It’s possible to appreciate the broad purpose of IAS 38 Intangible Assets while still finding it inherently rather peculiar… For example, anyone who’s had to spend time puzzling over how an amount of purchase price consideration might be allocated between, say, customer lists, marketing rights, patents and/or goodwill will appreciate that such exercises are often…
It’s darkly amusing (sort of) that the highest-profile recent example of deficient accounting-related record-keeping comes from the ever-wondrous heart of American democracy, as summarized here by the New York Times: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has deleted hundreds more claims from its mistake-plagued “wall of receipts,” erasing $4 billion in additional savings that the…
In a recent edition of his Inside Standard Setting, Armand Capisciolto, Chair of Canada’s Accounting Standards Board, pulled off one of the all-time memorable segues: …it’s hard to argue that Led Zeppelin IV isn’t one of the greatest rock albums of all time. It features “Rock and Roll,” “Black Dog,” “Stairway to Heaven,” and “When…
The US SEC recently issued a “Staff Statement on Meme Coins,” Let’s look at some extracts: A “meme coin” is a type of crypto asset inspired by internet memes, characters, current events, or trends for which the promoter seeks to attract an enthusiastic online community to purchase the meme coin and engage in its trading. Although…
Well, it’s pretty obvious that it’s effectively all over already for the ISSB and its standards so, thanks, that’s all I wanted to say today. Oh wait, I’m picking up some interference… (November 2024)The ESG Train is Leaving the Station – Are You on it? (May 2024) About a year and a half into the…
Even when one doesn’t care about the specific issues being discussed, the IFRS comment letter process is an informative case study in the diversity of human thought… Take for example the recent exposure draft on the equity method of accounting, intended to “provide preparers with solutions to long-standing application difficulties.” I already commented that I…
My friend Walter Ross recently submitted a comment on my public interest-themed posts and I’m going to post it here to make sure it’s appropriately visible (to the extent that being on this blog is a form of visibility): ..your recent columns on the “public interest” – a malleable concept as you note – have…
The five commissioners of the US Securities and Exchange Commission recently voted on the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s proposed budget for 2025. The proposed budget was around $400 million, a 4% increase from 2024, with no increase in headcount, and was approved by a 3 to 2 vote. As is their way, each of…
A recent financial reporting oddity from Zimbabwe… The company in question is WestProp Holdings Limited, an entity “on a mission to create a brighter future for Zimbabwe by developing properties in our lifestyle communities where people can live, work, shop and play.” As far as I could tell, the company hasn’t made (and presumably isn’t…
Block Journal (among various other sources) recently published the following: The number of US companies forced to withdraw financial statements because of accounting errors has surged to a nine-year high, raising questions about why mistakes are going unnoticed by auditors. In the first 10 months of this year, 140 public companies told investors that previous…
