The 21st Annual Financial Reporting Conference was hosted by Baruch College, City University of New York, on May 4, 2023. The longstanding conference brought together—in person, for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic—representatives from leading regulators, standards setters, preparers, auditors, and users. As the profession and business world become acclimated to the “new normal,” the topics of discussion turned to current developments in standards setting and emerging areas of interest.
Leading off the day was a discussion with FASB Chair Richard Jones and SEC Chief Accountant Paul Munter, moderated by Baruch Professor and Conference Chair Norman Strauss, which covered their group’s respective agendas and touched upon recent events. This was followed by a panel of divisional chief accountants from the SEC. A separate panel addressed environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, which have moved from the cutting edge into the mainstream, as evidenced by the recent political spotlight placed on sustainable investing. The luncheon keynote speaker was PCAOB Chair Erica Williams, speaking in a prerecorded fireside chat with Baruch Zicklin School of Business Interim Dean Paquita Davis-Friday. The afternoon sessions covered hot topics at FASB and the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) as well as disclosure projects and their impact on financial reporting.
The following articles present a condensed summary of the conference. The comments and opinions expressed at the conference and reproduced here represent the speakers’ own views and not necessarily those of their employers or affiliated organizations.
