IASB News
Joint Discussion on Future of Financial Reporting
IASB Chairman Hans Hoogervorst and FASB Chairman Russell Golden will participate in a panel discussion, being held jointly by the IFRS Foundation and CFA Institute, to address how financial reporting should continue to evolve at a strategic level to meet the needs of investors and other key stakeholders in a changing world. The discussion, which will take place on October 16 at the Hilton Midtown in New York City, will be moderated by Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig. Bob Pozen, senior lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, and former chairman of MFS Investment Management and the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting, will provide the keynote address at the event. Earlier this year, at separate conferences, both Hoogervorst and Golden spoke about their respective board’s work to facilitate accounting changes and maintain the relevance of financial reporting.
Proposed Revisions to Statement of Financial Performance Expected by Year-End
Multinational companies will be able to weigh in during the fourth quarter this year on the IASB’s proposed changes to the primary financial statements—one of its most far reaching projects, aimed at providing more structure, especially to the income statement. The IASB plans to issue a public comment document by year-end with a 180-day comment period, Chairman Hans Hoogervorst said during a July 31 podcast. “It will probably get a lot of support from investors, probably a bit more of a diverse response from preparers,” he said. The income statement, also known as the statement of financial performance, is one of five statements companies need to prepare when using IFRS. It enables a company’s stockholders, analysts, and other financial statement users to assess and measure its financial performance from one period to another and weigh it against competitors.
PCAOB News
Research Project on Quality Control Moved to Standards-Setting Agenda
On August 9, the PCAOB put its research project on audit firm quality control onto its standards-setting agenda, and it will consider issuing a concept release in the fourth quarter. The PCAOB believes that strong quality controls are important to audit quality. The board has been researching the standards over the past several years to determine if they need to be updated as the inspections staff has continued to find deficiencies in audit engagements. “Changes being explored include prompting firms to improve their quality control systems and to more proactively identify and address emerging risks and deficiencies,” the PCAOB said. “The project also will consider impacts of potential standard-setting approaches on large and small domestic and international firms.”
