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Biomedical subjects

R W Luecke

Publications and source records attributed to R W Luecke.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

The FASB explores accounting for future cash flows.

The FASB's Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts No. 7, Using Cash Flow Information and Present Value in Accounting Measurements (Statement No. 7), presents the board's views regarding how cash-flow information and present values should be used in accounting for future cash flows when information on fair values is not available. Statement No. 7 presents new concepts regarding how an asset's present value should be calculated and when the interest method of allocation should be used. The FASB proposes a present-value method that takes into account the degree of uncertainty associated with future cash flows among different assets and liabilities. The FASB also suggests that rather than use estimated cash flows (in which a single set of cash flows and a single interest rate is used to reflect the risk associated with an asset or liability), accountants should use expected cash flows (in which all expectations about possible cash flows are used) in calculating present values.

Accounts Payable and Receivable↗
PubMed2001

AICPA standard can help improve audit committee performance.

The AICPA's Auditing Standards Board issued Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 90, Improving the Effectiveness of Corporate Audit Committees, in response to a related Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule change. Under the standard, audit committees of publicly traded organizations must enter into discussions with their organization's auditors regarding the quality and the acceptability of the accounting principles that have been applied in the organization's financial statements. Although SAS No. 90 is intended for publicly traded entities, the standard has significant implications for all healthcare organizations in defining what constitutes an effective audit committee. To comply with the standard, audit committees should have independent directors who are rotated on and off the committee, training for committee members on the effective performance of their duties, a charter specifying committee responsibilities and membership requirements, meetings at least four times annually, and responsibility for retaining services of CPA firms to conduct the organization's annual audits.

Accounting↗
PubMed2000

FASB Statement No. 136 clarifies transfers of assets.

FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 136, Transfers of Assets to a Not-for-Profit Organization or Charitable Trust That Raises or Holds Contributions for Others, provides guidance and establishes accounting standards for the transfer of assets from donors to not-for-profit organizations that may then transfer those same assets to a beneficiary organization. Recipient organizations that accept financial assets from a donor and agree to use those assets on behalf of a specified unaffiliated beneficiary or transfer those assets, the return on investment of those assets, or both to that beneficiary must recognize the assets received from the donor and recognize the assets' fair value as a liability to the beneficiary. The statement describes circumstances in which a transfer of assets to a recipient organization is accounted for as an asset and corresponding liability of the recipient organization, and as an asset and donation revenue by the beneficiary organization because the transfer is irrevocable.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

SOP 98-5 brings uniformity to reporting start-up costs.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued Statement of Position (SOP) No. 98-5, Reporting on the Costs of Start-Up Activities, in April 1998 to provide organizations with guidance on how to report start-up and organization costs. Because some companies were expensing start-up costs while other companies were capitalizing start-up costs with a variety of periods over which to amortize costs, it was difficult to compare companies' financial statements. SOP No. 98-5 will bring uniformity to the treatment of start-up and organization costs by dictating that these costs be expensed as incurred. AICPA's Accounting Standards Executive Committee adopted an intentionally broad definition of start-up costs to capture the vast majority of costs associated with starting up an organization. SOP No. 98-5 takes effect for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1998, but can be applied earlier for fiscal years for which financial statements have not been issued.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

New AICPA standards aid accounting for the costs of internal-use software.

Statement of Position (SOP) No. 98-1, "Accounting for the Costs of Computer Software Developed or Obtained for Internal Use," issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in March 1998, provides financial managers with guidelines regarding which costs involved in developing or obtaining internal-use software should be expensed and which should be capitalized. The SOP identifies three stages in the development of internal-use software: the preliminary project stage, the application development stage, and the postimplementation-operation stage. The SOP provides that all costs incurred during the preliminary project stage should be expensed as incurred. During the application development stage, costs associated with developing or obtaining the software should be capitalized, while costs associated with preparing data for use within the new system should be expensed. Costs incurred during the postimplementation-operation stage, typically associated with training and application maintenance, should be expensed.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

FASB Statement No. 132 simplifies benefits disclosures.

In February 1998, the FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 132, Employers' Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits. The new standard is designed to streamline pension and other postretirement benefits disclosures in public and nonpublic entities' financial statements. For nonpublic entities, the statement eliminates separate disclosures of the components of net periodic benefit cost, eliminates the disclosure of the components of benefit obligations and of alternative obligation measures, eliminates the disclosure of plan provisions, adds the disclosure of comprehensive income, eliminates the disclosure of sensitivity to changes in healthcare trend rates, and standardizes the disclosures for pension and other postretirement benefits. Financial managers and their organizations' actuaries and auditors should work together to determine which disclosures their organizations should make to be in compliance with FASB Statement No. 132.

