Fair Value Disclosure Issues

This chapter highlights several fair value accounting disclosure issues. When an entity intentionally omits a disclosure, it is counting on the fact that the typical reader of the financial statements would not even notice the omission. Including a required disclosure, but with certain elements omitted, relies on a different assumption. In this case, the perpetrator of the fraud is counting on the reader feeling comfortable that a particular issue has been addressed in the notes, without noticing that one key piece of required information is missing. The disclosure of methods and assumptions used represent a wealth of information for the reader of the financial statements. Well-written and complete disclosures should provide readers with adequate information to be able to formulate a preliminary opinion regarding the adequacy of these methods and assumptions.