| Program Content |
| Part I |
Earnings Sustainability and Cash Flow Analysis |
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Sustainable and unsustainable earnings; implications for risk assessment; relationship of earnings sustainability to value and strategy; linking sustainability and cash flow; recognizing early danger signals |
Earnings, Cash Flow, and Firm Valuation
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Do reporting alternatives affect valuation?; recognizing (and adjusting for) reporting strategies |
Recognizing and Repairing Accounting "Cosmetics"
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Leases and other off-balance sheet devices; how lease capitalization alters statements, ratios, and loan covenant compliance; special-purpose entities and joint ventures; other “red flags” |
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Revenue recognition “games”; LIFO abuses; changing accounting principles |
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Multinational firms functional currency choices for foreign subs: an income smoothing devise? |
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Devices used to “cook the books”; customers’ motivations; “forensic accounting”; sales of receivables; new earnings management devices; how to find the clues and adjust |
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New Perspectives on Cash Flow Forecasting
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Earnings persistence; quality of earnings analysis; acquisitions and time-series distortions; cash flows and restructuring |
Taxes, Cash Flows, and Financial Statement Effects
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Deciphering income tax disclosures: the forensic accountant’s best tool; recognizing financial reporting “irregularities”; using tax disclosures to enhance inter-firm comparability; deferred income tax reversals |
Pensions and Post-Retirement Benefits |
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FASB's 2006 revamping of pension and other postretirement benefit rules: which financial statement items will change and which stay the same; what ratios are affected; using the disclosures to improve cash flow forecasts |
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No. 106: post-retirement benefits other than pensions; covenant effects and future cash-flow implications |
Using Financial Reporting Strategically |
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Lender and equity analyst as targets; adroitly timed reporting changes; subtly altering trends; protecting yourself from misleading disclosures |
Recent Developments |
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SFAS Nos. 133 and 138: derivatives and hedging; SFAS No. 140: transfers of financial assets; SFAS Nos. 141 and 142: business combinations and goodwill; SFAS No. 154: accounting changes and error corrections |
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