PwC's Phillips warns over accounting 'tweaks'

PwC‘s corporate reporting
chief has warned standard setters to pay more attention to the effects of
accounting ‘tweaks’ on preparers of accounts.

David Phillips said that companies had to make wholesale changes last year to
accommodate financial instruments rules but said any amendments would put an
extra burden on companies. ‘This is not just an overlying thing, it goes
straight to the heart of companies. They had to go to a lot of effort on
financial instruments, including reprogramming entire systems,’ he said.

‘Companies [went] to all that trouble only to find out that there are more
changes further down the line because the rules are getting tweaked. More effort
should be made to get the standards right first time round.’

Phillips’ comments came as the end users of company accounts continue to put
pressure on US and UK standard setters to iron out problems. The Corporate
Reporting Users Forum, representing some of the world’s biggest investment
banks, said some changes would be ‘disruptive and costly’, in a letter sent to
the IASB and FASB.

A source close to the IASB said any changes were made as part of its annual
improvement to ease the burden on companies.