1999 Reports
1999: Accounting Issues Review & Preview. The SEC Codifies Common Sense: 1999 was a year of anomalies for students of earnings and accounting (a.k.a. investors). The economic backdrop continued to be hospitable for companies of all stripes, yet there …
A Restructuring Reserve Review: Restructuring actions, a mainstay of poor financial reporting for years, have gained new prominence since mid-October. Whispers are now frequently heard about firms that may be subject to SEC review because of improperly accrued - …
Re-engineering Business Combination Accounting: The FASB began its reconsideration of accounting for business combinations over three years ago, in August 1996. In September, it released its exposure draft of a proposed standard that would provide a new blueprint for …
The S&P 500: Where The Options Aren't: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants annually hosts a national conference in Washington on current SEC reporting developments. The majority of the speakers are SEC staff members, making the conference a …
The S&P 500: Where The Options Are: It's a perennial topic: how much are earnings overstated by the use of stock options in corporate compensation packages? Estimates pop up everywhere. Often overlooked, there's one place to get a grip …
Fixing Securitization Accounting: In 1997, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 125 became effective. That standard attempted to define clearly when a sale of financial assets has taken place and when a seller's responsibility for transferred assets has been …
"Cash-Flavored" Earnings: Bogus Performance Measure: Two of the most-discussed recent moves of the Financial Accounting Standards Board are the decisions to ban pooling-of-interests accounting and simultaneously shorten the maximum life of goodwill recognized in "purchase method" business combinations. As …
Stock Option Compensation Redux: FASB Mops Up: Like the poor out-of-towner who wanders into a saloon in the wrong end of town, the Financial Accounting Standards Board unintentionally became party to a barroom brawl when it tried to reform …
Consolidation Policy: FASB's Plan To Make Companies Whole: For forty years, companies have been consolidating financial statements of subsidiaries and investments according to the bright lines spelled out by the AICPA's Committee on Accounting Procedure, spiritual ancestor to the …
The Bonfire Of The IPR&D: By now, even day-trading grandmothers are probably familiar with the initials "IPR&D": In-Process Research & Development. Those in the know understand that those initials mean something else: they stand for what a management can …
