Weil's "Financial Reporting in 2019: What Management and the Audit Committee Need to Know (and Ask)" shares numerous key takeaways from the "2018 AICPA Conference on Current SEC and PCAOB Developments" on topics repeatedly emphasized by the SEC that management and the audit committee should consider for the company's current and ongoing financial reporting, proxy disclosure, and associated controls & procedures (including business ethics, insider trading, and Reg FD policies).
Notably, each of the hot topics - cybersecurity, Brexit, and LIBOR phase-out risks (although the firm reminds companies to also address other significant emerging or evolving risks); new GAAP standards; non-GAAP financial measures; and ICFR - is accompanied by firm insights and a series of highly instructive action items that reflect the SEC's and other regulators' expectations imparted both at and outside of the Conference in the form of "What to Do Now" bullets that make the otherwise potentially daunting task of integrating all of the formal and informal guidance into the company's disclosures and controls manageable.
Equally instructive for management, Legal, the Corporate Secretary's office, Compliance, and others who support the company's disclosure and related control processes, the memo includes a robust list of oversight questions for the audit committee to consider in their discussions with management and the outside auditor, as well as in their own annual performance self-evaluation.