So the blue-ribbon panel has had its say — or, more accurately, a majority of the panel's members have had their say — about what a private company reporting model should look like.
Specifically, they say it should look pretty familiar: They recommend following GAAP, but with certain exceptions for private companies.
Next up: The panel will meet in December to refine its final recommendations, then present that report to the Financial Accounting Foundation in January.
That leaves plenty of time for others to have their say as well.
Let's start with Judy O'Dell.
She is chair of the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee, a group that has helped lead the effort to reform reporting standards for private companies. The committee has taken no official stance on the blue-ribbon panel's recommendations. Seeing any movement on the issue at all seems to be enough for O'Dell.
“This is the probably the most optimistic I've been (that changes will be made), if only because everyone is around the table,” said O'Dell, also an MACPA member and head of O'Dell Valuation Consulting in Chestertown, Md. “We have the Financial Accounting Foundation, we have FASB board members, the AICPA, NASBA, users themselves. This is really a watershed moment, because for the first time all the parties are around the table. It's recognition that there are differences in the private company world and those differences should be addressed, and I think that's huge.”
Hear more of what O'Dell has to say about the blue-ribbon panel's recommendations in this MACPA podcast.
- Subscribe to our podcast here, or search for “CPA Spotlight” in iTunes.
Let us know what you think of the panel's recommendations, then be sure to register for one of the MACPA's upcoming professional issues updates. There, you'll hear the latest details about the move toward private company reporting standards … and you'll get four hours of CPE in the process. Get details and register here.
And don't forget to check out these related resources:
- One step closer to 'little GAAP' (from CFO.com)
- Private company standards: Are we at a tipping point? (from CPA Success)
- MACPA comments to the blue ribbon panel
- FEI committee on private companies responds to blue ribbon panel (FEI's Financial Reporting Blog)