The Financial Accounting Standards Board is board of seven independent members who are accounting professionals that was developed in 1973. This seven member group is responsible for communicating the standards that are in place for financial accounting and reporting that takes place in the United States. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) are the standards that are used by the FASB to govern the way in which corporations prepare their financial reports. This process of utilizing these standards to maintain and report accounting files is the only method that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will accept. The members include; Michael Crooch, CPA, George Batavick, CPA, Edward Trott, CPA, Leslie Seidman, CPA, Donald Young, CFA, Robert Herz, CPA and Thomas Linsmeier, CPA . The US Securities and Exchange Commission was created in 1934 at the same time that the Securities Exchange Act was passed. The law was “designed to restore investor confidence in our capital markets by providing investors and the markets with more reliable information and clear rules of honest dealing.” (US SEC Website) There are five presidentially appointed Commissioners with a five year term and each member’s term is staggered off the other. “One of them is designated by the President as Chairman of the Commission — the agency's chief executive. By law, no more than three of the Commissioners may belong to the same political party, ensuring non-partisanship. The agency's functional responsibilities are organized into four Divisions and 18 Offices, each of which is headquartered in Washingt... ... middle of paper ... ...own set of rules and regulations; SEC, PCAOB, General Accounting Office, State Accounting Office and The American Institute of Certified Public Accounts. It may be the acts of not only the accounts but also the auditors, board members, and investors that create a fraudulent environment for a business. Accounts must stay active and attentive to the constant changes within these groups in order to serve the public with dignity and maintain their trust. Reference: Flesher, F. Luca Pacioli-The Father of Accounting. Retrieved on March 30, 2008 at http://members.tripod.com/~FlynF/pacioli.htm#Biblio Retrieved on March 29, 2008 at www.pcaobus.org Retrieved on March 31, 2008 at http://www.sec.gov/about/whatwedo.shtml Retrieved on March 29, 2008 at https://api.turnitin.com
Consistent accounting and financial frauds in the U.S. alerted the SEC to the imperative need for policy and corporate governance changes. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 was enacted to encourage financial disclosures, enhance corporate responsibility, and combat fraudulent behaviour. This Act also helped create the PCAOB, which oversees the auditing practice (Stanwick & Stanwick 2009).
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). Accounting Standards Codification TM. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), 2010. Web. 16 May 2014.
To help accounting professionals easily navigate through 50-plus years of unorganized US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and standards the Trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation approved the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (Codification.) By codifying authoritative US GAAP, FASB will provide users with real-time and accurate information in one location. Concurrently, FASB developed the FASB Codification Research System; a web-based system allowing registered users to electronically research accounting issues. Since 2009, the codification became the single source of nongovernmental authoritative GAAP.
Throughout the past several years major corporate scandals have rocked the economy and hurt investor confidence. The largest bankruptcies in history have resulted from greedy executives that “cook the books” to gain the numbers they want. These scandals typically involve complex methods for misusing or misdirecting funds, overstating revenues, understating expenses, overstating the value of assets or underreporting of liabilities, sometimes with the cooperation of officials in other corporations (Medura 1-3). In response to the increasing number of scandals the US government amended the Sarbanes Oxley act of 2002 to mitigate these problems. Sarbanes Oxley has extensive regulations that hold the CEO and top executives responsible for the numbers they report but problems still occur. To ensure proper accounting standards have been used Sarbanes Oxley also requires that public companies be audited by accounting firms (Livingstone). The problem is that the accounting firms are also public companies that also have to look after their bottom line while still remaining objective with the corporations they audit. When an accounting firm is hired the company that hired them has the power in the relationship. When the company has the power they can bully the firm into doing what they tell them to do. The accounting firm then loses its objectivity and independence making their job ineffective and not accomplishing their goal of honest accounting (Gerard). Their have been 379 convictions of fraud to date, and 3 to 6 new cases opening per month. The problem has clearly not been solved (Ulinski).
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is the independent organization that improves and establishes the accounting standards for the United States and local governments. It was established in 1984 by an agreement by the Financial Accounting Foundation and ten national associations of local governments. The mission of the GASB is “to establish and improve standards of the state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports, and to guide and educate the public and users of those financial reports (GASB 2014).” Their four core values are: independence, integrity, objectivity, and transparency. The GASB is not a governmental entity, and it is a component of the Financial Accounting Foundation which is a private sector not for profit entity. The GASB standards are not federal laws or regulations, and the GASB does not enforcement authority. However, the standards are enforceable through the laws of the individual states and the auditing process. The process of a standard being set is by due process, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council consists of thirty members that are appointed by the Financial Accounting Foundation Trustees. Th...
