Corporate Financial Reporting E-Book

Bruce Pounder

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 335

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

As a result of the global convergence of financial reporting standards, U.S. GAAP is changing profoundly. U.S. GAAP is also being abandoned by many public and private companies, and will eventually be replaced by a higher-quality set of global standards. The Convergence Guidebook for Corporate Financial Reporting provides the timely, practical guidance that CFOs, controllers, and other financial managers need in order to prepare for the impact of Convergence on their companies, departments, and careers. Guidebook readers will also learn why they must begin preparing for "the next big challenge in corporate financial reporting" now.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

PART I - Phenomenon of Convergence

CHAPTER 1 - Introduction to the Convergence of Financial Reporting Standards

Financial Reporting Supply Chain

Role of Standards in the Financial Reporting Supply Chain

Financial Reporting Standards

How Financial Reporting Standards Differ among Countries

What Convergence Is—and Is Not

What Is Causing Convergence?

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 2 - How Convergence Will Impact the United States

Direct Effects of Convergence

Indirect Effects of Convergence

Who Wins? Who Loses?

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 3 - Prepare for the Impact of Convergence Now

What’s the Rush?

Adverse Consequences of Waiting to Prepare

Impeding Factors

Conclusion

PART II - Impact of Convergence on Financial Reporting in the United States

CHAPTER 4 - Conceptual Frameworks

Comparison of Conceptual Frameworks

FASB-IASB Joint Conceptual Framework Project

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 5 - Principles-Based Standards

Principles versus Rules

U.S. GAAP versus IFRS: Where Are We Now?

“Principles Alone” versus “Principles Plus Rules”

Outlook for Converged Standards

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 6 - Different Standards for Different Companies?

Background

Differential Standards: Three Questions

How Convergence Is Fostering Differential Standards

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 7 - Financial Statements: A First Look

References to Standards

Principal Financial Statements

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 8 - Fair Value and Related Measurement Issues

Background on Measurement

Focus on Current Exit Price

Current Exit Price and Fair Value

Fair Value: Not One Measurement, But Many

Additional Opposition to Fair Value

Outlook for Improvement and Convergence

Conclusion

Appendix: Summary of Recent Developments in Measurement Standards and Other Guidance

Notes

CHAPTER 9 - Major Asset Classes

Inventory

Property, Plant, and Equipment

Intangibles

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 10 - Other Balance Sheet Items

Leases

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefit Obligations

Deferred Income Tax Effects

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 11 - Reporting Financial Performance

Revenue Recognition and Measurement

Income Statement

Cash Flow

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 12 - Business Combinations, Intercompany Investments, and Segment Reporting

Business Combinations

Intercompany Investments

Segment Reporting

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 13 - Financial Statements: What Is Ahead

Financial Statement Presentation Project

Other Financial Statement Issues

Conclusion

Notes

PART III - Impact of Convergence on U.S. Labor Markets

CHAPTER 14 - Overview of U.S. Labor Markets for Financial Reporting Talent

Geographic Scope of Supply and Demand

Role of U.S. GAAP

Talent Supply Pipeline

Conclusion

CHAPTER 15 - Obsolescence of Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Why Demand Will Change

Quantitative Changes in Demand

Qualitative Changes in Demand

Short-Term Imbalances in Supply and Demand

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 16 - Commoditization of Talent

Global Homogenization of Employers’ Demand

From Demand Homogenization to Supply Commoditization

Intermarket Mobility of Employers

Conclusion

CHAPTER 17 - Toward a Global Labor Market for Financial Reporting Talent

Global Desegregation of Labor Markets

Competition in the Global Labor Market

Conclusion

Notes

CHAPTER 18 - Transformation of the Talent Supply Pipeline

Overview of the U.S. Talent Supply Pipeline

Educational Activities in the U.S. Talent Supply Pipeline

Certification of KSAs

Interpipeline Competition

Conclusion

Notes

PART IV - Preparing for the Impact of Convergence

CHAPTER 19 - Overview of the Challenges of Convergence

Why Preparation Matters

Three Challenges

Conclusion

CHAPTER 20 - The Enterprise Challenge: Strategies for Choosing Standards and ...

Opportunity and Obligation to Choose

Methodology for Choosing

Implementing Your Choice

Conclusion

Appendix: Checklist for Impact Assessment

CHAPTER 21 - Departmental Challenge: Tactics for Managing Talent

Identifying Your Department’s Talent Needs

Assuring the Supply of Talent for Your Department

Training and Development

Technical Supervision

Conclusion

Note

CHAPTER 22 - Personal Challenge: Career Choices for a Hypercompetitive Labor Market

Hypercompetition in a Global Labor Market

Managing Your Career

Conclusion

Notes

Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2009 by Bruce Pounder. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Pounder, Bruce.

