Understanding SFAS 157: The New Fair Value Measurement Standard and Hierarchy

Though Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, Fair Value Measurements does not require any new fair value measurements, it merits serious attention for two critical reasons:

• Its effect on current practice is significant: Of the four APBO’s and 37 SFAS’s that refer to fair value, SFAS 157 amended three APBO’s and 27 SFAS’s.
• The potential for future changes is even greater SFAS 157 provides a framework for fair value measurement requirements in future pronouncements, which may change the skill set necessary for future success in the accounting profession.

This program, led by Richard J. Murdock, CPA, PhD, is designed to provide valuable insight into the conceptual and practical reasons for applying fair value. Depending upon your needs, you can schedule a session covering changes required or permitted by SFAS 157 on a conceptual basis (worth four CPE credit hours) or one that covers both the conceptual and practical bases (worth eight CPE credit hours).

Objectives

This course is designed to help you:

• Understand the history of fair value measurements, including the guidance found in SFAC No.7 on cash-flow measures
• Understand the hierarchy of fair value measures
• Identify common required fair value measurements under GAAP
• Identify optional applications of fair values measurements under GAAP, including historical precedents
• Understand disclosure requirements for fair value measurements
• Identify the effects of fair value measurements on the financial statements

Highlights

Topics you will cover include:

• Basic measurement techniques in fair value
• Reasoning behind the change from a historical cost to a fair value prospective
• Practical applications in single company financial statements
• Practical applications in business combinations, including proposed changes*
• Practical applications in special circumstances*
• Impairment of fixed assets
• Impairment of intangible assets
• Disclosure suggestions and discussion

Who Will Benefit

• Everyone involved in the production or use of fair value measurements

About Your Program Leader

Richard J. Murdock, CPA, PhD, is an associate professor at The Ohio State University, where he currently coordinates the introductory accounting sequence. He has previously served as director of both the accounting undergraduate honors program and the accounting and MIS Ph.D. program. Murdock is active in several organizations, including The Ohio Society of CPAs, the American Accounting Association and Beta Alpha Psi, where he served as national president. He is the founding editor of Issues in Accounting Education and has published numerous articles in academic and professional journals.

For more information, contact Megan Eufinger at 800.686.2727.

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