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Study Group: Stock Options Backdating Accounting Experts

Council Members in this Study Group: 12

This study group may include chief financial officers, chartered public accountants, controllers, and consultants knowledgeable on topics such as finance, taxation, auditing, forensic accounting and fraud, financial accounting and reporting, bankruptcy, pension benefits, cash flow, company valuation, working capital, hedge accounting, and mergers and acquisition, among others.

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Leading Experts in this Study Group

Ronald Kiima, President , Kiima IncorporatedRonald Kiima

President
Kiima Incorporated
What is a GLG Leader?|GLG Leaders are a separate tier of Council Members with a Council Rank in the top 5%. These GLG Member Program participants are eligible for ongoing, in-depth consultative relationships with GLG clients.

Ronald A. Kiima is a former SEC Assistant Chief Accountant. Mr. Kiima is currently the President of Kiima Incorporated, a private consulting firm specializing in SEC accounting and disclosure issues, SEC registration statements and periodic reports,...

Dan Gode, Co-Founder, Almaris E-Learning SystemsDan Gode

Co-Founder
Almaris E-Learning Systems
What is a GLG Leader?|GLG Leaders are a separate tier of Council Members with a Council Rank in the top 5%. These GLG Member Program participants are eligible for ongoing, in-depth consultative relationships with GLG clients.

Dan Gode is a Clinical Associate Professor of Accounting, Taxation, and Business Law at New York University Stern School of Business. He is also the Co-Founder of Almaris E-Learning Systems. Professor Gode teaches courses in corporate financial accounting...

GLG NewsSM Analyses by this Study Group's Leading Experts(?)

Opinions and analyses expressed in GLG News are solely those of the author. See the Terms of Use for details.

Bush Nominates Two Democrats to SEC: More of the Same is Likely

March 31, 2008

White House to Tap Two Dems to SEC | www.cfo.com

Will President Bush's recent nomination of two Democrats to the SEC make it more investor friendly?  Not likely!

2007 Accounting Error of the Year: Depreciation and Amortization

January 2, 2008

Securities Suits Spike in 2007 | www.cfo.com

The subject article provides some interesting insights into the upward reversal in the number of securities class-action lawsuits filed during 2007.  Given such, I thought it might be fitting to offer my personal insights into what I continue to believe is the most common, yet rarely noticed, accounting error. As in prior years, inappropriate depreciation and amortization methodologies once again gets my nomination for Accounting Error of the Year.  Unfortunately, absent some unforeseeable improvement in oversight by corporate auditors and the SEC, I suspect that I will again be making the same nomination this time next year.      

SEC Schedule II - Visibility into the Integrity of Reported Results

September 11, 2007

SEC Schedule II - Visibility into the Integrity of Reported Results | tinyurl.com

Few other disclosures give as much visibility into the integrity of a company’s reported results like the SEC’s Schedule II – Valuation and Qualifying Accounts. Unfortunately, despite such schedule being required of most public companies, few companies seemingly fully comply. The absence of otherwise required data, or worse, the outright omission of the schedule in its entirety, should raise investor concerns that a company may be engaging in some degree of inappropriate earnings management.

US GAAP: A Foreseeable Death

March 8, 2007

One Accounting Standard for All? | www.cfo.com

This article raises the question as to whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) will ultimately mandate that domestic public companies report their financial results pursuant to International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”).  I believe, as a former SEC Assistant Chief Accountant who had oversight responsibility for numerous foreign private issuers, that the answer is an unequivocal “yes.” 

Grant Thornton Supports Lease Accounting Overhaul

December 29, 2006

Grant Thornton LLP Supports Review of Lease Accounting Rules as FASB/IASB Working Group is Named | home.businesswire.com

 

If they do not already do so, analysts need to begin proactively adjusting their models to reflect the assets and liabilities underlying “operating” leases onto the books of the companies they follow.  It is no longer a question as to whether many current operating leases will go onto the books, its merely a question of when and how many!

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Members in this Study Group include these company types:

  • Academic Institution*
  • Consulting Firm
  • Accounting & Audit Firm
  • Pension Fund Management
  • Independent Consulting Firm

Members in this Study Group often have these job titles:

  • Professor
  • Partner
  • Director
  • Assistant Professor
  • Principal
  • Risk Management Director