Note: Reporting of CPE credit to a CPA’s state board is the responsibility of the CPA. Subscribers to CPE Network may not receive duplicate credit for this material, which previously aired in the May 2005 edition of CPE Network Accounting and Auditing Report.

This text is divided into four chapters:

Chapter 1 provides an executive summary of the course.

Chapter 2 explains recent guidance related to the implementation of FIN 46R on consolidating variable interest entities with practical examples that relate to many small businesses.

Chapter 3 contains supplemental material titled “FASB Staff Position 46R-5—Variable Interest Entities.”

Chapter 4 contains review problems.

Upon completion of this program, the user should:

1) be able to identify at least one recent FSP related to FIN 46R;
2) be able to identify three characteristics/questions to be asked in determining if an entity is a VIE.

Tom Ratcliffe, PhD, CPA, is the former Director of the School of Accountancy, and an Eminent Scholar in the Department of Accounting and Finance at Troy University in Troy, Alabama. Dr. Ratcliffe serves as a consultant to several CPA firms in Montgomery, Alabama, but is Scholar in Residence for Wilson Price.