Posts Categorized: Financial Reporting and Analysis

System for Electronic Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR)

Posted by & filed under Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Uncategorized.

Students and investors wishing to know more about our Canadian Public companies, should know about the SEDAR web site. Financial information is provided , such as: 1. Annual Financial statements  issued quarterly and year end 2.MD&A ( Management Discussion and Analysis reports) 3. Press Releases,  provide the most recent and up-to-date corporate disclosures   www.sedar.com is… Read more »

Taking a Private Company Public……Going Public!

Posted by & filed under Accounting Careers, Corporate Restructuring, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Taxation & Planning.

Why go public? Growing companies constantly search for new capital. Going public is one way to obtain that capital, but it takes time and money—and a lot of both! Your decision to go public should follow from your longer-term strategic objectives—seeking opportunities for growth, value creation, or an exit strategy. It’s a big decision. You… Read more »

David beats Goliath: Great-West Life co ordered to pay $456M to policyholders

Posted by & filed under Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis.

LONDON, Ont. – A stunning $456-million judgement in a class-action lawsuit against insurance giant Great-West Lifeco (TSX:GWO) is a sign the courts are being more aggressive in keeping tabs on how corporate Canada conducts its affairs. The Judgement: Justice Johanne Morissette ruled after a 45 day trial in London, Ont. that Great-West breached sections of… Read more »

New Revenue Recognition Standards on the Way for Contractors

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

Contractors should be educating themselves on the impact of the new proposed revenue recognition standards and the recently published (June 24, 2010) exposure draft pertaining to revenue from contracts with customers. Public comments are due October 22, 2010, and it is expected the standards will be finalized in 2011. Questions: 1. What are some of… Read more »

Mortgage Fairs

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Given the last year’s trend, is there an end in sight to new record-low interest rates? For example, on July 22, Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey, which provides a snapshot of national average mortgage rates, reported a national average rate of 4.56% with 0.7 points on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. At the same time… Read more »

Bank of America: It Depends On How You Define Materiality

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

Bank of America incorrectly classified as much as $10.7 billion in short-term lending and repurchase deals for mortgage securities as sales. This claim surfaced in a May 13 letter to the SEC where the banking corporation alleges that the transactions were immaterial and that it would be beefing up its internal accounting controls.  This letter… Read more »

Risky Medicine for Hospital Financing

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

In a last-minute change to the financial reforms bill, Congress allowed Wall Street to continue to sell interest-rate swaps directly, rather than isolating these derivatives in separate units. The thinking behind this move is that the interest-rate securities are benign, or at least less dangerous than credit default swaps, which the legislation requires banks to… Read more »

Scrushy Back in the News

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting, Video Updates.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new review of the convictions in the government corruption case against former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and ex-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy. Questions: 1. What is the “honest services” fraud law? 2. What is a “quid pro quo” agreement? 3. A judge issued a $2.9 billion civil judgment… Read more »

Supreme Court Rules on Constitutionality of the PCAOB

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Cost Accounting, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, IFRS, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting, Managerial Accounting.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 28, 2010, that the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers principle because board members are not appointed by the president.  In a 5-4 decision, the Court stated that the president must have more power to remove PCAOB members. The five-member board… Read more »

Settlement for FCPA violation

Posted by & filed under Accounting Principles, Advanced Accounting, All Articles, Auditing, Financial Accounting, Financial Reporting and Analysis, Financial Statement Analysis, Fraud Accounting, Intermediate Accounting, International Accounting.

The SEC announced that it had reached a settlement with Technip for multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The SEC allegations focus on  Technip’s role as  a global engineering, construction and services company based in Paris, France in bribing Nigerian government officials over a 10-year period in order to win construction contracts in… Read more »