In the Crosshairs of Regulators In this article, Mark Zyla of Acuitas discusses trends in fair value measurements in financial reporting and enforcement actions. Mr. Zyla notes that financial reporting is increasingly scrutinized by regulators. He observes that recent inspection reports of accounting firms that audit publicly traded entities by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) have indicated an increasing focus on the audit procedures related to fair value. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also showed concerns regarding outside valuation specialists who assist management in determining fair value measurements. The increased scrutiny has put a spotlight on…
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The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board found 123 audit deficiencies related to fair-value estimates and asset impairments in 2010, making asset valuation the most common audit problem. Market volatility always makes it tough to value assets fairly based on market prices. But that doesn’t mean management forecasts—and the assumptions and methodologies of financial modeling used in corporate pricing—couldn’t benefit from additional scrutiny. Emily Chasan reports at the Wall Street Journal’s CFO Report blog: The Big Number: 123 That’s the number of audit deficiencies related to asset-valuation problems found among clients of the Big Four accounting firms in 2010. Market volatility…