...Accounting Insights Accounting for leases: Change is coming. By Matthew Rodgers and Peter McElwain, Baker Tilly September 21, 2010 Leasing of equipment, real estate, and other assets has been and continues to be a significant source of financing for businesses in all industries. As a result, the financial reporting rules for the treatment of lease transactions can be significant to the financial statements and the business operations of lessees and lessors alike. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have undertaken a joint project on leases to improve the financial reporting for lease transactions. The financial reporting standards in the United States currently provide that all lease transactions will be accounted for in one of two ways depending on facts, circumstances, and to some degree the judgment of the users. The two alternative treatments, referred to as operating leases and capital leases, have dramatically different consequences on the financial statements of both lessees and lessors. There are a number of perceived weaknesses in these rules and the manner in which they are applied, which many believe result in inconsistent and incomplete reporting and presentation of an entity’s leasing activities. In response, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) have undertaken a joint project on leases to improve the financial...
Words: 4749 - Pages: 19
...Death of the Operating Lease Running head: DEATH OF THE OPERATING LEASE 1 Death of the Operating Lease and its Impact on Leading U.S. Companies Mark S. Lynn Mount St. Mary’s University Copyright 2010, Mark S. Lynn Death of the Operating Lease Abstract The proposed elimination of operating lease treatment by the IASB and FASB, as outlined in 2 their discussion paper, Leases – Preliminary Views, will have a varying degree of impact on U.S firms. After a review of the evolution of lease accounting and a discussion of financial ratio analysis, this paper examines the impact of the proposed accounting change on common financial ratios of 142 large public companies. The proposal requiring the capitalization of all lease arrangements is generally detrimental to such financial measurements, with significant variability among industry sectors. Through surveys and interviews, it is further determined that while a majority of corporate financial executives do not support the proposed accounting change, they have yet to analyze the impact and prepare for the effects of the change within their own companies. Copyright 2010, Mark S. Lynn Death of the Operating Lease Death of the Operating Lease and its Impact on Leading U.S. Companies 3 “We are only tenants, and shortly the great Landlord will give us notice that our lease has expired.” ~ Joseph Jefferson (1897, p. 476). A lease is broadly defined as a contract by which an owner of property grants to another...
Words: 17667 - Pages: 71
...(DLC) FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT SECURITIES FRAUD Jury Trial Demanded | The Securities and Exchange Commission ("the Commission") alleges for its First Amended Complaint as follows:1. Defendants KPMG LLP ("KPMG") and certain KPMG partners permitted Xerox Corporation ("Xerox") to manipulate its accounting practices and fill a $3 billion "gap" between actual operating results and results reported to the investing public from 1997 through 2000. The fraudulent scheme allowed Xerox to claim it met performance expectations of Wall Street analysts, to mislead investors and, consequently, to boost the company's stock price. The KPMG defendants were not the watch dogs on behalf of shareholders and the public that the securities laws and the rules of the auditing profession required them to be. Instead of putting a stop to Xerox's fraudulent conduct, the KPMG defendants themselves engaged in fraud by falsely representing to the public that they had applied professional auditing standards to their review of Xerox's accounting, that Xerox's financial reporting was consistent with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP") and that Xerox's reported results fairly represented the financial condition of the company. There was no watchdog at Xerox. KPMG's bark sounded no warning to investors; its bite was toothless.2. KPMG's foreign affiliates in Europe, Brazil, Canada and Japan, and even KPMG auditors at Xerox's U.S....
Words: 17525 - Pages: 71
...GLOBAL AVIATION GROUP 2013 Airline Disclosures Handbook Financial reporting and management trends in the global aviation industry kpmg.com KPMG’s Global Aviation practice KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 156 countries and have 152,000 people working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Through its member firms, KPMG has invested extensively in developing an experienced aviation team. KPMG’s understanding of the aviation industry is both current and forward looking, thanks to KPMG’s global experience, knowledge sharing, industry training and use of professionals with direct experience in the aviation industry. KPMG member firms serve many of the market leaders within the airline sector. We are leading providers of external audit services with 33% market share of the top 50 airlines by revenue. We also provide other services to over half of these top 50 airlines. KPMG member firms’ strength lies in our professionals and their knowledge and experience gathered from working with a large and diverse client base. KPMG’s airline industry experience helps the teams understand both your business priorities and the strategic issues facing your company. KPMG’s Global Aviation practice’s presence in many international markets, combined with industry knowledge, positions KPMG...
