CPAs aren't throwing in the towel yet in the fight over private company accounting standards.
The AICPA continues to urge CPAs to write to the Financial Accounting Foundation and demand a separate, independent board that would be devoted solely to private company reporting issues.
The grassroots initiative stems from the FAF's plan to address private company accounting standards by creating what it is calling the Private Company Standards Improvement Council. That committee would not be independent. In fact, it would be overseen by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and chaired by a member of FASB, and any changes it proposes to private company standards would be subject to a two-thirds majority vote and then be sent to FASB for approval.
That plan irked the AICPA, to the point where the Institute threatened to take steps of its own if the FAF didn't move toward an independent private company standards board.
So now we have an impasse.
We also have a Jan. 14 deadline for CPAs to submit opinions about the FAF's plan, and the profession wants to use every second to make sure its collective voice is heard.
The AICPA has created an online tool that lets CPAs and others send a letter to the FAF “in about 30 seconds.” The letter focuses on the need for an independent board devoted to private company standards.
If you feel strongly about the issue, check out the AICPA's resources and send a letter of your own to the FAF.
Learn more here
In the meantime, if you want to find out more about the issue, you have three more opportunities this fall to attend one of the MACPA's hugely popular professional issues updates. They're worth four hours of free CPE for MACPA members. Pick one in your area from the list below: