It’s all but official. On October 16th, the FASB voted to approve delays for private companies on three new accounting standards, one of which is Leases. The expected Accounting Standards Update (ASU), on which FASB voting will be the official action to implement the deferrals, is expected in November. By the way, the other two standards deferred under this vote are “credit losses” (or CECL) and “hedging”. As the effective date draws closer, we will certainly be posting about CECL, since some aspects apply to all companies. (more…)
CPAs Talk Tech Biz
To Outsource or Not? That Is the Question
Outsourcing can cover a myriad of business activities, but those most frequently considered are the back-office functions of accounting, IT and Human Resources/Recruiting, especially at micro to mid-sized companies. A quick study of Deloitte’s “Global Outsourcing Survey” for 2016 and 2018 demonstrates the maturation of outsourcing strategy. While these surveys include mostly very large participant companies, it is clear that outsourcing is now seen as a vehicle for significant strategic advantage by “buying” available capabilities to realize advantages faster than developing strategic “assets”. (more…)
AI in Accounting – Embracing a Brave New World!
Well…it’s all but HERE! For those of you who were hoping it wouldn’t come, it is best to switch gears and consider how to best harness the change to your advantage. The alternative is to risk being left behind in a world where accountants become less known for routine detailed tasks and are more often thought of as insightful, intuitive and forward-thinking strategic assets.
Sound like hyperbole? Read on… (more…)
More About Leases (Some Good News!)
Challenges in keeping up with GAAP have never been greater, with pervasive changes in revenue recognition requirements set to hit most private companies this year, to be closely followed next year by getting most leases on the balance sheet for the first time. These confusing standards, along with the usual host of less widespread financial reporting changes, are daunting (to say the least). (more…)
Non-Employees Stock Compensation Accounting Aligned with Employee Rules
The recent changes in stock compensation for non-employees will reduce complexity and should also smooth volatility in recognizing associated compensation costs in the income statement. These changes were issued in June 2018 and are first effective for private companies with calendar year 2020, although early adoption is permitted. (more…)
On the Sunny Side – FINALLY – The Ultimate VIE Accounting Relief!
Way, way back in 2002, the FASB responded to the Enron debacle by issuing the infamous accounting standard referred to as FIN46. While the noble goal was to curtail the ability of companies to keep potential liabilities off their balance sheets (off-balance sheet risks), the pronouncement probably created more angst than any other standard for nonpublic companies. In addition, the requirement to consolidate commonly owned entities that met the definition of a “Variable Interest Entity” with the primary operating entity financial statements often convoluted the financial reporting for users, both internal and third-party. (more…)
Cloud Computing – Customer Accounting for Implementation Costs
“Clean up” of accounting guidance is always needed to adapt to changing times. Businesses enter into transactions, both on the initiation and the receiving end, not envisioned decades ago. Computer hosting arrangements (“cloud computing”) is one such example. This post deals with only the customer end of a cloud computing arrangement. (more…)
New Going Concern Rules – First Year Observations
About two years ago, my post, FASB Shines a Light on “Going Concern”, summarized new disclosure rules that, for the first time, placed GAAP disclosure requirements on company management when preparing financial statements, based on their required consideration of the entity’s ability to continue as a going concern. The earlier post summarizes those new requirements. Since then, existing independent auditor/accountant reporting requirements were updated to respond to the changes required of management. Without reconsidering these changes here, I wondered whether any interesting observations could be made based on management’s and auditor’s responses to these new rules, which were first effective for calendar year 2016 and fiscal year 2017 financial statements. (more…)
Data Privacy-California Adds on to GDPR
Maybe companies got off easier than might have been, as this new law was passed in late-June 2018 in lieu of a potentially more restrictive November 2018 ballot initiative, when the initiative’s backers were convinced to throw support behind the passage of this law, instead. (more…)