SEC Conference 2013: An Accounting & Reporting Update for Public Companies

DAY ONE AGENDA*

Deluxe Continental Breakfast & Registration
8:00 – 8:45 AM

Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:45 – 9:00 AM

SEC Hot Buttons
9:00 – 10:30 AM
• Recent developments
  – JOBS Act
  – Dodd-Frank rulemaking
  – Conflict Minerals rules
  – Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act disclosures
  – Cybersecurity
• Shelf registration statement topics
  – Pro forma financial statements
  – Guarantor financial statements
  – Verifying Well-Known Seasoned Issuer Status (WKSIS)
• Non-GAAP presentation
  – Applicable rules and regulations
  – Practical considerations
• Global economic considerations (especially Euro Zone)

Break
10:30 – 10:45 AM

SEC Hot Buttons (continued)
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM
• SEC comment letter trends
  – Income taxes
  – Segments
  – Revenue recognition
  – Business combinations
  – Fair value
  – Impairments
  – MD&A
  – Loss contingencies
  – VIEs
  – Goodwill
• XBRL
• ICFR
• Effective use of the SEC’s website

Luncheon
12:15 – 1:00 PM

FASB/IASB Projects Update
1:00 – 1:45 PM
• Current SEC views related to IFRS and US convergence
• FASB/IASB agenda and status of convergence projects
• Recently completed projects and related implementation issues
• Recently issued exposure drafts and other formal projects
• Accounting updates with upcoming effective dates
• Disclosure and conceptual framework projects

Revenue Recognition: The New Exposure Draft & the Latest Developments
1:45 – 3:00 PM
• Performance obligations/deliverables
• Exclusions written into the new Exposure Draft
• Contracts with elements in multiple standards
• Separation and allocation
• Variable consideration and collectability
• Recognition and measurement differences under the new rules
• Transition issues
• Disclosures (qualitative and quantitative information, significant judgments and reconciliations of contract balances)
• Practical implementation considerations: what you should be doing now

Break
3:00 – 3:15 PM

Leases: Major Changes on the Horizon
3:15 – 4:30 PM
• Background and objectives of the current lease accounting project
• Lease classification and problems with the current rules
• Lease project timeline
• Summary of original ED and comment letter highlights
• Changes during redeliberations
  – Lessor/lessee accounting
  – Other areas
  – Disclosures
  – Business impacts
• Other tentative decisions reached
• Differences between the current FASB and IASB positions
• Business and operational implications of the current proposals
• Next steps

Surviving Scrutiny: SEC, Analysts & the Media
4:30 – 5:30 PM
• Disclosure shortcomings
• Communication discrepancies
• Accounting irregularities
• Governance/ICFR weaknesses
• Unforeseeable surprises

Cocktail Reception
5:30 – 6:30 PM
 

DAY TWO AGENDA*

Deluxe Continental Breakfast
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Public Company Auditing Update
8:30 – 10:00 AM
• Recent PCAOB’s activities and their direct effects on issuers
• New standard on communications with audit committees
• Auditor independence: audit firm rotation
• Revising the auditor’s reporting model
• Improving transparency through disclosure of the engagement partner and other audit participants
• Review of common PCAOB inspections findings, including auditing fair value
• Status of other significant Board projects
• Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) policy initiatives

Break
10:00 – 10:15 AM

COSO Update of Its Internal Control—Integrated Framework
10:15 – 11:15 AM
• Objectives of the Framework update project
• Significant changes from the 1992 Framework
• Proposed requirements for effective internal control
• Public exposure of the companion document: Internal Control over External Financial Reporting: Compendium of Approaches and Examples
• Discussion of draft of Illustrative Tools for Assessing Effectiveness of a System of Internal Control
  – Significant comments submitted by respondents
  – Proposed revisions to the Framework resulting from public exposure
  – Expected timeline and transition

Preparing for the SEC Staff Comment Process
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
• The Disclosure Operations group in the Division of Corporation Finance
  – Who reviews filings?
  – How do they handle comment letters?
• How filings are chosen for review
  – Causes for filings to be reviewed
  – The review decision process and impact of SOX requirements
• Process taken by SEC in reviewing filings
  – Levels of the review process
  – Comments that have arisen from filings
  – Potential outcomes of the review process
  – Triggers for Enforcement involvement
• Best practices for working with SEC staff
  – Tips for handling the comment process
  – How to best work with the staff involved in the reviews
• Ways to bulletproof your financial statements and disclosures to withstand staff inquiries
  – Tips for preparing for potential reviews
  – How to use attorneys, independent auditors and audit committees in the process

Luncheon
12:15 – 1:00 PM

SEC Enforcement: The Current Landscape
1:00 – 2:30 PM
• Current investigative priorities
  – Offerings fraud
  – Financial reporting and issuer disclosure
  – Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
  – Investment advisor fraud
  – Insider trading
• Recent cases against issuers and inside accountants
• Recent cases against auditors
• The SEC Enforcement Division
  – Triggers for SEC Enforcement
  – Section 10A
• Cross-border enforcement
• Whistleblower awards update

Break
2:30 – 2:45 PM

Breakout Sessions (Select One)
2:45 – 4:00 PM

Reporting on Acquisitions & Dispositions
• The basics
  – Regulation S-X 3-05 financial statements
  – Regulation S-X Article 11 pro forma financial information
• Obtaining waivers from the SEC staff
• Form 8-K filing requirements
• Special issues when buying non-US businesses

Loss Contingencies: The Target of Increased SEC Scrutiny
• Business Section Disclosures (Item 103 of Reg. S-K)
• MD&A Section Disclosures (Item 303 of Reg. S-K)
• Financial Statement Accounting & Disclosures (ASC 450/SFAS 5)

Financial Instruments: What’s Next?
• Overview of project
• Classification and measurement proposals—what will change?
• Credit impairment—back to square one, but without convergence
• Hedge accounting—will there be a major overhaul or simplification only?
• Disclosures and presentation

Break
4:00 – 4:15 PM

Breakout Sessions (Select One)
4:15 – 5:30 PM

Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A): The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
• Best practices, worst mistakes
• Frequent SEC review comments
• Illustrative real company critiques

Business Combinations: Accounting & Valuation Issues in the Current Environment
• Background and current FASB/IASB activity
• Components of purchase price
• Sample allocation
• Negative goodwill example
• Accounting for contingent consideration
  – Initial recognition, measurement and classification
  – Debt vs. equity?
  – Financial statement presentation
• Valuing contingent consideration
  – Valuation challenge
  – Overview of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets impairment testing
  – Testing goodwill for impairment
  – Qualitative assessment and process

Frequently Encountered Accounting & SEC Reporting Topics
This session will focus on complex and challenging accounting and SEC reporting topics that are frequently encountered by accounting professionals of public companies. Areas of discussion will include:
• Segment reporting
• Income taxes
• Goodwill impairment
• Variable Interest Entities (VIEs)

Conclusion
5:30 PM
 

* PLEASE NOTE: Session times and Breakout Session topics may change depending upon conference location. Please call 1-800-544-1114 for location-specific agenda details.