New accounting rule would ease Greek pain: IASB [Reuters]
European Union banks would have more breathing space from losses on Greek bonds if the bloc adopted a new international accounting rule, a top standard setter said on Tuesday. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) agreed under intense pressure during the financial crisis to soften a rule that requires banks to price traded assets at fair value or the going market rate.
Obama Summons G.O.P. and Democratic Leaders for Deficit Reduction Talks [NYT]
Mr. Obama, who met secretly with Speaker John A. Boehner at the White House on Sunday to try to advance the talks, called House and Senate leaders from both parties to the White House for further negotiations on Thursday. And he rejected talk of an interim deal that would get the government past a looming deadline on raising the federal debt limit without settling some of the longer-term issues contributing to the government’s fiscal imbalances.
U.S. Will Probably Adopt IFRS Standards, IASB Chairman Says [Bloomberg]
The U.S. will probably adopt International Financial Reporting Standards, said Hans Hoogervorst, the new chairman of the London-based accounting organization IASB. The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board, which wanted to expand the use of fair-value accounting to all financial assets, has dropped that model and “that has made talking to each other a lot easier,” Hoogervorst told delegates at an IFRS conference in Zurich today.
Antitax Extremism in Minnesota [NYT]
More than 40 state agencies have closed, including the state parks over the July Fourth holiday. Courts and public safety agencies are operating, but essential services for the poor, like food pantries and child care subsidies, have evaporated. Many parents say they may have to quit their jobs if state-subsidized child care does not resume quickly. The shutdown will cost the state money, since many of the 22,000 laid-off workers will receive unemployment benefits and health insurance, while the treasury is unable to collect on tax audits, lottery tickets and park fees.
IFRS Is for Criminals [Grumpy Old Accountants]
Possible prerequisite for using principles-based accounting: walking on water.
Obama’s Twitter Town Hall: He’ll Take Questions in 140 Characters or Less [Bloomberg]
President Barack Obama will take questions today in what White House officials are calling his first Twitter town hall, complete with a “Tweetup.” Users of the social networking service can post questions for Obama before and during the event, which starts at 2 p.m. Washington time. Questions should fit Twitter’s 140-character limit and include the hashtag #askObama.
Casey Anthony, acquitted of murder in toddler’s death, faces IRS tax lien [DMWT]
I still don’t know who this woman is but she sure is popular on Twitter.
What does my boss want from me? [Accountant by Day]
Short answer: your soul. ABD has a slightly longer answer.
SEC Gauging U.S. Global Accounting Readiness [CFOJ]
The long road to determining whether U.S. companies will ever adopt international accounting rules will take another turn this week as U.S. securities regulators hold three roundtables to try to assess how ready the world’s largest economy would be if it goes forward with a plan to adopt IFRS. While the U.S. Securities and Exchange has spent most of the past two years slowing down an earlier plan that would have had U.S. companies using IFRS as soon as 2014, it aims to decide in the next year whether even a slower incorporation of IFRS is a feasible option.
Americans Rank Airlines Lower Than the IRS [ABC]
Overall, the U.S. airline industry scored a 65. That’s lower than the satisfaction score for Domino’s Pizza. Lower than the Post Office. Lower than the IRS. Well, lower for electronic tax filers, anyway, according to the most recent government rankings.
