FASB could be swayed to modify its fair-value plan

An updated report from Reuters

Strong opposition to a controversial proposal to expand fair value accounting could sway rulemakers to modify the plan, a member of the U.S. accounting rule-making board said on Tuesday.

Lawrence Smith, a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, said rule makers could be persuaded to modify their plan to expand fair-value accounting rules, an effort that has faced strong opposition. Smith said comment letters are overwhelmingly against the proposal, which would require financial assets to be valued based on mark-to-market standards.

The proposal by the Financial Accounting Standards Board calls for loans and other financial assets to be valued based on what they would fetch in the market, known as mark-to-market, or fair value. That change is intended to give investors a clearer picture of assets held on banks' books.

Read more on reuters.com

AICPA : IFRS Background Document

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has recently issued a background document on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The growing acceptance of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as a basis for U.S. financial reporting represents a fundamental change for the U.S. accounting profession. Today approximately 113 countries require or allow the use of IFRS for the preparation of financial statements by publicly held companies. In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a proposed roadmap for the possible mandatory use of IFRS for U.S. public companies.

Download the document at:
http://www.ifrs.com/pdf/IFRSUpdate_V8.pdf

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, with approximately 340,000 members, is the national professional organization for certified public accountants in the United States. Well before IFRS began to gain traction in the U.S. business and regulatory communities, the AICPA was publicly supporting the goal of a single set of high quality, global accounting standards to be used in public company financial reporting throughout the world. In May 2008, the AICPA's governing Council voted to amend Rules 202 and 203 of the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct to recognize the International Accounting Standards Board as an international accounting standard setter in the U.S.

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

IASC: New Editions: "Guide through IFRS" & "IFRS Taxonomy Guide Illustrated"

www.iasb.org

The IASC Foundation will soon publish the "Guide through IFRS" and the "IFRS Taxonomy Illustrated".



The printed publications will be soon available to the public. In order to receive notification, or to pre-order and receive a pro-forma invoice, please click on the images.

"A Guide through IFRS" Price: £90

Available in hard copy soon and online in Q4 2009, A Guide through International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), includes the full consolidated text of the Standards and Interpretations and accompanying documents-illustrative examples, implementation guidance, bases for conclusions and dissenting opinion-issued by the IASB as at 1 July 2009, with extensive cross-references and other annotations. The book, A Guide through IFRS July 2009 - (ISBN 978-1-907026-20-1), approximately 3,008 pages, is priced £90 each (plus shipping).
Discounts are available for multiple copies, students/academics and residents of middle and low income countries. IASB Comprehensive Subscribers will automatically receive a copy of the new "Guide through IFRS July 2009" when it becomes available.

" IFRS Taxonomy Illustrated " Price: £15

Physically, the IFRS Taxonomy consists of a set of electronic XBRL files and, therefore, it can be difficult for those not familiar with XBRL to understand the structure of the Taxonomy without the use of software. The "IFRS Taxonomy Illustrated" presents a simplified view of the IFRS Taxonomy in an easy to read, visual format that does not require knowledge of XBRL. It has been specially prepared for accountants, auditors and those wanting a comprehensive overview of the structure and content of the IFRS Taxonomy, in order to promote understanding of the Taxonomy and assist with preparing IFRS financial reports in XBRL format.

The "IFRS Taxonomy Illustrated" sets out the hierarchy of the Taxonomy and the elements within it (which represent IFRS disclosure requirements), the required format of these elements (such as text, monetary values, etc), and the IFRSs and IASs that these elements relate to. To meet the needs of preparers, the "IFRS Taxonomy Illustrated" has been released in two versions - the Taxonomy organised according to financial statements, and the Taxonomy organised by IFRSs (i.e. in the same order as the Bound Volume of IFRSs).

Registered IFRS website subscribers can also access HTML versions in Arabic, English (organised by financial statements or IFRSs) and Spanish, with translations into other key languages are to be made available over the coming months.