Nonprofit Blog

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has issued Statement on Standards for Accounting and Review Services (SSARS) No. 21. This guidance will help financial statement users clarify whether they need their accountant to perform a compilation, prepare their financial statements or assist them in preparing their financial statements. This distinction is critical in a cloud-computing environment where internal management and external advisors often collaborate contemporaneously on financial recordkeeping.

Contributed by: Sean Spitzer, Partner

Since 2002, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have been working on converging U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). There’ve been successes and failures along the way, but now the convergence effort appears to have run its course. Going forward, U.S. standard setters propose an informal, collaborative model that will minimize differences in financial reporting, in lieu of the IASB’s one-size-fits-all approach. Here’s an overview of global accounting standards — past, present and future.