US signals move to principles-based accounting
The appointment of Bob Herz, as incoming chairman at the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, is the clearest signal yet that the US will move to a principles-based approach.
The appointment of Bob Herz, as incoming chairman at the US Financial Accounting Standards Board, is the clearest signal yet that the US will move to a principles-based approach.
A senior partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers and a part-time board member of the International Accounting Standards Board, Herz signalled in today’s (Monday) FT that he wanted to bring the US rules-based process closer to a principles-based approach, used by the UK and the rest of the world.
Herz said: ‘I understand the US environment where there has been such a proliferation of rules. I like the principles-based approach but some people have exaggerated the differences. You are always going to have rules but the question is: “Where do you start?” You can never have a rule for everything and at that point you have to go back to principles,’ the FT reported.
The collapse of Enron and Andersen, which has led to a fundamental rethink of financial reporting in the US, has heavily contributed to the watershed.
Herz, will become FASB chairman on 1 July, when incumbent chairman Ed Jenkins steps down. He is well respected on both sides of the Atlantic for his expertise in technical accounting issues and is both a chartered accountant and certified public accountant.
FASB has been working closely with the IASB which is striving for a single set of internationally accepted accounting standards based on principles.
The numbers you crunch tell a story. Your expertis...
23yEmbracing user-friendly AP systems can turn the tide, streamlining workflows, enhancing compliance, and opening doors to early payment discounts. Read...
View articleOrganisations can enhance their financial operations' efficiency, accuracy, and responsiveness by adopting platforms that offer them self-service cust...
View articleIn a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...
View resourceDiscover how AP dashboards can transform your business by enhancing efficiency and accuracy in tracking key metrics, as revealed by the latest insight...
View articleThe Financial Reporting Council has sharply criticised BDO’s audit quality, calling its work “significantly short of expectations” and placing the fir...
View articleWhen right is nobody’s business, wrong sets the culture. The recent PCAOB fines totalling $8.5 million for cheating on ethics exams at Deloitte, PwC a...
View articleAgentic AI is pushing beyond routine automation, offering tax teams autonomous workflows, compliance insights, and specialist AI “colleagues.” Here’s ...
View articleIn a bid to future-proof the UK’s capital markets, ICAEW has outlined four principles to evolve the reporting accountant’s role, highlighting the bala...
View articleThe FRC has warned that big accountancy firms aren’t tracking how AI tools affect audit quality, raising concerns over oversight amid growing reliance...
View articleKPMG has been fined £1.25m by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) over serious breaches of audit independence rules during its 2021 audit of farm an...
View articleThe Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has opened consultation on a proposed UK version of a new global sustainability assurance standard, aiming to gi...
View articleICAEW’s latest monitoring report finds that while most audits remain of acceptable quality, 10% were flagged for significant improvements, highlightin...
View article