PwC's accounting podcast

In the sixth episode of our GHG miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, we conclude our discussion on step 4: measure greenhouse gas emissions with scope 3 emissions. Host Heather Horn is joined again by Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, and Chris Ostermann, a director in PwC’s Sustainability Services Group, to provide an introduction to scope 3 emissio...

In our fifth episode of our miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, we discuss step 4: measure greenhouse gas emissions, continuing with scope 2 emissions. Host Heather Horn is joined again by Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, and Chris Ostermann, a director in PwC’s Sustainability Services Group, to kick off the second of three episodes focused on meas...

In the fourth episode of our miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, we discuss step 4: measure greenhouse gas emissions, starting with scope 1 emissions. Host Heather Horn and frequent ESG podcast guest Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, are joined by Chris Ostermann, a director in PwC’s Sustainability Services Group, to kick off the first of three epis...

In the third episode of our miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, we discuss step 3: determine operational boundaries. Host Heather Horn is joined again by Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, and Kelsey Pizza, a senior manager in PwC’s National Office, who illustrate the importance of correctly identifying operational boundaries and the impact on the ac...

This week, host Heather Horn is joined by a chief sustainability officer (CSO), whose impressive background in paleoclimate geology has propelled her into the world of sustainability. Allyson Anderson Book from Baker Hughes provides a practical perspective on her sustainability journey as a CSO. She shares the challenges overcome and perseverance needed in getting to the accomplishments – decarbon...

We wrap up our miniseries on loans and investments with a discussion of the accounting for equity interests, a topic that can impact companies across all industries. In this episode, we discuss: 2:02 – Equity interests in scope of ASC 321, Investments—Equity Securities 13:19 – Determining whether an equity interest has a readily determinable fair value 15:10 – An overview of the “measurement alter...

At the intersection of two trending topics, AI and sustainability, there are a myriad of both costs and benefits to consider. Host Heather Horn is joined by Scott Likens, PwC Global Chief AI Engineer, to discuss the environmental impact of AI and the balance between AI's benefits and its environmental footprint. In this episode, they discuss: 3:17 – How AI is impacting sustainability 8:54 – W...

We continue our miniseries on loans and investments with a discussion of the current expected credit losses (CECL) impairment model, applicable to a broad range of financial assets.  In this episode, we discuss: 3:42 – A refresher on the CECL model 8:02 – Impact of the current economic environment on credit losses 23:43 – Monitoring and governance of credit losses 26:46 – SEC comment letters and o...

The term “ESG” has been used for over two decades, including in this podcast miniseries title. Host Heather Horn sat down with guest Matt Sekol, Sustainability Global Blackbeltand author of ESG Mindset: Business Resilience and Sustainable Growth , to revisit the complexities of ESG and how companies can rethink the concept to not only build better resilience for the long term, but also find value...

We continue our miniseries on loans and investments with a discussion of the accounting by corporate entities for loan receivables, which can include items such as trade receivables and other receivables with customers, suppliers, employees and more. In this episode, we discuss: 1:43 – The definition of a loan and types of loan arrangements 3:18 – Recognition and measurement of loans 7:40 – Classi...

Impact accounting is the process of attributing monetary value to disparate pools of datapoints across sustainability topics with the intent of creating comparability to drive investment decisions. This week, host Heather Horn is joined by a special guest from the International Foundations of Valuing Impacts (IFVI), CEO and President, Rob Zochowski, to discuss the relatively new concept of impact...

We kick off our miniseries on loans and investments with an episode on accounting for debt securities for corporate entities. We discuss key considerations applicable to corporates and share insights on some of the more complex areas. In this episode, we discuss: 5:31 – Identifying the applicable accounting guidance 13:24 – Instruments that qualify as cash equivalents   22:07 – Classification of d...

In the second episode of our miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, we discuss how to establish organizational boundaries. Host Heather Horn is joined again by Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, and Kelsey Pizza, a senior manager in PwC’s National Office, who illustrate the importance of including the correct entities, assets, and operations through rea...

