Mountain Brook Native Part Of Accounting Standard-Setting Process

TUSCALOOSA, AL —Mountain Brook native Margaret Clark, a graduate student in accounting at The University of Alabama, was part of a team that participated in an experiential learning opportunity this past fall that involved the creation of a comment letter, which was sent to the Financial Account Standards Board (FASB), the university announced.

The team included students from the Master of Accountancy (MAcc) at the university's Culverhouse School of Accountancy.

"By communicating with the FASB, these students have contributed to the accounting profession and the quality of financial reporting by participating in the standard-setting process, a task that very few students and practitioners are exposed to," the university said in a statement.

The FASB is a private standard-setting body designed to protect the public interest by establishing Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) within the United States.

The organization often releases discussion papers and exposures drafts, and then solicits comments about those documents. The comment letters can be an important source of information related to issues raised during the standard-setting process.

According to the university, the MAcc students evaluated the FASB exposure draft titled: "Proposed Accounting Standards Update —Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions."

The students researched and learned about accounting and reporting intricacies related to the original exposure draft, and then they determined how it could impact the current standard, the university said. After completing their analysis, the students drafted their comment letter and submitted it to the FASB.

Other comment letters were submitted by major accounting firms, investor groups and corporations, including: DO USA LLP, Deloitte & Touche LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Grant Thornton LLP, KPMG LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), the New York Society of CPAs, Ford Motor Company, and Eli Lilly and Company.

"We researched a current accounting issue and drafted our opinion on that current issue, issued a comment letter of that opinion and provided it to the standard setters," said Sam Barr, one of the accounting students.