The SEC Chief Accountant Financial Reporting Series

Upcoming Roundtables

The inaugural roundtable in the Financial Reporting Series (FRS) will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10a.m. in the in the multipurpose room (Room L-006) of the Securities and Exchange Commission at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. The discussion will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the public may also listen by webcast on the SEC website at http://www.sec.gov/news/otherwebcasts.shtml.

Overview of the Inaugural FRS Roundtable

The roundtable, entitled “Uncertainty in Financial Reporting: How Much to Recognize and How Best to Communicate it,” will examine financial statement measurements and associated disclosures where the outcome depends on future events that by definition are presently unknown.

As the initial step in gathering input on this topic, the roundtable discussion will focus on:

• Measurement and recognition — whether measurements that involve uncertainty provide investors with useful information.
   
• Disclosure — the information that investors find important to understand and assess measurement uncertainties and the challenges or impediments that preparers face in providing that information.
   
• Auditability — the auditor's role and responsibility for reporting on financial statements with measurement uncertainties.

The SEC Staff has prepared a briefing paper that considers this topic in more depth and includes questions that will be asked of the roundtable participants. Members of the public may also provide feedback on the topic and the related questions.¹

Agenda and Invited Participants

• Agenda
   
• Panelist Biographies

Press Releases

• SEC Announces Agenda and Panelists for Inaugural Roundtable of Financial Reporting Series (Press Release No. 2011-231; November 3, 2011)
   
• SEC to Hold Roundtable on “Uncertainty in Financial Reporting” (Press Release No. 2011-215; October 21, 2011)

¹ Release No. 34-65602; Submit comments on File No. 4-640.

http://www.sec.gov/about/offices/oca/ocafrseries-upcoming.htm