In a digital era where software is eating the world, the vast majority of public companies are struggling to stay current when it comes to deploying new technologies in their tax and finance departments. It’s true that one of the primary duties of the chief financial officer is to de-risk the enterprise, but at what cost when they are losing competitive advantage due to slow adoption of new technology?
According to Wikipedia, the source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th-century carving over a door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō, Japan. The three wise monkeys symbolize the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. There are many meanings associated with this proverb and it’s often used to describe someone turning a blind eye.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has been deliberating its project for a proposed Accounting Standards Update (ASU), Government Assistance (Topic 832): Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance since January 29, 2014. BIGcontrols, submitted a comment letter on the FASB’s Exposure Draft for Topic 832 on the February 10, 2016 deadline.
I just returned from the Credits & Incentives Symposium, hosted by IPT (Institute for Professionals in Taxation). One of the consistent themes I heard in many of the sessions I attended was a concern around compliance management of tax credits & incentives – from both industry and government agencies.
The Financial Standards Accounting Board (FASB) is about to issue an Exposure Draft on its project “Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance”. One of the primary objectives of the FASB’s project on new disclosure requirements for government incentives is to provide transparency where none exists today.
It’s no surprise that no one is talking about a new Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) pronouncement on government incentives that’s coming down the pike. For years, major corporations have been burying how they account for government incentives on their balance sheets & footnotes to their financial statements under some random line item like “Other Assets”.