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In recent years, accounting rule makers have issued guidance that requires certain items on the balance sheet to be reported at “fair value.” Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about this standard of value and how it’s measured.

In today’s volatile economy, many businesses and nonprofits have been required to write down the value of acquired goodwill on their balance sheets. Others are expected to follow suit — or report additional write-offs — in 2022. To the extent that goodwill is written off, it can’t be recovered in the future, even if the organization recovers. This makes impairment testing is a serious endeavor that usually requires input from your CPA to ensure accuracy, transparency, and timeliness.

Forecasting how your company is likely to perform over the next year can be challenging, especially when it’s unclear where the markets are heading. But accurate forecasts are critical when managing a business. For example, they may be used to order inventory, hire additional workers, apply for loans and credit lines, and evaluate investment alternatives.

An external audit is less stressful and less intrusive if you anticipate your auditor’s document requests. Auditors typically ask clients to provide similar documents year after year. They’ll accept copies or client-prepared schedules for certain items, such as bank reconciliations and fixed asset ledgers. To verify other items, such as leases, invoices and bank statements, they’ll want to see original source documents.

The American Institute for Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently issued a Technical Question and Answer (TQ&A) that provides guidance on accounting for loans issued under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the temporary closure, or a reduction of operating hours, of office buildings, shopping centers, restaurants, and other businesses. As a result, many lessors have, or will be, providing lease concessions to tenants who have faced economic disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lease concessions may vary in form, but payment forgiveness and deferral of payments are expected to be the most common types of concessions granted. As a result of lease agreements not containing provisions for rent concessions specific to COVID-19, in early April, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a question-and-answer document (Q&A) addressing questions on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lease concessions.