Few people would have been surprised that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is backing away from its previously-passed (but now never to be implemented) climate disclosure rules… …but recent events must raise questions about what else lies ahead for the organization. Recent reporting by The Economic Times sets out some initial Trump-era developments: Beyond…

I recently mused here on the often-cited concept of the “public interest”… I say “recently” because it wasn’t even two weeks ago, but the post already almost seems like a missive from a simpler and more naïve age, given Trump’s rampaging destructiveness since then. The following is from a Globe and Mail column by Adrienne…

Let’s return to IFRS 18, Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements… We already looked at an entity’s assessment of its “main business activities,” relevant to determining whether certain expenses which would otherwise be classified as investing or financing activities should rather be viewed as operating activities. More broadly, the operating category of expenses includes all…

This is from the page on CPA Canada’s website titled “Advocacy: In support of the public interest”: That’s a fairly focused, discipline-specific concept of the public interest. But browsing the website further, I was struck by the following phrase, included in the description of a podcast episode: “Public interest” is, clearly, among the more malleable…

As we addressed here, the IASB has issued Provisions – Targeted Improvements, an exposure draft of proposed amendments to IAS 37. You’ll recall that a provision is “a liability of uncertain timing or amount” and under IAS 37 in its current form is recognized when an entity has a present obligation (legal or constructive) as…

It’s telling that two of Canada’s major newspapers published very similar opinion pieces  within a couple of days of each other.… This is from the piece headlined Canada must stand firm on DEI as U.S. corporations retreat, written by Wes Hall and Walied Soliman, published in the Globe and Mail: In the Toronto Star, Ruby…

Welcome to a New Era of Sustainability Reporting in Canada, heralded a recent news release. Here’s what that’s about: Here are some comments from the Globe and Mail’s coverage: It’s impossible to assess the significance of the new standards without acknowledging that they will only be mandatory for Canadian public companies if and when securities…

Let’s return to the upcoming IFRS 18, Presentation and Disclosure in Financial Statements… Another key aspect of the new standard is its treatment of management-defined performance measures (MPMs), subtotals of income and expense that aren’t specifically required to be presented or disclosed under IFRS, but that an entity uses in public communications outside financial statements,…

Here are some extracts from a speech recently delivered by Paul Munter, Chief Accountant of the SEC, at the AICPA and CIMA conference. Unfortunately, Munter’s specific examples of how accountants might promote the public interest don’t quite live up to that build-up: he notes that it’s critical “that preparers view financial reporting as a communication…

One of the great things about being part of Canadian accounting is that you feel, individually and collectively, that you’re contributing exactly what’s expected of you, no more and no less. Thanks, that’s all I wanted to say today. Oh wait, there’s a bulletin coming in: On becoming a CPA: All right, so once in…