FASB Research Office Hours: Financial Statement Presentation

8 - 9 am Pacific Time, 11 - Noon Eastern Time

Last week we had over 20 faculty members from around the country join us in Second Life to discuss revenue recognition at FASB Research Office Hours in Second Life. We expect and even bigger crowd for our next event, Nov 19th at 11am ET/8amPT, which will be devoted to the recent discussion paper, Preliminary Views on Financial Statement Presentation (FSP). We have excellent representation from the FASB and IASB, including:

Bob Lipe, last year’s FASB Research Fellow
Kim Petrone, FASB Senior Project Manager for FSP
Denise Gomez Soto, IASB Project Manager for FSP
Aida Vatrenjak, IASB Assistant Project Manager

Financial Statement Presentation
The proposed changes to financial statement presentation are sweeping, and include classifying the balance sheet and income statement, and cash flow statement into operating, investing, financing (and other categories)—except with categories defined quite differently from those used in the current cash flow statement. The changes also entail providing much more detailed breakdowns of revenues and expenses.

There is an excellent overview of the project available at http://www.fasb.org/draft/snapshot_discussion_paper_fsp.pdf. The complete Discussion Paper is posted at http://www.fasb.org/draft/DP_Financial_Statement_Presentation.pdf.

How to participate
Our discussion will take place in Second Life, a virtual world that allows people to meet in a setting that shares many of the advantages of face-to-face contact, without the expense and hassle of travel. Anyone who wishes to attend FASB office hours can find information on how to do so at http://metanomics.net/fasbofficehours. You will need a reasonably recent computer, a broadband internet connection, and a headset with microphone to participate. If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact Professor Robert Bloomfield at rjb9@cornell.edu.

If you have not been in Second Life before, we recommend that you arrive at least half an hour early. Staff will be available to assist you as much as 90 minutes before the event.

Past Guests for Office Hours:
Sue Bielstein, FASB Director, Planning and Support
Danielle Zeyher, FASB Practice Fellow, Project Manager (Leasing)
David Elsbree, FASB Practice Fellow, Project Manager (Emissions Trading Schemes)
Jeff Wilks, Former Academic Fellow, AISB, Technical Advisor, IASB (Revenue Recognition)