SEC Reporting & FASB Forum
    for Mid-sized and Smaller Companies

Two days — 18 CPE credits

Created with carefully chosen FASB topics and SEC Reporting issues applicable to a broad range of mid-size and smaller company concerns.

Gain new insights as you interact with faculty and peers.

• Senior officials from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, Office of Chief Accountant, FASB, and PCAOB will join our star panelists to share their insights with you.

• Experts tee up the challenges of the current environment, including complexities of raising capital plus issues on the horizon: XBRL, the audit of SOX 404, IFRS, and more…

• CFO Roundtable: Controlling the often uncontrollable current environment and handling the multitude of changes coming up in financial reporting

• Listen to Aaron Beam’s riveting story as the former CFO of HealthSouth at the time of one of the biggest frauds in history. Learn how poor ethical decisions, even minor ones, can send you down a slippery slope with devastating consequences

• Take a deeper dive with our experts into troublesome accounting areas, such as debt vs. equity, income taxes, goodwill analysis, and more…

• The long wait is over: Learn how to deal with XBRL reporting from those on the front line 

AGENDA

DAY ONE

7:30 am — Networking Breakfast

8:00 - 8:15 am — Welcome, Introductions and Program Overview

8:15 - 9:00 am — The Current Environment and Emerging Issues

• Raising capital in the current environment

• Final and proposed changes to the proxy and other corporate governance issues

• Challenges on the horizon

  • Audit of SOX 404 for small companies

  • XBRL

  • Major convergence projects

  • The looming specter of IFRS

• And more…

9:00 - 11:00 am — SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance Update: Common Reporting Issues and Best Practices

• Update on recent rulemaking and other activity, including

  • Revised guidance on Non-GAAP measures and other staff communications

  • Interpretive guidance on disclosure of the effect of climate change

  • The Core Disclosure Project

  • Proxy Disclosure Enhancements

  • Updates to the Financial Reporting Manual

• Update on staff reviews

• Frequent staff comment areas

  • Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangibles

  • PP&E and intangibles

  • Investments

  • Debt, warrants and equity transactions

  • Fair value measurement

  • Income taxes

  • Other impacts of the financial crisis

  • Business combinations

  • Revenue recognition, including deferred revenue

  • More!

10:00 - 10:15 am — Morning Break

11:00 - Noon — XBRL: What You Need to Know to Get Ready

• When is it required for your company?

• A look at the multitude of Implementation issues

• A closer look at taxonomies

• How-to guidance for do-it-yourselfers and those using outside help

Noon - 1:00 pm — Luncheon

1:00 - 2:15 pm — Writing the MD&A in a Downturn and During Recovery

• The critical role of liquidity and cash flow in a challenging yet recovering credit environment

• Trend and risk disclosure – alerting investors while protecting the company

• Critical accounting estimates – how to craft meaningful disclosure

• New Sources of Disclosure “requirements’ – debt covenants, climate change…

• Beyond the Checklist: Prescriptive v. principle-based disclosure

• Recent SEC comment examples

• Lessons from SEC enforcement actions and securities lawsuits

2:15 - 3:00 pm — PCAOB Update

• Recent standard-setting activity and how it may impact you

• Lessons from PCAOB enforcement actions

• Update on forums and guidance for auditors of smaller public companies

3:00 - 3:15 pm — Afternoon Break

3:15 - 4:30 pm — SEC Comment Letters: Learning from Experience

• Navigating the comment letter database

• Following a major comment from the initial letter & comment trigger to resolution

• Keys to responding to the staff

• Avoiding unnecessary comments

• Comment letter themes

4:30 - 5:30 pm — HealthSouth: The Wagon to Disaster

• Hear the story of how poor ethical decisions, perhaps minor initially, started HealthSouth down a slippery slope to disaster

• Learn how you can spot the signs to avoid an ethical collapse in your own organization

5:30 - 6:30 pm — Networking Reception for Faculty and Participants

DAY TWO

7:30 am — Networking Breakfast

8:00 - 10:30 am — Here and Now: Update on Implementation Issues at the FASB and SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant

• Recently Completed Projects

  • Subsequent events

  • Derecognition

  • Fair value measurements disclosure

  • And more…

• FASB and EITF Implementation Issues

  • Revenue recognition

  • Financial instruments and fair value

  • Measuring liabilities under FAS 157

  • Reconsideration of the scope of FAS 160

  • Other EITF issues and ASUs (Accounting Standards Updates)

• Update by the Office of the Chief Accountant

  • Practice issues attracting OCA attention

  • Update on the roadmap to IFRS, status of the workplan

  • Other projects

9:30 - 9:45 am — Morning Break

10:30 - Noon — Controllers’ Panel – Facing the Challenges of the Current Market Environment

• Issues in running the business

  • Working with your bank and large investors

  • Human capital

  • Staying out of trouble

• The impact of selected upcoming FASB major projects and potential adoption headaches

• Identifying your most significant reporting challenges and how to handle them

Noon - 1:00 pm — Luncheon

1:00 - 2:15 pm — Diving Deeper into Troublesome Accounting Areas

• Is it debt or equity? Instruments with characteristics of equity, including challenges in guidance such as EITF 07-05

• Reporting units for goodwill analysis

• Income taxes, including effects of recent Congressional action

2:15 - 2:30 pm — Afternoon Break

2:30 - 3:45 pm — The Big Picture: Future Projects at the FASB

• Convergence Projects with 2011 Estimated Completion Dates and Beyond

  • Financial statement presentation

  • Revenue recognition

  • Leases

  • to name only a few…

• Other FASB Projects

  • Disclosures about credit quality and allowance for credit losses

  • Disclosure of loss contingencies

  • Going concern

  • Disclosure framework project

• Industry-Specific Guidance

3:45 - 4:00 pm — Final Q&A and Wrap Up

4:00 pm — Adjournment

BACK TO TOP

Learning Objective: In-depth update on SEC and FASB developments for the mid-sized and smaller public companies.
Delivery Method: Group-Live
Prerequisites/Advance Preparation: None
Program Level: Overview.