The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) recently published new guidance on how companies can promote “risk appetite” as part of decision-making. It’s especially relevant in today’s uncertain marketplace. Digesting the new guidance The COSO guidance, “Risk Appetite — Critical to Success: Using Risk Appetite to Thrive in a Changing Word,” explains…

In 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) published guidance that requires major changes to how leases are reported on financial statements. One area of the guidance that’s especially complicated relates to “embedded” leases. Updated guidance Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), requires organizations to report on the balance sheet the assets and liabilities…

Your nonprofit organization may be required to hire an independent outside CPA to audit its books, depending on its annual gross receipts and other factors. Even when external audits aren’t mandated, however, they’re often recommended. These audits can provide assurance to donors and other stakeholders that your organization is operating with integrity and within acceptable…

The costs to set up cloud computing services can be significant, and many companies would prefer not to immediately expense these setup costs. Updated guidance on accounting for cloud computing costs aims to reduce differences in the accounting treatment for these arrangements. In a nutshell, the changes will spread more of the costs of implementing…

Many companies struggle to close the books at the end of the month. The month-end close requires accounting personnel to round up data from across the organization. Under normal conditions, this process can strain internal resources. However, in recent years the accounting and tax rules have undergone major changes — many of which your personnel…

Some companies are expected to report impairment losses in fiscal year 2020 because of the COVID-19 crisis. Depending on the nature of your operations and assets, the pandemic could be considered a “triggering event” that warrants interim impairment testing. Examples of assets that may become impaired include long-lived assets (such as equipment and real estate),…