Corporation Finance Posts Financial Reporting Manual

SEC transparency took another giant leap forward yesterday when the Division of Corporation Finance posted their internal accountant's handbook on the web. The Financial Reporting Manual has been around since 1990, but it wasn't available to the public (though most law firm libraries seem to have a much-photocopied bootleg). Back in November, John White promised this was going to happen: "(SEC Chief Accountant) Wayne (Carnall) is in the process of updating our training manual for the Division’s accountants and, in light of the level of outside interest in getting copies of this document, we plan to publish the manual on our website in the near future."

The Manual hasn't been updated since 2000, but Compliance Week reports that Wayne Carnall called the changes "very limited." Going forward, the Manual will be updated every quarter.