The American Institute of CPAs has issued new technical practice aids to help accountants dealing with recent changes by the Financial Accounting Standards Board stemming from recommendations from the Private Company Council.
Last month, FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-07 to amend the Accounting Standards Codification to provide an elective accounting alternative for private companies in applying variable interest entity guidance to lessor entities under common control (see FASB Eases Variable Interest Entity Requirements for Private Companies).
In response, the AICPA has issued AICPA Technical Questions and Answers (TPAs) 9150.34 and 9160.30 to provide nonauthoritative guidance regarding the modification to the accountant’s compilation or review report when a client adopts a Private Company Council accounting alternative that results in a change to a previously issued report, and to the auditor’s report when a client adopts a PCC accounting alternative that results in a change to a previously issued report.
Separately, the AICPA has also issued a new Question and Answer .13 document to provide nonauthoritative guidance to address the attributes of a conflict minerals report that will facilitate an independent private sector audit. The Q&A describes the use of various section headings and subheadings within two sections that are expected to appear in a CMR based on the Form SD instructions. It also links to a CMR depiction that illustrates other headings that might also be included.
The AICPA has previously issued other nonauthoritative guidance on the conflict minerals reporting requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act and Securities and Exchange Commission regulations (see AICPA Offers Guidance on Conflict Minerals Reporting). The rules mandate that companies disclose the use of minerals such as tin, gold and tungsten that are mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or surrounding countries in which various factions have been waging armed conflict.
The “AICPA Conflict Minerals Resources” Web page includes background, previously issued Q&As .01.12 and other useful information about the use of conflict minerals, as well as an expanded “Useful Links” section.
Corporations have been challenging the conflict minerals requirements in court, and an appeals court recently rules that the rules may violate a company’s free speech rights (see Court Says SEC Conflict Mineral Rule Violates Speech Rights).
