About Bruce Pounder

Bruce Pounder is President of Leveraged Logic™, a leader in the development and delivery of educational products and services for financial professionals. His areas of expertise include corporate financial reporting, the global convergence of financial reporting standards, and ethics in the accounting profession.

Since founding Leveraged Logic in 1988, Bruce has presented accounting and finance seminars to thousands of professionals around the world. His seminar participants have come from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), each of the ten largest U.S. accounting firms, and many "Global 500" companies.

Prior to founding his firm, Bruce worked for several global companies including Eastman Kodak, IBM, Pennzoil, and Exxon. Currently, he hosts "This Week in Accounting," an online seminar series conducted live in the CPEanywhere™ Virtual Classroom.

Bruce is the author of the 2011 U.S. Master GAAP Guide (CCH) and the Convergence Guidebook for Corporate Financial Reporting (Wiley). He also writes a monthly column for CFO.com, the monthly "Financial Reporting" column for Strategic Finance magazine, and other articles that regularly appear online and in print publications reaching hundreds of thousands of accounting and finance professionals.

In addition to being a highly-regarded educator and author, Bruce has more than 20 years of practical experience as the Chief Financial Officer of a privately-held corporation. Over the same period, he has also served as a consultant to many public corporations (including The Coca-Cola Company, Quanex, and Fidelity National Financial), for whom he has provided expert advice on the design, development, and implementation of financial planning and reporting systems.

Bruce is a Certified Financial Manager (CFM) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). In 2004, he earned the Johnson & Johnson Gold Medal for attaining the highest score in the world on the CFM examination, and the Procter & Gamble Silver Medal for attaining the second highest score on the CMA examination. Bruce also holds a Bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Syracuse University, an MBA from Rice University, and a Diploma in International Financial Reporting from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Bruce is based in Asheville, North Carolina and can be reached by phone at +1 (828) 254-4812 or by e-mail at BPounder@LeveragedLogic.com.

Recent Media Contributions and Coverage

Strategic Finance Magazine
September 2011

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for September 2011 was "A Wealth of Ideas for Improvement" (subscription required), which summarized recent publications that both identify opportunities for improvement in corporate financial reporting and recommend numerous specific actions to foster positive change.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for August 2011 was "A World of Fair Value" (subscription required), which summarized recent changes in the fair-value provisions of both U.S. GAAP and IFRS.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for July 2011 was "Not-for-Profits not Forgotten" (subscription required), which described significant actions recently taken by the U.S. FASB and Canadian AcSB with regard to setting accounting standards for not-for-profit reporting entities in the private sector.

Bruce's comments on the present and future use of IFRS in the United States and around the world were featured in the article "Behind the scenes: US IFRS debate" by Gundi Jeffrey.

Bruce's comments on legal issues surrounding Lehman Brothers and its auditor were featured in the article "Threat of charges growing more faint" by Jeff Buckstein.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for May 2011 was "Bigger Balance Sheets Ahead" (subscription required), which explained proposed changes to the provisions of U.S. GAAP that relate to the offsetting of assets and liabilities on the balance sheet.

Bruce's comments on the FASB's closing of the loophole exploited by Lehman Brothers in accounting for Repo 105 transactions were featured in the article "FASB changes repo accounting rule used by Lehman" by Dena Aubin.

Bruce's comments on the likely outcome of the SEC's forthcoming decision with regard to IFRS were featured in the article "Accounting Boards Delay Convergence Beyond June 30" by David M. Katz.

Bruce's comments on the class-action lawsuit against Deloitte arising from the firm's auditing of Bear Stearns were featured in the article "Judge Allows Suit to Move Ahead" by Jeff Buckstein.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for March 2011 was "Healthier Accounting Standards for Healthcare Entities" (subscription required), which summarized recent improvements to U.S. GAAP that will affect reporting entities in the healthcare industry.

