May 24, 20210Comments

A New Way to Hide Debt…Again

“Non-Commenced leases” are the new version of operating leases, an accounting loophole that companies used to hide debt off-balance sheet prior to ASU 2016-02.

by Kyle Guske II

May 12, 20210Comments

Operating Lease Disclosures: Updating The Good, the Bad & the Non-Compliant

We update our previous research on the best and worst disclosure practices and highlight a new disclosure tactic that enables companies to hide operating leases.

by Alex Sword

October 5, 20200Comments

New Operating Lease Disclosures: the Good, the Bad & the Non-Compliant

Without these disclosures, investors and analysts cannot develop a sound view of businesses that have a material amount of operating leases.

by Kyle Guske II

November 15, 20190Comments

Everything You Need to Know About Accounting Rule Changes

The FASB Tracker is your one-stop shop for knowing how changes in accounting standards affect investing.

by Kyle Guske II

October 30, 20190Comments

How ASU 2016-01 Impacts Invested Capital and OCI

ASU 2016-01 will have a significant impact on GAAP earnings for companies that hold large amounts of equity securities.

by Sam McBride

September 18, 20190Comments

How Companies Implemented the New Revenue Recognition Standard: An Overview

The standard, ASU 2014-09, primarily deals with revenue but will also have significant impacts on how companies report expenses, as well as assets and liabilities on the balance sheet.

by Sam McBride

July 15, 20190Comments

Removing the Hedge Ineffectiveness Disclosure Requirement Is Not Good for Investors

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2017-12, reduces the disclosure requirements for companies and makes it more difficult for investors to analyze the true financial health of publicly-traded companies.

by Kyle Guske II

July 15, 20190Comments

Not Requiring the Amortization of Capitalized Interest Disclosure Is Not Good for Investors

With the SEC’s Disclosure Update and Simplification regulators reduce the disclosure requirements for companies and make it more difficult for investors to analyze the true financial health of publicly-traded companies.

by Kyle Guske II

July 8, 20190Comments

New Accounting Rules Limit Transparency and Harm Investors

We raise awareness for both regulators and investors of how recent changes in disclosures affect average investors.

by Kyle Guske II

June 27, 20190Comments

Danger Zone: Misleading Operating Lease Discount Rates

The new operating lease rule is not perfect. These companies use unusually high discount rates to reduce and, perhaps, understate their reported operating lease burden.

by Sam McBride

December 13, 20180Comments

How Debt to Equity Can Mislead Investors

Millions of professional investors will soon see over $3 trillion in new debt added to corporate balance sheets, which will affect some stocks and sectors much more than others.

by Sam McBride

October 22, 20180Comments

Danger Zone: Investors Who Ignore Accounting Rule Changes

Investors that don’t pay attention to this accounting rule change are taking on unnecessary risk by mistaking an upcoming change as a fundamental change in these businesses.

by Sam McBride

April 23, 20184Comments

The Impacts of Operating Leases Moving to the Balance Sheet

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) introduced a new accounting standard (ASU 2016-02) that requires companies to recognize operating lease assets and liabilities on the balance sheet.

by Kyle Guske II

October 12, 20170Comments

Pension Cost Accounting Rule Change

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) introduced a new accounting standard that requires companies to present service cost as the only operating component of periodic pension costs on the income statement.

by David Trainer

August 4, 20150Comments

Are You Aware of the Danger Hidden Within IPOs?

Warning of tech-bubble-like overvaluation in the IPO market, we’ve previously put recent IPO companies Wayfair, Box, and GoDaddy in the Danger Zone. This week we’re turning the tables and putting IPO investors in the Danger Zone as we reveal many of the hidden dangers of IPO investing today.

by Kyle Guske II

May 30, 20140Comments

FASB Changes Standard For Revenue Recognition

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a new set of standards for revenue recognition along with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on Wednesday.

by David Trainer