The PCAOB has the authorization to provide rules governing the following areas; ethics, independence, and quality control for any registered accounting firm...
The Oxford dictionary states that fraud is the “wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain” (Oxford University Press, 2014). It is arguable that only individuals have the ability to engage in fraud, but these individuals may lead corporations, which allows corporations also to commit acts of fraud. From a high-level perspective for combating this issue, many governments build a regulatory environment that interacts through firms and individuals. This regulatory environment exists as a series of laws and directives on the various government entities interact to ensure this protection. These laws and directives protect the public from fraud. This coverage of the regulatory environment even protects the public from fraud that happens within a corporation. Laws, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley act of 2002 give protection against internal fraud. Understanding the effects of regulation on ethical behavior, and understanding the regulatory environment, ensures that one possesses a basic understanding of how the regulatory environment protects the public.
Proverbs 10:9 states: “People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will slip and fall” (New Living Translation).” This Scripture suggests that individuals who do not walk in integrity follow “crooked paths.” They walk in ways that are not morally sound, pure, and honest—but in ways that are corrupt. Clients want accountants with integrity. Thus, integrity is critical to the public trust. As a matter of fact, one of the general definitions of integrity provided by the AICPA Code is that it is a quality from which the public trust derives. Also, it is an element of character fundamental to professional recognition, and it requires members to be (among other things) honest and candid within the constraints of confidentiality (Duska, Duska & Ragatz, 2011). Integrity in the accounting profession involves adhering to the rules and principles of the profession. This includes remaining free of conflicts of interest and maintaining client relationships in which the accountant can remain objective in discharging his or her responsibilities. This requires independence in fact and in appearance as mandated under section 1.200.001.01, Independence Rule the AICPA Code. In other words, no one should be able to view the accountant as being biased with respect to a client’s financial reporting due to an improper client relationship. Lack of integrity in accounting practices has been, and continues to be, a key element in the downfall of many institutions which has hurt the public trust in the accounting
Private and public accounting has long been discussed and disputed in regards to financial reporting. Since the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) was created in 1973, accountants have called for different accounting regulations for private and public accounting sectors, as private companies do not have the resources to meet the complex requirements of public companies. Private companies currently are not required by law to issue annual or quarterly financial statements (James, 2012). Private companies do, however, have the option to apply the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), cash basis, or accrual accounting to their financial statements (James, 2012).
The principle territory we are planning to address is accounting fraud and how it could impact an organization by answering, the who, what, when and how. Its goal is to increase the awareness of accounting fraud and fraud counteraction. The intriguing thing about accounting fraud is that little disclosure as a rule usually leads to an enormous increase in fraud. A number of categories and sub-categories can be divided up for fraud.
According to business, or any organization, Accounting plays a major role in developing and growth of the business. Financial standards of the organization expected as the complexities of business growth and expansion. Hence determining the implementation of the standards can vary according to the type of industry, business or organization.
4) . One of the largest bankruptcies in history was enabled by accountants hiding debt and destroying the evidence to avoid implication (Buckstein, part 2 pgs. 1, 2, and 3). These unfortunate events led to the need for increased scrutiny and regulations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Buckstein, part 3 pg 1). This legislation inspired the creation of the Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) (Buckstein, part 3 pg 1). These changes have led to an increased awareness of the need for auditor independence as well as higher standards for accounting and business in general (Buckstein, part 3 pg 1). While these measures have helped to reassure the public, there is still the question of why Accountancy is not a protected
A largely accepted language is required for a business or organization to effectively communicate its results and position to stakeholders, which is why accounting has come to be known as the "language of business". Accounting is really the means for providing financial information to others. Financial analyst then take the data the accountants have compiled in the form of reports, and make educated guesses at what their company should do next. David ballast (1996) stated, "The fact remains that accounting and finance are the primary tools for reducing business problems and opportunities to a common denominator, setting goals, measuring results, and making decisions." (p. 1)
There are general rules and concepts that preside over the field of accounting. These general rules, known as basic accounting principles and guidelines, shape the groundwork on which more thorough, complex, and legalistic accounting rules are based. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) uses the basic accounting principles and guidelines as a foundation for their own comprehensive and complete set of accounting rules and standards.
The revenue/cost period-: Revenue and the cost period in accounting that the company get income from normal business activities. It’s referred to normal business income that the company got by selling their product and service.