PwC's accounting podcast

This week we have a special episode focused on the FASB’s new guidance related to contract assets and contract liabilities (i.e., deferred revenue) acquired in a business combination (ASU 2021-08). Host Heather Horn is joined by Andreas Ohl and Jay Seliber, PwC National Office partners, to talk about key changes and considerations in the new rules, and the timing of adoption. 

Topics include:

• 1:19 - Background. Jay and Andreas begin by discussing the scope of the newly-issued guidance, and the reasons why the rules are changing. 
• 6:45 - Overview of application. Jay and Andreas provide more specifics on the application of the new guidance, including some important changes from existing GAAP, and why the amounts to record under the new standard won’t in some cases just be a carryover of the target’s balances.
• 19:43 - A reminder about valuations. Jay and Andreas explain how valuations of intangible and other assets will - and won’t - be affected by the new guidance.
• 22:23 - Key impact areas. Jay and Andreas take us through some of the most significant ways the new standard is expected to impact companies in the periods after a business combination.
• 28:26 - Effective date and transition. What’s the timing and method of adoption? Jay and Andreas wrap up with an overview of the effective date and transition aspects of the new guidance, along with key elements to carefully consider before simply jumping into the new standard. Heather tries to stump Jay and Andreas with some niche accounting questions.

Want to learn more? Read our In depth: Accounting for acquired contract assets and contract liabilities.

Andreas Ohl is a partner in PwC's National Office focused on thought leadership, standard setting, and mergers and acquisitions under US GAAP and IFRS. Andreas is chairman of the Business Valuation Standards Board at the International Valuation Standards Council, is a member of the working group that authored the AICPA's in-process R&D guide, and has served as a member of the FASB's Valuation Resource Group.

Jay Seliber is a partner in PwC’s National Office. He leverages over 30 years of experience to help clients with their most complex accounting matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, revenue recognition, stock compensation, earnings per share, employee benefits, restructurings, impairments, and financing transactions. Jay is presently PwC's representative to the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force. 

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

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In each episode of our What’s trending in SEC comments series, our guests bring you the latest themes in comment letters from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance for the most common topical areas of the financial statements.

This week we focus on goodwill. Jay Seliber, PwC National Office Partner, joined Heather Horn to break down some of the questions raised in these comments, giving you a deeper understanding of the SEC staff’s expectations, as well as context and insights into the GAAP requirements.

Topics include:

• 1:40 - What types of comments are companies getting? Jay and Heather discuss the main themes of comments. Common questions relate to the determination of reporting units, the timing of goodwill impairments, and disclosures of impairments and at-risk goodwill.
• 4:30 - Reporting units. Jay gives an overview of comments that issuers have received about their determination of reporting units and how to avoid some common pitfalls.
• 10:41 - What about the timing of goodwill impairments? Impairment tests require a significant amount of judgment. Jay and Heather discuss how to navigate this complex area and some tips for identifying impairment indicators early to head off questions over timing.
• 15:04 - Disclosures of impairments and at-risk reporting units. Jay and Heather discuss how to appropriately foreshadow at-risk reporting units, as well as a few often-overlooked disclosures that may solicit comments.
• 23:58 - Key takeaways and reminders. Jay closes with helpful advice for issuers when responding to an SEC comment letter. Heather tries to stump Jay with some niche accounting questions.

Want to learn more?

• Listen to our previous comment letter podcast Revenue: What’s trending in SEC comments
• Read section 8.9, Goodwill, in our Financial Statement Presentation guide
• See our overview of SEC Comment Letter Trends

Jay Seliber is a partner in PwC’s National Office. He leverages over 30 years of experience to help clients with their most complex accounting matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, revenue recognition, stock compensation, earnings per share, employee benefits, restructurings, impairments, and financing transactions. Jay is presently PwC's representative to the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force. 

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

In our Talking ESG podcast series, we give an end-to-end look at what it takes to build effective ESG reporting in today’s environment. From investor to stakeholder expectations, from  global frameworks to data, process, and controls—there’s something in it for everyone.

This week Heather Horn sat down with Nadja Picard, PwC’s Global Reporting Leader, and Andreas Ohl, PwC National office partner, to discuss ESG reporting with a focus on the European Commission’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive or CSRD, and how it may impact companies outside the EU (including US companies that do business in Europe).