Words: 11825 - Pages: 48
...Air Canada is Canada’s largest domestic and international full-service airline and the largest provider of scheduled passenger services in the domestic market, the transborder market and each of the Canada-Europe, Canada-Pacific, Canada-Caribbean/Central America and Canada-South America markets. Passenger transportation is the principal business of the Corporation and, in 2009, represented 87% of its total operating revenues. During 2009, Air Canada, together with Jazz, operated, on average, approximately 1,331 scheduled flights daily and carried almost 31 million passengers. In 2009, Air Canada and Jazz provided direct passenger air transportation to 156 destinations and, through commercial agreements with other unaffiliated regional airlines referred to as tier III carriers, to an additional 11 destinations, for a total of 167 direct destinations on five continents. The Corporation’s primary hubs are located in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Air Canada also operates an extensive global network in conjunction with its international partners. Air Canada is a founding member of the Star Alliance Network, the world’s largest airline alliance group. The Star Alliance Network includes 26 member airlines. Through its strategic and commercial arrangements with Star Alliance members, Air Canada is able to offer its customers access to approximately 1,077 destinations in 175 countries, as well as reciprocal participation in frequent flyer programs and use...
Words: 78010 - Pages: 313
...Weightings ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Structure of the Examination ................................................................................................................................ 5 Examination Competency Coverage ..................................................................................................................... 6 Scoring Model and Evaluation of Candidate Performance ................................................................................... 6 ©CGA-Canada, 2011 1 CGA-Canada PA2 Examination Blueprint 2011/2012 PA2: Strategic Financial Management Examination Blueprint 2010/2011 About the Examination Blueprint The PA2: Strategic Financial Management examination has been constructed using an examination blueprint — a widely accepted tool used...
Words: 4762 - Pages: 20
...S. Bankruptcy Code; one of the largest corporate bankruptcy filings at that time. When the investigations commenced and the tangled Enron web was unraveled, it was discovered that Enron had perpetrated a very sophisticated form of accounting fraud through its repeated use of what are referred to as Special Purpose Entities (“SPEs”). In their most basic forms, SPEs are business entities formed for the purpose of conducting a well specified activity such as construction of a gas pipeline, or collection of a specific group of accounts receivable. However, because of their complex nature, SPEs can be used to manipulate a corporation’s financial results, which was the primary use for which Enron employed the SPE structure. As a result, the investment and financial community has cast a dark cloud over the special purpose entity, depicting the SPE as an inherently evil structure whose only purpose is to defraud, obfuscate and manipulate a company’s financial results. The purpose of this piece is to challenge this assumption and conclusion as incorrect. This article shows how the SPE abuse Enron perpetrated was neither an indictment of the SPE or the accounting regime under which Enron was operating, but of individuals who intentionally ran afoul of the accounting and disclosure rules that were...
Words: 25798 - Pages: 104
...Online Chapter 15 LEASE FINANCING AND BUSINESS VALUATION Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, readers will be able to describe the two primary types of leases, explain how lease financing affects financial statements and taxes, conduct a basic lease analysis from the perspective of the lessee, discuss the factors that create value in lease transactions, explain in general terms how businesses are valued, and conduct a business valuation using discounted cash flow and market multiple approaches. Introduction This chapter covers two unrelated topics: lease financing and business valuation. Leasing is a substitute for debt financing and hence expands the range of financing alternatives available to businesses (and to individuals). However, leasing should be used only when it offers some advantage over conventional financing. We begin this chapter by discussing factors that contribute to the large amount of leasing activity among healthcare businesses and how businesses analyze lease transactions. The valuation of entire businesses, as opposed to capital projects, is a critical step in the merger and acquisition process. In addition, business valuation plays an important role when one owner is bought out by other owners and when businesses are inherited. The second part of this chapter discusses two techniques used to value businesses. Leasing Basics Businesses generally own fixed assets, but it is the use of buildings and equipment that is important, not their...
