Over the past several years, it has become common for companies to control businesses without a majority voting interest while avoiding consolidations, and I have several clients involved with related entities requiring the regular assessment of Variable Interest Entities (VIEs) and its varied implications. This year I had the pleasure of working with San Jose State University students on a project to analyze the provisions of U.S. GAAP as it relates to determination VIEs and primary beneficiaries and the consolidation considerations for such entities. It is certainly not a straightforward topic, and their step-by-step explanation, with the aid of a flowchart, broke down the requirements into layman’s terms that quite succinctly highlighted the salient characteristics of a VIE and when to consolidate. You may find our analysis from the project helpful as…