Topics include:

• 5:04 - What is CSRD? The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive or CSRD was proposed by the European Commission this year and introduces potential big changes for companies with operations in Europe. Heather and Nadja talk through the impact of the directive and why it will impact more than just EU companies.
• 13:27 - What are the requirements? Nadja and Andreas provide insight on the CSRD proposal, including the requirements that certain companies disclose information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental challenges.
• 28:08 - Advice for listeners. Complying with CSRD requirements goes beyond reporting. Companies may have articulated a net zero strategy, but often have not laid out in detail how they plan to get there and what processes they have to track their progress. An early draft of how climate related disclosures may look like under the CSRD requires  transparency on exactly that. Nadja and Andreas give listeners practical advice on how to prepare.
• 42:59 - Blind spots? Nadja and Andreas discuss areas that companies are prone to overlook as they think about their ESG reporting. Some tend to focus on one topic, instead of addressing ESG holistically.

Want to learn more?

• Listen to our previous podcasts in this series, Talking ESG: Taking reporting from theory to action and Talking ESG: How investor views may impact your reporting

Nadja Picard is PwC’s Global Reporting Leader. In this role she leads PwC’s global initiative to help clients transform their corporate reporting to meet investor and stakeholder demands for trusted and assured reporting beyond financial reporting. Nadja also advises companies on the accounting, corporate reporting, and investor relations requirements in advance of capital markets transactions, especially IPOs.

Andreas Ohl is a partner in PwC's National Office focused on thought leadership, standard setting, and mergers and acquisitions under US GAAP and IFRS. Andreas is chairman of the Business Valuation Standards Board at the International Valuation Standards Council, is a member of the working group that authored the AICPA's in-process R&D guide, and has served as a member of the FASB's Valuation Resource Group.

Heather Horn is a Deputy Chief Accountant in PwC’s National Office and leader of the thought leadership group, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry.

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In each episode of our What’s trending in SEC comments series, our guests bring you the latest themes in comment letters from the Division of Corporation Finance for the most common topical areas of the financial statements.

This week we focus on revenue. Angela Fergason, PwC National Office partner, joined Heather Horn to break down the questions raised in SEC comments, giving you a deeper understanding of the SEC staff’s expectations and context and insights into the GAAP requirements.

Topics include:

• 1:20 - What types of comments are companies getting? Angela and Heather discuss the different types of comments and give some examples of when each has come up. Common questions relate to completeness of disclosures, consistency with other disclosures, and requests for supporting analysis. And one hint for preparers: don’t use boilerplate language!
• 10:46 - Top elements of revenue guidance sourcing comments. Angela gives five topics where comments have been more prevalent: disaggregated revenue, determining the transaction price, identifying performance obligations, principal vs. agent, and timing of revenue recognition.
• 21:14 - What’s ahead? Angela shares what might be around the corner as attention is increasing for certain comments, including separately reporting certain categories of revenue in compliance with S-X Rule 5-03(b). 
• 23:34 - Perspectives on responding. Angela closes with two pieces of advice for issuers when responding to an SEC comment letter. Heather tries to stump Angela with some niche accounting questions.

Want to learn more? Listen to Angela’s other podcast episodes on revenue, including Full disclosure: Revenue, Identifying performance obligations: PwC breaks it down, and Variable consideration: How it impacts your top and bottom line.

Angela Fergason is a partner in PwC's National Office with over 20 years of experience who specializes in accounting for revenue and employee compensation arrangements. She is a frequent speaker on accounting and financial reporting topics and is a contributor to many PwC National Office publications, including our accounting guides on revenue and stock-based compensation.

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

In our Talking ESG podcast series, we give an end-to-end look at what it takes to build effective ESG reporting in today’s environment. From investor expectations, to global frameworks, to data, process, and controls—there’s something in it for everyone.

This week Heather Horn sat down with Hilary Eastman, Director of Investor Engagement at PwC, to digest the results of the 2021 Global investor ESG survey.

Topics include:

• 1:47 - Overview. Hilary gives the background of the inaugural ESG investor survey, the goals of the survey, and who the respondents were.
• 7:04 - High level findings and focus areas. Hilary and Heather walk our listeners through the highlights of the investor survey results and the areas where finance and controllership teams should be focused.
• 19:25 - What about return on investment? With all of this focus on company investment in ESG, Hilary takes us through what the findings reveal about return on investment and whether investors are willing to accept a lower rate of return from companies having a beneficial impact on society and the environment.
• 26:53 - Where are investors looking for information? Hilary and Heather discuss the variety of sources investors can use to gather ESG-related information on companies. Additionally Hilary gives the investor perception of the current quality of corporate ESG reporting.
• 37:21 - Key Takeaways. In addition to the survey, PwC’s investor engagement team performed in-depth interviews to gain investor perspectives on how companies can improve their reporting about ESG issues. Hilary takes us through the common themes from these interviews.