Words: 11471 - Pages: 46
...IFRS and US GAAP: similarities and differences IFRS readiness series October 2012 Table of contents The heart of the matter 2 US financial reporting will change significantly within the next several years An in-depth discussion 4 Examining the implications IFRS affects US businesses in multiple ways What this means for your business 6 Anticipate and manage the change What companies can and should do now October 2012 The heart of the matter US financial reporting will continue to change over the next several years Although US companies will not when, and how IFRS might be be permitted to use International incorporated into the US financial Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) reporting system. for US public filings in the foreseeable • In May 2011, the SEC’s Office of future, IFRS has been affecting US the Chief Accountant published a companies for some time, primarily Staff Paper exploring one possible through engaging in cross-border method to incorporate IFRS merger-and-acquisition (M&A) into the US financial reporting activity, meeting the reporting needs system, involving an active of non-US stakeholders, and assisting Financial Accounting Standards with or monitoring of the IFRS Board (FASB) incorporating IFRS requirements of non-US subsidiaries. into US GAAP over an extended US companies are also becoming period of time (the “endorsement” increasingly aware of IFRS, as key method). Under this method, the aspects of US generally...
Words: 82711 - Pages: 331
...PA1 EXAMINATION BLUEPRINT 2014/2015 Effective Date: December 2014 This document is the property of: CGA-Canada 100-4200 North Fraser Way Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5J 5K7 Phone: 604 669-3555 Fax: 604 689-5845 www.cga.org/canada Updated: January 21, 2014 CGA-Canada PA1 Examination Blueprint 2014/2015 Table of Contents About the Examination Blueprint ......................................................................................................................... 2 PA1 Examination ................................................................................................................................................... 2 PA1 Course ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Prerequisite Courses for the PA1 Examination .................................................................................................. 3 Competency Weightings ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Structure of the Examination ................................................................................................................................ 5 Examination Competency Coverage ..................................................................................................................... 6 Scoring Model and Evaluation of Candidate...
Words: 4745 - Pages: 19
...In 2002 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) met and issued the Norwalk Agreement where they both agreed to develop of high quality accounting standards. Since that time the FASB and the IASB have been working on joint projects a.k.a convergence projects designed to improve both US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), eliminate differences between them, and ultimately make the standards fully compatible. In 2010, to increase efficiency the boards decided to focus on the priority projects. Two of those projects, fair value measurement and statement of other comprehensive income, are poised for release. Now, the “big three” remain—financial instruments, revenue recognition, and leases. The IASB is also working to its monster project on insurance contracts, with the FASB closely engaged in the discussion. Therefore, bellow is the list of the active joint FASB/IASB projects according to current technical plan on the fasb.org website: - Accounting for Financial Instruments (Updated November 10, 2011): • Classification and Measurement (Updated November 10, 2011); • Impairment (Updated November10, 2011); • Hedging (Updated November 10, 2011). - Revenue Recognition (Exposure Draft issued November 14, 2011); - Leases (Updated November 15, 2011); - Balance Sheet – Offsetting (Updated August 15, 2011); - Consolidation: Policy and Procedures (Exposure...
Words: 5016 - Pages: 21
...ANNUAL REPORT 2014 1. HIGHLIGHTS The financial and operating highlights for Air Canada for the periods indicated are as follows. FOURTH QUARTER CANADIAN DOLLARS IN MILLIONS, EXCEPT WHERE INDICATED 2014 2013 FULL YEAR $ Change 2014 2013 $ Change FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE METRICS Operating revenues 3,104 2,894 210 13,272 12,382 890 106 135 (29) 815 619 196 (206) (141) (65) (710) (617) (93) (100) (6) (94) 105 10 95 67 3 64 531 340 191 3.4% 1.8% 1.6 pp 6.1% 4.3% 1.8 pp 3.4% 4.7% (1.3) pp 6.1% 5.0% 1.1 pp 319 277 42 1,671 1,433 238 319 359 (40) 1,671 1,515 156 Operating income Non-operating expense (1) Net income (loss) Adjusted net income (2) Operating margin, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments % (3) Operating margin % EBITDAR, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments (3)(4) EBITDAR (4) EBITDAR margin, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments % (3)(4) EBITDAR margin % (4) 10.3% 9.6% 0.7 pp 12.6% 11.6% 1.0 pp 10.3% 12.4% (2.1) pp 12.6% 12.2% 0.4 pp Unrestricted liquidity (5) 2,685 2,364 321 2,685 2,364 321 Free cash flow (6) (366) (276) (90) (560) (231) (329) Adjusted net debt (7) 5,132 4,351 781 5,132 4,351 781 Return on invested capital (“ROIC”)...