Bruce's column was "Private-Company GAAP: Can We Get a Do-Over?", which explained why private U.S. companies need a much better solution for their financial-reporting problems than one recently proposed by a blue-ribbon panel.

Bruce's comments on the lawsuit filed by the state of New York against Ernst & Young in conjunction with the firm's auditing of Lehman Brothers were featured in the article "State Targets E&Y in Repo 105 Lawsuit" by Jeff Buckstein.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for February 2011 was "The Trouble with Troubled-Debt Standards" (subscription required), which explained recent and proposed changes to the provisions of U.S. GAAP that relate to the restructuring of troubled debt.

Bruce's comments on the FASB's proposed deferral of the effective date for new disclosures about troubled debt restructurings were featured in the article "FASB Delay Provides Debtors With an Opportunity" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's column was "How Not to Create Private-Company GAAP", which explained why a favored approach to establishing "little GAAP" for private U.S. companies is way off target.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for January 2011 was "One Problem, Three Fixes" (subscription required), which explored the responses of the FASB, the IASB, and the SEC to the Repo 105 financial-reporting controversy.

Bruce's comments on the lawsuit filed by the state of New York against Ernst & Young in conjunction with the firm's auditing of Lehman Brothers were featured in the article "Ernst & Young accused of hiding Lehman troubles" by Grant McCool.

• "The Big Risks of Little GAAP" (December 2)
• "Private-Company GAAP: Setting the Right Goal" (December 10)
• "Private-Company GAAP: Another Set of Standards to Ignore?" (December 21)

Bruce's comments on the FASB's proposed Accounting Standards Update on repurchase agreements were featured in the article "US rulemaker proposes change in repo accounting" by Dena Aubin.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for November 2010 was "A Common Framework for Accounting Standards" (subscription required), which explained the FASB and IASB's recent progress in developing a common conceptual framework for financial reporting standards.

Bruce's column for October 2010 was "Influencing the Future of IFRS in the United States", which explained how CFOs can practice proactive influence to shape the future of IFRS in the United States.

Bruce's comments on common misconceptions about IFRS were featured in the article "Debunking IFRS Myths" by Marie Leone.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for October 2010 was "Setting Standards Scalably (Part 2)" (subscription required), which explained how the FASB and the IASB can improve the quality of financial reporting standards by improving the scalability of the standard-setting process.

Bruce's column for September 2010 was "Why the SEC Won't Flip the IFRS Switch", which explained why the SEC is highly unlikely to require public U.S. companies to use IFRS instead of U.S. GAAP if the two sets of standards remain substantially different.

Bruce's comments on the likelihood of U.S. companies being forced to switch from current U.S. GAAP to current IFRS were featured in the article "The Big Switch" by Don Sadler.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for September 2010 was "Setting Standards Scalably (Part 1)" (subscription required), which explained why the quality of financial reporting standards will suffer if the FASB and the IASB don’t improve the scalability of the standard-setting process.

Bruce's column for July 2010 was "IFRS: More Opportunities Than Threats", which explained how scenario planning reveals few threats and many opportunities within the uncertainties about IFRS in the United States.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for July 2010 was "Integrating the Income Statement" (subscription required), which described proposed changes to U.S. GAAP and IFRS that would force many reporting entities to change the way they present their income statements.

Bruce's column for June 2010 was "IFRS: Paralyzed or Prepared?", which explained how U.S. CFOs can still plan intelligently for the impact of IFRS on their companies despite many uncertainties.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for June 2010 was "When Diversity Isn't a Good Thing" (subscription required), which highlighted the role of the FASB's Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) in recommending changes to the wording of U.S. GAAP in order to reduce diversity in practice.

Bruce's comments on the patentability of accounting methods were featured in the "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "Consulting Firm Accuses FASB of Stealing Accounting Idea" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's column for May 2010 was "IFRS Risk: Not What You Think", which explained why U.S. CFOs are wasting time and money managing imaginary risks while ignoring the real risks associated with IFRS and the global convergence of financial reporting standards.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for May 2010 was "'Boundary Issues' in Financial Reporting" (subscription required), which explained what the FASB and IASB have proposed in their exposure draft "Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting: The Reporting Entity."

