Standard Setters Bend to Political Pressure

Accounting standard-setters are under much pressure to conform to the will of politicians and world-wide governments. An article in the WebCPA Daily e-letter entitled “Political Pressure Threatens Accounting Boards” included these paragraphs:

“Members of the International Financial Crisis Advisory Group warned at a meeting in London that the political pressure on accounting standard-setters posed a threat to ‘the very existence of international accounting standards.’ The group, which includes members of the International Accounting Standards Board and the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, talked about recent actions that have forced the boards to alter the standards for financial instruments such as mortgage-backed securities to deal with the credit crisis. The IASB has come under pressure from the European Commission, as well as French and German governments, to relax the IAS 39 standards on asset impairment, while FASB has been pressured by Congress to loosen FAS 157 standards on fair value and mark-to-market accounting.”

As we follow the publishing of exposure drafts by FASB, as well as the AICPA Auditing Standards Board, comment periods are being reduced in some cases to less than two weeks! Professional standards are being created and modified without consideration of the opinions of CPA practitioners and managements of smaller businesses and other organizations. This should concern us!

Smaller CPA firms, businesses and other organizations are quickly losing a voice in their future. As the standard-setters move rapidly toward one world standard, regulations and compliance will be forced upon us. Even standards for compilations and reviews, as well as OCBOAs, are being influenced and changed to conform to international rules. This process is accelerating and will not stop unless standard-setters hear our voice!

We have created a response mechanism on our website to provide quick responses to proposed changes to standards that affect smaller CPA practices and their clients. Our objective is to eventually send thousands of rapid-fire responses to these changes so that our accounting and reporting needs can be made known to the standards-setters. To make this happen, we need your participation.

Please visit our website, www.cpafirmsupport.com , click on the tab “Our Services” and then on “Subscription Plan.” When you sign up for our Subscription Plan you will receive notification of our rapid-response forms when they are available on our site for you to email to the publishing body. Together we can have a voice in our future!

During the month of June, we are offering two annual Subscription Plans for the price of one. Since each plan also contains two free accounting or auditing consultations, you can assign the annual plans to two of your firm members or extend one plan for two years. It’s time for us to be proactive! Become a subscriber today!