I recently had a wonderful conversation with Ralph Nach. Ralph is a former co-author of the Wiley GAAP Guide. He teaches continuing professional education courses for practicing CPAs on many of the most difficult and complex accounting topics. Ralph was also one of the very first members of the UAFRS Advisory Council for Uniform Accounting.
Whitman built impressive investment results over decades. While he accomplished this feat, Whitman also found time to call out the problems with as-reported financial statements under GAAP.
No industry is free from the inconsistent rules of GAAP accounting that create extensive distortions from economic reality. In this issue, we highlight a chemicals company, a payroll servicer, and a diversified industrial conglomerate. Everything from net earnings to total assets is calculated in ways that seem almost arbitrary under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
Stock-based compensation (SBC) is an accounting headache. Just last year, PwC published a 250+ page report to help its clients navigate its intricacies.