Words: 75753 - Pages: 304
...4) pp 2.4 pp 346 (255) 214 3.1 pp $0.20 $0.03 % Change 2.5 3.5 (0.9) pp (0.6) (1.7) (1.6) (1.8) (2.3) 0.2 0.3 (0.2) (1.8) 1.1 0.3 0.2 3.0 The financial and operating highlights for Air Canada for the periods indicated are as follows. (Canadian dollars in millions, except where indicated) Financial Performance Metrics Operating revenues Operating income Non-operating expense (1) Income (loss) before income taxes and discontinued operations Net income (loss) from continuing operations Net loss from discontinued operations – Aveos Net income (loss) Adjusted net income (loss) (2) Operating margin, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments % (3) Operating margin % EBITDAR, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments (3) (4) EBITDAR (4) EBITDAR margin, excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments % (3) (4) EBITDAR margin % (4) Unrestricted liquidity (5) Free cash flow (6) Adjusted net debt (7) Return on invested capital ("ROIC") %(8) Diluted earnings (loss) per share Adjusted net income (loss) per share – diluted (2) Operating Statistics (9) Revenue passenger miles (millions) ("RPM") Available seat miles (millions) ("ASM") Passenger load factor % Passenger revenue per RPM (“Yield”) (cents) Passenger revenue per ASM (“RASM”) (cents) Operating revenue per ASM (cents) Operating expense per ASM (“CASM”) excluding the impact of benefit plan amendments (cents) (3) Adjusted CASM (cents) (10) Average number of full-time equivalent ("FTE") employees (thousands) (11) Aircraft...
Words: 76430 - Pages: 306
...in the rapidly evolving area of international financial markets. It focuses on various aspects of international portfolio management and open-economy macroeconomics, and is a natural extension to the theories and practical issues explored in Investments and/or Finance. This course is aimed at students wishing to acquire a sound understanding of the main opportunities in international investments. For example, the relevance of hedging in the management of currency risk will be studied in light of theoretical results and empirical evidence. We will also briefly cover foreign direct investment (FDI), since in general, the revenue generated from FDI by U.S. firms is about three times as large as the revenue generated from the exporting of U.S. goods by U.S. firms. Due to the ever increasing importance of international corporate governance, there is a corresponding need to decipher and use information in financial reports. At least one class meeting and one case study will touch on some key issues in international financial reporting and analysis, such as financial disclosure/transparency, incentives for off-balance sheet liabilities, hedge accounting, lease accounting, footnote disclosures, and intercorporate equity investments, and international financial reporting differences. We will also use many real-life examples from market practices to emphasize the engineering dimensions of financial contract design (financial engineering), that market practitioners professionalize...
Words: 1941 - Pages: 8
...STORES 230 1,145,992 221 1,047,529 stores. All stores are in Canada, except for four locations in the New York City area. In addition, the Company has 9 stores under license in the Middle East. SALES (in ‘000) 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 0 150,000 100,000 200,000 SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY (in ‘000) 07 08 09 50,000 0 07 08 09 Le Château, committed to research, design and product development, manufactures approximately 40% of the Company's apparel in its own Canadian production facilities. NET EARNINGS (in ‘000) 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 60,000 50,000 40,000 CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS (in ‘000) 07 08 09 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 07 08 09 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (in thousands of dollars except per share data and ratios) FISCAL YEARS ENDED RESULTS Sales Earnings before income taxes Net earnings • Per share (basic) • Per share (diluted)...
Words: 16361 - Pages: 66