Hilary Eastman leads global investor engagement at PwC and is an ESG reporting strategy expert, with responsibility for managing the firm’s relationships with the investment community in the UK and globally. In her role, Hilary works with investors and analysts to get their views on a variety of corporate reporting and governance matters to help companies improve their reporting to the capital markets. 

Heather Horn is a Deputy Chief Accountant in PwC’s National Office and leader of the thought leadership group, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

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Our Full disclosure podcast series brings you back to the basics on all things related to financial statement presentation and disclosure, from the top of the financial statements through the footnotes. 

This week we focus on the presentation and disclosure requirements for commitments and contingencies. Jay Seliber, PwC National Office partner, is back in the guest seat to share helpful insights and key reminders with our host, Heather Horn. 

Topics include:

• 1:22 - Background. Jay and Heather discuss the scope of the commitments and contingencies guidance, including discussion of guarantees.
• 4:43 - Presentation on the balance sheet and income statement. Jay walks listeners through when commitments need to be recognized. He also covers the contingency model and related presentation, including insurance recoveries. 
• 20:03 - Disclosure requirements. Jay takes us through the disclosure requirements for commitments and contingencies in the financial statements, including some of the areas that require more judgment. 
• 39:42 - Closing remarks. Jay closes with areas of GAAP where disclosures of other types of commitments are required. Heather tries to stump Jay with some niche accounting questions.

Want to learn more?  

• Financial statement presentation guide Chapter 23: Commitments, contingencies, and guarantees

Jay Seliber is a partner in PwC’s National Office. He leverages over 30 years of experience to help clients with their most complex accounting matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, revenue recognition, stock compensation, earnings per share, employee benefits, restructurings, impairments, and financing transactions. Jay is presently PwC's representative to the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force.  

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

In our Talking ESG podcast series, we will give an end-to-end look at what it takes to build effective ESG reporting in today’s environment. From investor expectations, to global frameworks, to data, process, and controls—there’s something in it for everyone.

In this week’s episode, Heather Horn sat down with Casey Herman, PwC’s US ESG leader, to talk through the current landscape of ESG reporting and how an in-depth understanding of your business’s purpose, strategy, and stakeholders can empower your messaging.

Topics include:

• 3:51 - What is the current state of ESG? Companies will likely have to make changes to their businesses to meet their ESG-related commitments. Casey lays out what stakeholders are looking for and how you can tie these expectations into your strategy.
• 7:45 - Complexities of ESG reporting. Stakeholders are beginning to put pressure on companies to report more on ESG. Casey walks us through the challenges that companies are facing and some potential solutions.
• 22:36 - How is finance getting involved? As companies begin migrating their ESG reporting into the finance function, Casey explains some of the core competencies they should be looking to develop.
• 29:38 - How to get up to speed. Heather and Casey discuss some of the ways the finance teams can move from theory to action on ESG reporting, and close with advice on how companies can stay ahead of the curve in the face of rapid developments.

Want to learn more?

Check out our ESG: What finance teams need to know webcast, and hear more from Casey in his earlier podcast Forecast 2021: The “E” in ESG, spotlight on achieving net zero.

Casey Herman is PwC’s US ESG Leader. Casey has over 35 years of experience leading and working on the audits of many significant, complex clients and is a member of the Edison Electric Institute's Wall Street Advisory Group, the Electric Power Research Institutes Advisory Council, and the NYU Stern Business School Center for Sustainable Business Advisory Council.

Heather Horn is a Deputy Chief Accountant in PwC’s National Office and leader of the thought leadership group, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

With the ever changing landscape of accounting practice, the FASB and IASB periodically request feedback from stakeholders to assist the boards prioritizing their standard-setting efforts. This week, Andreas Ohl, a partner in PwC’s National Office, and Gary Berchowitz, a partner in PwC’s global IFRS technical accounting group, join our host Heather Horn to help unpack what respondents were focused on in each respective consultation.

Topics include:

• 2:15 - What is the process? Andreas and Gary explain the FASB and IASB agenda consultations and how these processes ultimately feed into standard setting.
• 7:45 - Where did the FASB respondent’s focus? Andreas provides insight from the responses to the FASB’s agenda consultation. Notably he summarizes thoughts on digital assets, intangibles, ESG in the financial statements, and government grants.
• 26:45 - What about the IASB? Gary and Heather discuss where he thinks the IASB may land after their agenda consultation. Gary provides his perspective on  cash flow statement disclosures, going concern, and variable payments to acquire intangible assets.
• 31:02 - Wrap up and timeline. We close by walking through what comes next in this process for the FASB and IASB and how this feedback will influence their agendas.

