Accounting & Auditing
{ACCOUNTING INDUSTRY BRIEFS}
By Tammy Whitehouse ment and recognize revenue accordingly. sure on GAAP and IFRS accounting rule
Previously, companies were not allowed to making based on the unique needs of fi-
C ompliance Week publishes a blog of the
latest news from the Financial Account-
ing Standards Board, the Public Company
use their own internal estimates.
Golden said FASB has received lots of
questions about how quickly the new ap-
nancial-sector companies, but FASB and
IASB have pleaded with the banking sec-
tor to acknowledge that accounting rules
Accounting Oversight Board, and other ac- proach can be adopted. It can be adopted are meant to serve investor rather than
counting industry groups. Below is a recap of immediately, but it must be used for an en- banking regulatory objectives. ■
recent coverage. To see the blog online, view tire fiscal year and not a portion of a year.
the primary source documents cited here, and So even though it will be issued after Sept.
participate in discussion, please visit www. 30, “companies could adopt this for the Accounting Profs Want
complianceweek.com/blog/whitehouse. third quarter, but they must adopt it as of
the beginning of the year,” he said. ■ More SEC Action on IFRS
FASB OKs Revenue Rules
for ‘Bundled’ Products
I n a recent survey by the American Ac-
counting Association and KPMG, three-
G-20 Wants Convergence quarters of 500 college professors said they
T echnology companies are rejoicing
over a new rule adopted by the Finan- Wrapped Up by 2011
need to start teaching IFRS as part of the
regular accounting curriculum but nearly
cial Accounting Standards Board that will
accelerate revenue recognition for many of
their products.
A ccounting rule makers are under new
pressure, this time from the G-20 (the
Group of 20 industrialized nations), to
an equal number said they aren’t sure how
to fit it into an already packed program.
Half of the professors said they see a low
FASB voted unanimously and with- wrap up their major convergence efforts sense of urgency among U.S. regulators to
out comment to adopt a consensus of its by June 2011. set a date or establish a timeline for adopt-
Emerging Issues Task Force to allow com- The G-20 issued a statement from its ing IFRS.
panies more flexibility in how they recog- recent Pittsburgh summit calling on the “It takes a long time to change cur-
nize revenue for products that are bundled Financial Accounting Standards Board riculum and they’re not seeing a time
with post-sale service or software updates. and the International Accounting Stan- frame ahead of them,” said Bea Sanders,
The fi nal guidance was posted on FASB’s dards Board to “redouble their efforts” national director of faculty relations for
Website Oct. 2. to achieve a single set of accounting stan- KPMG. “It’s a challenge for faculty to de-
Analysts for tech companies like Apple dards by June 2011. The call came in the termine how much to incorporate, and at
Inc. already are predicting spikes in rev- context of a long wish list of achievements what pace, as students graduate over the
enue as a result of the adoption of the rule, that would help rejuvenate global econom- next couple of years so they graduate with
although they’re also warning investors ic activity. enough knowledge of IFRS to enter the
to temper their jubilation because it rep- FASB and IASB are operating under a workforce.”
resents faster recognition of revenue, not timeline to converge a number of impor- Manny Fernandez said faculty have
an actual increase in revenue. Apple has