We continue our miniseries on foreign currency accounting with an episode on foreign currency remeasurement and translation.  Foreign currency measurement is the process by which an entity expresses transactions whose terms are denominated in a foreign currency in its functional currency.  Foreign currency translation is the process of expressing a foreign entity’s functional currency financial st...

This week we introduce a miniseries on the building blocks of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting. To kick off the miniseries, host Heather Horn is joined by Marcin Olewinski, an Assurance partner, and Kelsey Pizza, a senior manager in PwC’s National Office, to give an overview of the process and zero in on the first step, understanding reporting requirements. They highlight the GHG Protocol&...

We kick off our miniseries on foreign currency accounting with an episode on determining functional currency, which is the currency of the primary economic environment in which a distinct and separable operation operates. In this episode, we discuss: 03:52 – Identifying distinct and separable operations 19:01 – Determining functional currency 25:45 – Common pitfalls in evaluating functional curren...

We continue our miniseries on stock-based compensation awards with a focus on 5 important things for private companies to know. This is an area for which the accounting tends to be more complicated for nonpublic companies.  In this episode, we discuss: 3:12 – Measurement of liability-classified awards 5:59 – Secondary market transactions 16:39 – Profit sharing arrangements 22:44 – Equity restructu...

We kick off our miniseries on stock-based compensation with a focus on 5 important things to know when accounting for modifications to stock-based compensation awards. In this episode, we discuss: 2:40 – How to determine whether a change in terms or conditions should be accounted for as a modification 5:00 – The stock-based compensation modification framework 8:29 – Four types of modifications rel...

We kick off our miniseries on software costs. They are accounted for using two different models depending on whether the software is used internally or externally. In this episode we focus on the external use model applicable to software to be sold, leased, or otherwise marketed as a separate product or embedded within a product or process. In this episode, we discuss: 3:20 – How to determine whet...

We conclude our revenue miniseries with an episode on collaborative arrangements, which has its own guidance (ASC 808, Collaborative Arrangements ) but also often interacts with other guidance, including that on revenue from contracts with customers. In this episode, we discuss: 4:55 – Criteria to meet the definition of a “collaborative arrangement” 16:20 – An overview of the collaborative arrange...

This week, host Heather Horn is joined by a special guest from the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Vice Chair, Sue Lloyd gives us an inside look into the ISSB’s workplan, new projects, and new strategic relationships. She also shares how the ISSB is supporting implementation of the standards. In this episode, they discuss: 4:15 – Insights from the adoption of ISSB standards ar...

We continue our revenue podcast miniseries discussing contract modifications. Contract modifications are accounted for as either a separate contract or as part of the existing contract, depending on the nature of the modification. In this episode, we discuss:  4:47 – An overview of contract modifications    5:57 – Modifications that are accounted for as separate contracts  6:54 – Modifications tha...

This episode provides an overview of the new standard from the International Accounting Standards Board, the IASB. IFRS 18 is the new standard on presentation and disclosure in financial statements, with a focus on updates to the income statement. This is a significant development in IFRS financial reporting - even companies not reporting under IFRS will want to be aware of these updates.  In this...

Our revenue miniseries continues with identifying the contract, the first step in the five-step model in the revenue standard. It's important to get this step right to appropriately apply the model for recognizing revenue.  In this episode, we discuss: 4:10 – The five criteria to have a contract with a customer under the revenue standard  8:23 – The impact of master services agreements and en...

Host Heather Horn welcomes back Will Evison, a director in PwC UK’s Global Sustainability, Climate, and Nature Strategy practice, to provide an update on the work of PwC’s Centre for Nature Positive Business and discuss the relationship between nature positive business strategy and reporting.  In this episode, they discuss:  2:18 – The purpose and progress of PwC’s Centre for Nature Positive Busin...