Andreas Ohl is a partner in PwC's National Office focused on mergers and acquisitions under US GAAP and IFRS. Andreas is chairman of the Business Valuation Standards Board at the International Valuation Standards Council, is a member of the working group that authored the AICPA's in-process R&D guide, and has served as a member of the FASB's Valuation Resource Group.

Gary Berchowitz is a partner in PwC’s Global Accounting Consultancy Department. Gary brings more than 17 years of financial accounting experience, working to drive quality and connectivity throughout the PwC network and help local teams solve complex accounting issues in a practical way. Gary contributes to the firm’s global view on a variety of financial reporting matters.

Heather Horn is a Deputy Chief Accountant in PwC’s National Office and leader of the thought leadership group, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.

In this week’s episode we are taking a deep dive into current legislative developments, specifically the tax-related changes that may be on the horizon. Rohit Kumar, co-leader of PwC’s Washington National Tax Services practice, joins host Heather Horn to provide his perspective on anticipated developments. Tax leaders are already scenario planning - we break it down so CFOs can do the same.

Topics include:

• 2:12 - What’s the lay of the land? Rohit takes us through where things currently stand with negotiations in Washington. Heather and Rohit discuss the infrastructure and reconciliation bills as well as the likelihood of these bills getting signed into law before the end of the year.
• 9:53 - Possible scenarios. Rohit provides a few potential legislative outcomes, touching on the gross spending side of the budget equation as well as revenue raising, such as through changes to the corporate and individual tax rates and credits, among other domestic and international policy alternatives.
• 34:13 - Where should CFOs focus? Rohit and Heather talk about the policy changes CFOs should be focused on - think corporate rate, OECD agreements, and tax based on book income.
• 42:43 - Wrap up and timeline. It’s up to Congress now. Rohit expects that we will know in the next month whether politicians will be able to reach an agreement by the end of the year. We close by walking through this timeline.

Want to learn more? 

• PwC podcast: Washington explained: Infrastructure, tax reform, and more

Rohit Kumar is co-leader of PwC’s Washington National Tax Services practice. In this role, he advises clients on all aspects of domestic policy, including tax policy. His insights and knowledge enable companies to assess critical policy issues more effectively and to develop legislative strategies to address those issues from both a technical and a political perspective.

Heather Horn is a Deputy Chief Accountant in PwC’s National Office and leader of the thought leadership group, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Our Full disclosure podcast series brings you back to the basics on all things related to financial statement presentation and disclosure, from the top of the financial statements through the footnotes. 

This week we focus on the presentation and disclosure requirements for segments. Jay Seliber, PwC National Office partner, is back in the guest seat to share helpful insights and key reminders with our host, Heather Horn. 

Topics include:

• 1:15 - Overview of segments. Jay explains the underlying objective of segment reporting and the importance of allowing financial statement users to see the company through the eyes of management.
• 4:45 - Identification of operating segments. Jay defines an operating segment, including how to interpret their key characteristics. He also walks through how to determine your Chief Operating Decision Maker.
• 11:38 - Identification of reportable segments. Next, Jay discusses how to assess which operating segments must be presented as reportable segments in the footnotes, including aggregation criteria and quantitative thresholds.
• 19:43 - Disclosure requirements. Jay takes us through the disclosure requirements for segments in the financial statements, including some of the areas that require more judgment. 
• 32:32 - Closing Remarks. Jay closes with final reminders and a project update from the FASB. Heather tries to stump Jay with some accounting questions.

Want to learn more?  

• Financial statement presentation guide on segment reporting.
• Q3 2021 Quarterly accounting webcast includes a section on segment reporting comment letter trends
• FASB project page: Segment Reporting 

Jay Seliber is a partner in PwC’s National Office. He leverages over 30 years of experience to help clients with their most complex accounting matters, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, revenue recognition, stock compensation, earnings per share, employee benefits, restructurings, impairments, and financing transactions. Jay is presently PwC's representative to the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force.  

Heather Horn is PwC’s National Office thought leader, responsible for developing our communications strategy and conveying firm positions on accounting and financial reporting matters. She is the engaging host of PwC’s accounting and reporting weekly podcast and quarterly webcast series, as well as periodic webcasts for the power and utilities industry. With over 30 years of experience, Heather’s accounting and auditing expertise includes financial instruments and rate-regulated accounting.

Transcripts available upon request for individuals who may need a disability-related accommodation. Please send requests to [email protected].

Did you enjoy this episode? Text us your thoughts and be sure to include the episode name.