Bruce's comments on the FASB's many standard-setting projects that will soon bring profound changes to U.S. GAAP were featured in the article "FASB Convergence Project Looms; Prepare to Panic" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's inaugural column was "Could Codification Weaken Internal Controls?", which described the potential adverse effects of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification on internal control over financial reporting and how CFOs can mitigate such effects.

Bruce's comments on the SEC's recent "Dear CFO" letter campaign to inquire into registrants' accounting for repurchase agreements were featured in the article "SEC 'Repo Probe' May Hinge on Weak GAAP" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's comments on the future of IFRS for U.S. companies were featured in the article "IFRS: Dead in the USA?" by Lawrence Richter Quinn.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for April 2010 was "The Benefit of Hindsight" (subscription required), which described the recently changed subsequent events provisions of U.S. GAAP.

Bruce's comments on how "Repo 105" transactions were reportedly accounted for at Lehman Brothers were featured in the March 23 article "Lehman Mess: Bad Intent, or Just Bad GAAP?" by Tammy Whitehouse. Additionally, his comments on the SEC's inquiry into the prevalence of such accounting were featured in Ms. Whitehouse's March 30 "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "SEC Queries Wall Street on Repurchase Accounting Tactics".

Bruce's comments on private U.S. companies' choice of accounting standards were featured in the blog post "Should the U.S. Forget about Private-Company GAAP?" by Marie Leone.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for March 2010 was "Another Step Along the Path to Transparency" (subscription required), which described new disclosure requirements from the FASB that are intended to provide financial-statement users with greater transparency about the way reporting entities apply the fair value measurement provisions of U.S. GAAP.

Bruce's guest article "SEC IFRS Support Not All It's Cracked Up To Be" focused on the SEC's February 24, 2010 announcement regarding IFRS and Convergence.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for February 2010 was "Is It Time to Consolidate?" (subscription required), which described recent and forthcoming changes to the derecognition and consolidation rules of U.S. GAAP.

Bruce's observations on the issues that accounting standard-setters are most likely to focus on in 2010 were featured in the January 5 article "Much in Store for Accounting in 2010" by Tammy Whitehouse. Additionally, his comments on new-basis accounting in business combinations were featured in Ms. Whitehouse's January 12 article "SEC Cracks Down on Gussied Up M&A Values".

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for January 2010 was "Accounting for Financial Instruments: Post-Crisis Changes, Part 2" (subscription required), the second of a two-part series that described recent and forthcoming changes to financial-instrument accounting standards.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for December 2009 was "Accounting for Financial Instruments: Post-Crisis Changes, Part 1" (subscription required), the first of a two-part series that described recent and forthcoming changes to financial-instrument accounting standards.

Bruce's comments on the implementation of SOX Section 404(b) by smaller public companies were featured in the article "Opinion divided over SOX delay for small companies in the US" by Nicola Maher and Carolyn Canham.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for November 2009 was "Revenue Recognition: New Answers to 'How Much?' and 'When?'" (subscription required), which explored the impact of the FASB's Accounting Standards Updates (ASUs) 2009-13 and 2009-14 on revenue recognition under U.S. GAAP.

Bruce's comments on the inclusion of XBRL elements in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification were featured in the "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "FASB Links GAAP With XBRL Through Codification" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for October 2009 was "Keeping Up with the FASB Codification" (subscription required), which explained how U.S. GAAP is now updated and how accounting and finance professionals can stay abreast of the updates.

Bruce's observations on opportunities for small businesses to cut costs were featured in the article "Lessons from the Lean Years" by Betsy Wiesendanger.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for September 2009 was "A Game-Changer for Small-Business Accounting" (subscription required), which examined the implications of the recently released International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs).