The SEC has proposed a strategic plan which sets out its mission, vision, and values, identifies four strategic goals, a set of desired outcomes associated with each strategic goal, and a list of performance measures for assessing the SEC's effectiveness in attaining its goals. We affirm the...

The SEC has proposed a strategic plan which sets out its mission, vision, and values, identifies four strategic goals, a set of desired outcomes associated with each strategic goal, and a list of performance measures for assessing the SEC's effectiveness in attaining its goals. We affirm the...

We examine four key conceptual tensions that are at the heart of many financial reporting dilemmas: stocks vs. flows, ex-ante vs. ex post, conventions vs. economic substance, and top-down design vs. bottom-up evolution as sources of accounting practice. Associated with each of these conceptual...

Standard setters have sought a conceptual framework to guide development of a consistent set of accounting standards. However, the framework has two key weaknesses. First, it is very broad, lacks a measurement framework, and can be used ex post to justify a wide range of actual accounting...

This paper proposes an accounting for revenues as an alternative to the proposals currently begin aired by the FASB and IASB. Existing revenue recognition rules are vague, resulting in messy application, so the Boards are seeking a remedy. However, their proposals replace the traditional...

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued a joint exposure draft on accounting for leases. This exposure draft seeks to shift lease accounting from an “ownership” model to a “right-to-use” model. Under the...