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 2010 U.S. Master GAAP Guide (CCH) and the Convergence Guidebook for Corporate Financial Reporting (Wiley). He also writes the "IFRS in Perspective" blog, 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 Coverage

CFO.com
July 29, 2010

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?" (subscription required) 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" (subscription required) 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" (subscription required).

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 "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).

Bruce's comments on the relationship between restatements and audit quality were featured in the August 25 article "GE Restatement: What About the Auditors?" by Tammy Whitehouse. Additionally, his comments on the SEC's interpretative release regarding the FASB Accounting Standards Codification were featured in Ms. Whitehouse's August 25 "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "SEC Clarifies Authority Over Accounting Rules".

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for August 2009 was "What Our Unreadiness Says About Us" (subscription required), which examined the implications of recent survey results that indicate U.S. corporate financial managers and other accounting professionals are often unaware of and unprepared for previously announced changes in financial accounting and reporting.

Bruce's observations and advice on referring to authoritative standards within U.S. GAAP following the adoption of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification were featured in the June 2 article "Preparing Financial Statements in Codification Era" by Tammy Whitehouse. Additionally, his comments on the online Codification Research System subscription plans were featured in Ms. Whitehouse's June 24 "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "FASB Explains Free and Subscription Access to Codification".

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for June 2009 was "Looking Back, Looking Ahead" (subscription required), which reviewed significant developments in corporate financial accounting of the recent past and near future.

Bruce's practical tips on preparing for the FASB Accounting Standards Codification were featured in the article "Navigating Codification: Where to Begin?" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for May 2009 was "New Views on Lease Accounting" (subscription required), which analyzed the recently issued FASB-IASB discussion paper on leases.

Bruce's observations on the managerial and career implications of the Convergence of U.S. GAAP and IFRS were featured in the article "Most CFOs Still Don't Commit Resources to IFRS" by Dona DeZube.

Bruce's comments on the profound impact of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification were featured in the "Accounting & Auditing Update" blog post "FASB Wants Codification as Sole Authority on GAAP" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for April 2009 was "Financial Instruments and the Financial Crisis" (subscription required), which examined several short-term standard-setting projects recently undertaken by the FASB.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for March 2009 was "A Fresh Look at Revenue Recognition" (subscription required), which examined the recently issued FASB-IASB discussion paper on revenue recognition.

Bruce's comments on the SEC's rule mandating XBRL filing were featured in the article "Final XBRL Rule Starts New Compliance Push" by Melissa Klein Aguilar.

Bruce's comments on the potential implications of IFRS for U.S. CFOs were featured in the article "The Hard Sell: SEC in a quandary over its push for IFRS" by Amy E. Buttell.

Bruce's comments on the potential implications of IFRS adoption for U.S. companies that account for inventory using the last-in-first-out (LIFO) cost-flow assumption were featured in the article "Study Documents LIFO Pain Under IFRS" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for January 2009 was "Reviewing the Roadmap" (subscription required), which examined truths and myths about the SEC's proposed IFRS Roadmap.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for December 2008 was "Financial Statements Unlike Any You've Seen" (subscription required), the second of a two-part series about the FASB-IASB Discussion Paper on Financial Statement Presentation.

Bruce's comments on Convergence were featured in the article "Business Accounting: New Global Standards Impact Business Plans, Location Decisions" by Richard J. Maturi.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for November 2008 was "Financial Statements Unlike Any You've Seen" (subscription required), the first of a two-part series about the FASB-IASB Discussion Paper on Financial Statement Presentation.

Bruce's comments on the potential challenges of implementing XBRL appeared in the articles "XBRL: IR" and "XBRL: So how much is this gonna cost?" by Nicholas Rummell.

The often-contrasting viewpoints of Bruce and other speakers at a recent Foundation for Accounting Education conference were featured in the article "Niemeier Rejects IFRS 'Roadmap' at FAE Conference" by Colleen Lutolf.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for October 2008 was "The Other C-Word" (subscription required), which focused on the FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

Coverage of Bruce's Convergence presentation at the Ohio Society of CPAs' 2008 Cleveland Accounting Show appeared in the article "Ohio Accounting Show covers the biggest issues impacting CPAs".

Bruce authored "FASB Accounting Standards Codification: No Time to Lose", the Featured Article in this issue of the CPAs in Industry Newsletter published by the New York State Society of CPAs.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for September 2008 was "Myths and Facts About Convergence" (subscription required).

Bruce's comments on IFRS training were featured in the article "Experts: Take Advantage of IFRS Training" by Tammy Whitehouse.

Bruce's "Financial Reporting" column for August 2008 was "The Future of Private-Company Financial Reporting" (subscription required).

Bruce's participation as moderator of the "First Time Adoption of IFRS" panel at Financial Executives International's recent Global Financial Reporting Convergence Conference was noted in the article "IFRS: Leading Companies, Auditors, Regulators All Say, 'Start Now'" by Edith Orenstein (registration required).

Bruce's recent presentation on the FASB Accounting Standards Codification to the Banking Committee of the New York State Society of CPAs was highlighted in Victor Valdivia's article "The New Face of GAAP: FASB's GAAP Codification".

An exclusive interview with Bruce on the subject of Convergence appears in the article "Standards Convergence: The Movement Towards International Accounting Standards". Additional coverage of Bruce's Convergence presentation at the Institute of Management Accountants' recent Annual Conference appears in the article "Convergence of Accounting Standards, Ethics Take Center Stage at IMA Annual Conference".

Bruce's inaugural "Financial Reporting" column was published in this issue (subscription required).

Bruce's comments on the likelihood that U.S. companies will run across accounting errors if and when they make the transition to IFRS were featured in the article "Shift to IFRS may expose errors" by Nicholas Rummell.

Bruce's comments on the future of IFRS in the United States were featured in the article "Big changes in reporting standards coming to the accounting world" by Ed Duggan.

Bruce's article "Framing the Future: A First Look at FASB's GAAP Codification" was published as the "Extreme Makeover: GAAP Edition" cover feature of this issue.