Accounting: Looking for a Few Good Men ... and Women

Since its founding in 1979, AFP has been a catalyst for disseminating information to, and advocating for, members of the treasury profession. As our organization continues to grow, so does our outreach to a broader range of members in the finance profession, particularly to controllers and CPAs.

While the treasury management function continues to be our primary focus within AFP, the Accounting track is an area whose function is growing in importance. This is in part due to the critical role that accounting has played over the past few months relative to companies' mission and their impact on the treasury management function. Accounting topics that have received high scrutiny over the last year include, but are not limited to, how to account for derivatives; how to measure fair; whether Qualified Special Purpose Entities (QSPEs )should be reported on the face of the balance sheet; if so who should be the consolidated entity; and when and how should companies' take impairment losses.

AFP's accounting and financial reporting function, with the assistance of the Financial Accounting and Investor Relationship Voluntary Member (FAIR) Task Force, has been busy over the last year reviewing these issues and advocating for the most advantageous outcomes on behalf of the members. For example, AFP issued several comments letters this year to both the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board on critical accounting issues, such as fair value, credit impairment, leases and pensions. In addition, we have attended meetings with various members of Congress. We have provided them insight from the end user perspective on the unintended effects that the passing of certain legislation could have on our members. We are position AFP to be branded as being one of the "go to" organizations to confer with concerning issues in the finance industry.

There are a number of opportunities where members can participate and build upon their personal brand.

Join Working Groups
Working groups, such as the FAIR task force will provide a platform to get your name recognized in your area of expertise as you become more involved in the accounting standard setting community. AFP will benefit from knowledge in the subject area thus ensuring that we are addressing the issues that are of importance to our members.

Get Published
Members can submit articles for publication on AFP's website, in the AFP Exchange magazine or in the Accounting and Financial Reporting newsletter. Your insight into topical areas will strengthen AFP's content and will reach a wide audience of your peers in the financial community.

Present Information at Conference and Webinars
There are always opportunities available for presenting webinars on relevant accounting issues that affect your organization. Oftentimes, we have discovered that there are other members with similar issues and concerns as yours. Your identification of the issue and how you were able to resolve them would be of great benefit to other members within the organization.

The accounting track at AFP's annual conference continues to grow in the number of attendees at the sessions. You can earn additional CPE's by being the presenter at conferences and webinars. What a great listing in your vitae to say that you presented at a conference where over 4,000 members of the finance and treasury profession attended. I can certainly attest that attending and speaking this year at my first conference was very rewarding as I had the opportunity to reach out and personally speak to many members that share an interest in the accounting profession.

Raise Issues
AFP welcomes the assistance of accountants and other practitioners in formulating accounting policy positions on behalf of our members. If there is an issue that you think could have an impact on our members please do not hesitate to contact us so that we can consider whether we need to investigate the issue further. A simple phone call or email may ultimately lead to AFP issuing a comment letter or position paper on that very issue.

Get Involved
Let us know what you would like us to cover in the upcoming year pertaining to accounting and financial reporting. Your insight on critical accounting and financial reporting issues is most welcomed. Do not hesitate to contact me with a call or email.

AFP Wants YOU
Salome Tinker is AFP's Director of Accounting and Financial Reporting. Contact her with issues, articles, and ideas at (301) 961-8871 or via email at sjtinker@afponline.org.