Convergence guidebook for corporate financial reporting / Bruce Pounder. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-46420-5

1. Accounting-Standards. 2. Corporations-Finance. 3. Financial statements. I. Title.

HF5626.P64 2009

657’.3-dc22 2008048459

.

To Roxane—Words cannot describe how much I treasure what I have learned from you.

Acknowledgments

Writing this book has been a very personal journey. But I would not have had the opportunity to undertake the journey without the support that I received from Alfred M. King and Dennis Geyer. I am grateful to Al for opening so many doors for me, and I am indebted to Dennis for his timely words of encouragement.

I also wish to express my deep appreciation to Sheck Cho, my editor, for sharing my enthusiasm for this book—and for his patience as well.

To Al, Dennis, and Sheck—thanks.

Bruce Pounder

Preface

Everything you know about corporate financial reporting will become obsolete over the next ten years. The reason can be stated in one word: Convergence.

As commonly used by financial professionals, the word Convergence refers to the global convergence of financial reporting standards, a phenomenon that is causing increasingly profound changes in financial reporting in the United States and throughout the world. In the United States, Convergence is truly the “next big thing” in corporate financial reporting.

If you have managerial responsibility for the preparation of financial reports in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), then the Convergence Guidebook for Corporate Financial Reporting is for you. You will certainly benefit from this book if you hold a title such as chief financial officer, vice president of finance, controller, manager of financial reporting, or manager of accounting. Other professionals whose work is related to corporate financial reporting may also benefit from this book, for example, auditors, corporate compliance officers, investor relations officers, and accounting educators.

The Convergence Guidebook will help you prepare for the many new challenges that are resulting from Convergence. Specifically, this book will provide you with timely, practical guidance on preparing your department and company for the immediate and ongoing effects of Convergence. This book will also provide you with information that will help you remain employed and pursue new career opportunities as Convergence transforms labor markets in the United States and elsewhere.

This book is not a compilation of existing financial accounting or reporting standards. Nor is it a book on interpreting, applying, or implementing existing standards. And it is certainly not an academic textbook on financial reporting. In contrast, this book will:

• Explain the phenomenon of Convergence—what it is and what it is not.

• Explain how and why U.S. GAAP has changed and will continue to change as a result of Convergence.

• Explain how and why Convergence will alter U.S. labor markets for financial reporting talent.

• Explain the critical decisions and plans that managers must make in order to prepare their companies, their departments, and themselves for the growing impact of Convergence.

• Provide expert guidance on making and implementing critical decisions and plans in order to prevent Convergence from interfering with the attainment of company goals, department goals, and personal career goals.

• Describe the adverse consequences of delaying preparations for the impact of Convergence.

Bottom Line: The time to prepare for Convergence is now, and the information that you will need is in your hands.

PART I

Phenomenon of Convergence

In order to provide a solid foundation for the remainder of this book, Part One describes and explains the phenomenon of Convergence. This part consists of three chapters:

• Chapter 1 will introduce you to the phenomenon of Convergence.

• Chapter 2 will summarize how Convergence will impact U.S. companies and their financial managers.

• Chapter 3 will explain why you must prepare for Convergence now.

To get the maximum benefit from this book, be sure to read the preface, then read this part thoroughly. Your investment in understanding the origin, nature, and scope of Convergence, along with other fundamental concepts covered in this part, will be well rewarded as you continue through the rest of the book.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to the Convergence of Financial Reporting Standards

This chapter provides an in-depth introduction to the phenomenon of Convergence. In this chapter, you will learn exactly what Convergence is—and isn’t. You will also learn why Convergence is happening.

Financial Reporting Supply Chain

To understand the phenomenon of Convergence, it is helpful to begin by looking at the financial reporting supply chain, which refers to “the people and processes involved in the preparation, approval, audit, analysis and use of financial reports.”1 Just as the supply chain for tangible products is the network of parties that manufacture, inspect, distribute, and use the products, the financial reporting supply chain is the network of parties that prepare, audit, distribute, and use financial reports.

In the financial reporting supply chain, financial information flows through various stages. The flow of information starts with raw data about the financial effects of transactions and events on an enterprise. That raw data is processed progressively until it is eventually presented to end users in a highly filtered, summarized, and structured fashion.