How can financial statements be more useful to lenders?

IMAGE ILLUSTRATION 1

The Commercial Finance Association (CFA) has become more active in the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) "Users Council" through its Cooperation With Accountants Committee (the Committee),

chaired by Neville Grusd, executive vice president, Merchant Factors Corp. and Merchant Financial Corporation. One purpose of this Committee is to enhance the quality of disclosures made in financial statement presentations through consideration of what is important to those who use financial statements, such as secured lenders and credit grantors, who rely upon accurate financial statements.

The Committee considered some of these issues during a recent meeting and asked Mark A. Alimena, CPA, CFE, of Marden Harrison & Kreuter, CPAs, to make a presentation from the point of view of a practicing CPA who also specializes in field examinations and forensic accounting. The following conversation between Neville Grusd and Mark Alimena reviews the substance of that meeting and its implications for lenders and CPAs.