And note that this is the situation among companies that have already adopted proper accounting methods.
Among other things, the AICPA's commission will propose that auditors narrow management's traditionally wide discretion to choose alternate accounting methods.
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One idea that Mr Monti is keen on, however, is to harmonise the accounting methods used to calculate taxable profits.
As to late-fee income, Capital One seeks to retroactively change accounting methods years after it selected and implemented an alternative method.
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In a country where shareholders are an afterthought, accounting methods have evolved to render profit, or lack of it, somewhat meaningless.
To get credit, or to list on other boards, technology firms will need to improve management and adopt stricter accounting methods.
"This situation is a good example of why traditional accounting methods aren't an accurate way to determine value for research and development, " IV says in a statement.
Unfortunately, an often overlooked aspect of the pension gap story makes matters even worse: Governments use accounting methods that have consistently understated pension funding gaps in both good times and bad.
Yet as long as these subsidies and tax credits exist, clean-energy executives will likely spend most of their time pursuing advanced legal and accounting methods rather than investing in studies, innovation, new transmission technology and turbine development.
Skeptics note that among the flaws inherent in such stock picking methods are shaky accounting data and the need to guess at things like required returns on capital and decay rates.
In a number of areas, accounting standards are moving more towards methods that give an appearance of enhanced objectivity when in fact they are more subjective than ever.
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This rise in prestige has been mirrored by a revamp of undergraduate business programs, with the top ones increasingly resembling MBAs thanks to an emphasis on the rigorous study of economics, statistics and accounting and MBA-like teaching methods using case studies and team exercises.
The confrontation between the accounting profession and its critics has two distinct but related rounds: Round One is over accounting principles--the rules specifying acceptable methods of measuring company finances.
FORBES: Why Everybody's Jumping On The Accountants These Days
Understanding what methods of reporting misconduct are effective could help corporate management, government policy makers and accounting researchers to assess the effectiveness of their internal compliance programs.
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