• Directions for travel to the Dolce Norwalk Center for Leadership and Innovation in Norwalk, Connecticut.
  Please note that for some of the past conferences, transportation to the airport after the conference was arranged for you by the conference organizers. Given a change in billing arrangements, we are no longer able to do this. As s result, conference participants are responsible for arranging their own return transportation to the airport. The company that we have used in the past is U.S. Limousine located in Norwalk CT at (800) 637-3373. If you would like to use them, please contact them.
   
• Information about the conference center 
   
• Preliminary conference schedule  

OBJECTIVE OF THIS CONFERENCE

The objective of the conference is to provide the FASB and IASB with timely feedback on the Conceptual Framework issue of recognition criteria and their potential role, if any, in the revised conceptual framework. The FASB and IASB are engaged in projects aimed at improving and converging certain financial reporting standards, with the ultimate goal being the provision of comparable financial reporting information under U.S. GAAP and International Financial Reporting Standards. This year’s conference will focus on matters related to the relationship between Conceptual Framework recognition criteria and decisions the Boards have made in developing standard-setting solutions to the same issues in related projects (Leases, Insurance, Revenue Recognition, Financial Instruments and Emission Trading, among others). The conference will explore whether any inconsistencies in Board decisions can be attributed to weaknesses in the existing Conceptual Framework (relating to, for example, definitions of elements or other recognition criteria) or if key guidance is missing in the Framework (relating to, for example, presentation, measurement or the unit of account). These issues are of significant interest to participants in the financial reporting process, and relate to a number of the major joint projects currently on the FASB’s and IASB’s agendas. Academic participants also are urged to offer insights on these issues based on research with which they are familiar.

CONFERENCE ELEMENTS

The conference readings and cases reflect the immediate importance of these issues; in particular, the cases and background readings reflect the tentative decisions of the Boards through November 1, 2010. Because this conference deals, in part, with issues that the Boards are deliberating right now, input from conference participants has the potential to immediately affect standard setting.

The case discussions require knowledge of the Boards’ current thinking on several active standards projects (Revenue Recognition, Leases, Emissions Trading Schemes, and Insurance Contracts). The required reading of the current EDs and proposed Accounting Standards Updates provide relevant background for some of these issues. In addition, a working paper on emissions trading schemes provides background on useful context examining recognition issues. In preparing for the conference, participants should primarily focus on providing thoughtful, complete, and conceptually defensible answers to the cases.

The program will include panel discussions and presentations exploring Conceptual Framework issues related to recent major project decisions. There will be breakout session discussions and full group discussions of conference cases that, among other things, explore the cross-cutting recognition issues arising from the various projects and whether existing recognition criteria are useful in addressing those issues. The cases also will provide a context to examine potential weaknesses of other parts of the Conceptual Framework (for example, measurement, element definitions, unit of account, presentation), which may be motivating the current need for recognition criteria. The conference also will elicit summaries of insights gained in the breakout sessions. These summaries will form the basis for tangible take-aways for the Boards with respect to cross-cutting issues as they relate to on-going standard-setting projects, including work on the Conceptual Framework. In particular, the conference will assess whether any inconsistencies in recent Board decisions can be attributed, at least in part, to problems with the current Conceptual Framework and, if so, how the Conceptual Framework could be revised to help the Boards address these issues more consistently.

On the first day of the conference, the cases will focus on the recognition criteria in SFAC 5 and the elements definitions in SFAC 6. To prepare for these cases participants may find it helpful to review portions of those documents. These cases will address such issues as the purpose of recognition criteria, challenges in applying these criteria, including the sources of these challenges. In the morning of the second day, participants will be asked to analyze a set of cases that consider recognition of assets and liabilities in the context of the IASB’s and FASB’s proposals on leasing, revenue recognition, and insurance. To analyze these case questions, participants will need to study those proposals, including Exposure Drafts where applicable. In the afternoon of the second day, participants will revisit vexatious issues of elements definitions, recognition, and measurement. To analyze these cases, the paper on Emission Reduction Programs and the Leases Exposure Draft will be relevant to the discussions. The conference will close with plenary discussion about conclusions reached during the conference, some of which could affect future Board decisions relating to conceptual framework and the major joint project addressed by conference cases.

PRIMARY AND BACKGROUND READINGS

To prepare for the conference, participants will need to become familiar with the existing recognition criteria and tentative decisions related to the active projects as they relate to recognition criteria. The accounting for emissions trading schemes also provides a useful context to consider these issues. Accordingly, participants are asked to read the following primary readings prior to the conference (for the FASB and IASB documents on this list participants should focus on making themselves familiar with sections specifying the draft guidance).

Primary Readings:

“Revenue Recognition: Revenue from Contracts with Customers,” Proposed Accounting Standards Update, FASB, June 24, 2010.

“Leases,” Proposed Accounting Standards Update, FASB, August 17, 2010.

“Insurance Contracts,” Exposure Draft, IASB, July, 2010.

Ertimur et. al., “Financial Reporting for Cap-and-Trade Emissions Reduction Programs,” Working Paper, Duke University, November 2010.

In addition, conference participants may find it useful to review relevant portions of the following documents prior to the conference to the extent they relate to case material.

Background Readings:

“Recognition and Measurements in Financial Statements of Business Enterprises,” Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 5, FASB, December, 1984.

“Elements of Financial Statements,” Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 6, FASB, December, 1985.

Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 8, Chapters 1 and 3, FASB, September, 2010.

CONFERENCE CASES

The primary focus of the conference will be on the analysis and discussion of a series of cases. Conference participants are expected to prepare complete responses to all of the cases before arriving at the conference and to actively participate in the conference discussions relating to the cases. The cases are available in the PDF file accessible by clicking on the following link – Conference Cases: (1) Fundamental Recognition Criteria; (2) Asset and Liability Recognition—Options and Related Issues; and (3) Recap / Application – Emission Rights, Leases, Goodwill.

Please contact Joe Vernuccio at jrvernuccio@fasb.org or at 203.956.5209 if you have difficulties downloading or accessing these materials.