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Building Public Trust, by Samuel A. DiPiazza Jr. and Robert G. Eccles, couldn't be more timely or necessary. Arriving in the wake of a seemingly endless stream of corporate accounting scandals--which in a matter of months have bankrupted Enron and brought WorldCom and Global Crossing down to earth--this book offers a bona fide framework for a new, open form of transparent financial reporting that should prove more palatable to businesses and their stakeholders, and more effective than any of those in misuse today. DiPiazza, CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Eccles, president of Advisory Capital Partners, certainly know of which they speak, and they lay out a highly informed and quite feasible system that actively involves every member of the so-called corporate reporting supply chain: executives, boards of directors, independent auditors, information distributors, third-party analysts, investors, and various other stakeholders. They propose specific ways to develop three key elements (a spirit of transparency, a culture of accountability, and people of integrity) that work together to "create public trust in markets." Based on their extensive firsthand experiences, they further show how using these principles can lead to a scenario where "capital is being allocated more efficiently all over the world." The timeliness of this book is one thing, the content within its pages another, and on both counts Building Public Trust definitely delivers. --Howard RothmanBusiness reporting in a post-apocalypse global marketplace Clearly, now is the time for creating an effective business-reporting model appropriate for the markets of the twenty-first century. Rather than start from scratch after the Enron-Andersen fiasco, two leading consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers present a plan that supplements the current model, one in which executives, accountants, analysts, investors, regulators, and other stakeholders can truly embrace the spirit of transparency. The Future of Corporate Reporting highlights the best practices for global financial reporting, explaining the concept of "performance auditing," which focuses on the real performance of the business as opposed to technical adherence to GAAS. Eccles and Masterson also discuss the pros and cons of GAAP v. IAS, present new approaches to reforming financial reporting, and outline a twenty-first-century model of accounting that will improve markets and benefit shareholders.
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