Year in Review — 2024
Welcome to Quarterly Accounting Roundup: Year in Review —
2024. Over the past year, the FASB has issued Accounting Standards Updates
(ASUs) on (1) disaggregation of disclosures about income statement expenses, (2)
induced conversions of convertible debt instruments, (3) the determination of
whether profits interest and similar awards are within the scope of ASC 718,1 and (4) removing concepts statement references from the FASB Accounting
Standards Codification. The Board has also recently exposed for public
comment proposed ASUs on a range of topics, including:
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Accounting for environmental credits and environmental credit obligations.
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Accounting for government grants.
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Enhancements to the hedge accounting guidance.
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Clarifications to the interim reporting requirements.
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Improvements to the guidance on internal-use software.
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Amendments to the accounting for share-based consideration payable to a customer.
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Identifying the acquirer in a business combination.
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A credit-loss-related practical expedient for private companies and certain not-forprofit entities.
Other important developments at the FASB in 2024 include the Board’s
release of (1) the final chapter (on measurement) of its Conceptual Framework for
Financial Reporting, (2) invitations to comment (ITCs) requesting feedback
on potential standard setting related to intangible assets and financial key
performance indicators (KPIs), and (3) a postimplementation review (PIR) report on
its revenue standard (ASC 606).
The SEC was also busy as usual this year. Members of the SEC staff — including Chief
Accountant Paul Munter and Division of Corporation Finance Director Erik Gerding —
continued to release key statements on various topics of interest to investors and
other stakeholders. Topics of these statements have included cybersecurity, audit
quality, the “tone at the top” at audit firms, application of the guidance in IFRS
192 to SEC filings, and crypto asset safeguarding obligations under SAB 121.
In terms of specific rulemaking, the big news earlier in the year was the
Commission’s final rule (released in March) that would have required registrants to
provide comprehensive climate-related disclosures in their annual reports and
registration statements. However, the rule has been stayed pending a judicial review
of petitions challenging the rule. In addition to the legal challenges associated
with this rule, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has vacated the
Commission’s August 2023 final rule on private fund investments and May 2023 final
rule on share buyback disclosures.
Other significant final rules released by the SEC in 2024 include those on enhancing
the requirements for special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and amending the
reporting requirements for registered investment companies. The Commission also
published a series of compliance and disclosure interpretations (C&DIs) on
cybersecurity incidents involving ransomware attacks.
As for auditing, the PCAOB released amendments related to:
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Metric disclosures and audit firm reporting (subject to SEC approval).
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Reporting registration information (subject to SEC approval).
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Strengthening accountability standards for those who contribute to firm violations.
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Clarifying the requirements related to technology-assisted analysis.
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The auditor’s general responsibilities.
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A firm’s system of quality control.
Moreover, the AICPA released a new attestation standard in addition to updating its
practice aid on digital assets.
On the international front, the IASB published new IFRS®
Accounting Standards on (1) presentation and disclosure in financial statements and
(2) reduced disclosure requirements for certain subsidiaries. The IASB also (1)
amended its requirements related to nature-dependent energy contracts and the
classification and measurement of financial instruments and (2) released an exposure
draft (ED) related to the accounting for provisions.
In other international news, the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) released a new
set of global internal audit standards in early 2024.
At the 2024 AICPA & CIMA Conference on Current SEC and
PCAOB Developments, held in Washington, D.C., key
stakeholders convened to discuss developments, emerging
issues, and trends in accounting, financial reporting, and
auditing, as well as other related matters. For more
information about the conference, see Deloitte’s December
15, 2024, Heads
Up.
Quarterly Accounting Roundup: Year in Review — 2024 summarizes final guidance
that affects reporting and disclosures for the coming reporting season. With the
exception of fourth-quarter developments, proposed guidance is not included. For
more information about earlier proposals, please see issues of Quarterly Accounting Roundup for the first three
quarters of 2024.
In addition, in this year-end edition, an asterisk in the article title denotes
events that occurred in the fourth quarter, including updates to previously reported
topics, or that were not addressed in previous 2024 issues of Quarterly
Accounting Roundup. Events without asterisks were covered in previous
issues.
Footnotes
1
For titles of FASB Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) references,
see Deloitte’s “Titles of Topics and
Subtopics in the FASB Accounting Standards
Codification.”
2
IFRS 19, Subsidiaries Without Public Accountability: Disclosures.