Accounting↗
PubMed1999

IRS issues new disclosure rules for tax-exempt organizations.

The IRS earlier this year issued new regulations that tax-exempt organizations must follow in disclosing to the public certain documents as directed by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA87) and the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 of 1996. The new rules went into effect June 8, 1999. Complying with these rules may pose difficulties in terms of the increased exposure of the documents that must be disclosed, increased labor, time limitations, and penalties, some of which can be imposed upon a director or officer. An organization can escape some of the burden of responding to requests by posting the documents on its Web site, but it still must make the documents available for inspection at its principal office and certain regional offices.

Documentation↗
PubMed1997

Making unofficial inventory official. Financial managers who record and control unofficial inventory make the most of a valuable asset.

All healthcare organizations maintain supplies in their facilities that have not been booked as assets on their general ledgers. This unofficial inventory is often overlooked because it is not as significant a cost-driver as salaries and capital equipment. But unofficial inventory can affect an organization's bottom line when it is not reflected as an asset on statements of activities. Healthcare financial managers, working with their organization's materials managers, and other department personnel, can take steps to correct the problem of unofficial inventory by identifying locating, and controlling such inventory throughout the facility. Appropriate accounting procedures to handle the conversion of unofficial inventory to official inventory status also should be implemented.

Accounting↗
PubMed1996

Identifying best practices for audit committees.

Most healthcare organizations have an audit committee of the governing board, or a finance committee, that fulfills the audit oversight function. Financial managers play a key role in shaping the content, agency, and operation of the audit committee. The findings of a recent research study conducted by Arthur Anderson & Co., SC, into the best practices of audit committees have implications for healthcare organizations.

Financial Audit↗
PubMed1996

Implementing SFAS No 121: Accounting for Impaired Assets.

In March 1995, FASB issued Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 121: "Accounting for the Impairment of Long-Lived Assets and for Long-Lived Assets to be Disposed Of." It establishes accounting standards for assets whose carrying costs have been overstated due to a variety of circumstances that have reduced the value of the assets. Healthcare financial managers should fully understand the statement's implications for their organizations.

Accounting↗
PubMed1996

SFAS No. 124, accounting for investments: the rules have changed.

Under SFAS No. 124 "Accounting for Certain Investments Held by Not-for-Profit Organizations," issued in November 1995, not-for-profit healthcare organizations must report investments in equity securities that have readily determinable market values and all debt securities at fair value. SFAS No. 124 significantly modifies the way healthcare organizations' account for such investments and brings greater accountability to healthcare financial managers regarding the management of their organizations' investments.

Accounting↗
PubMed1996

Patient satisfaction under managed care: what every financial manager should know.

As the delivery of health care services transitions increasingly to a managed care environment, individual patients will begin to exert influence on the provider panel selection process. Accordingly, it will become more and more important to meet or exceed patient expectations. This article focuses upon patient satisfaction: what drives it and how it can be measured, tracked, and monitored. It also discusses the role the financial manager can play in becoming a champion of patient satisfaction.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗
PubMed1995

SFAS No. 116 changes accounting procedures for contributions.

SFAS No. 116 will significantly change the accounting procedure for contributions received by healthcare organizations. It requires that contributions be recognized as revenue, at fair value, in the period received. In addition, a major change in SFAS No. 116 is that an unconditional pledge must be recognized in the year it is received, even if the actual contribution will be received in installments over future accounting periods.

Accounting↗
PubMed1995

SFAS No. 117 brings uniformity to financial statement formats.

Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 117 was issued to establish consistency in financial reporting among not-for-profit organizations, which are subject to various American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) audit guides. In addition, SFAS No. 117 was designed to close the gap between the statements of not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. The provisions of SFAS No. 117 are intended to override AICPA audit guides and statements of position when the two conflict.

Accounting↗
PubMed1995

Capitalizing strategic planning costs to recognize future value.

As healthcare organizations devote more resources to strategic planning, financial managers should consider capitalizing, rather than expensing, planning costs. Traditionally, healthcare organizations have absorbed these costs in the year a plan is developed. However, a strategic plan may be viewed as an intangible asset that provides the organization with future benefits. Therefore, its costs can be amortized over the plan's life.

Accounting↗
PubMed1994

Following new tax rules on charitable deductions.

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 established new rules governing individuals who make donations to charitable organizations and organizations that provide goods and services in return for charitable donations. Healthcare financial managers and fund-raising personnel need to become familiar with these rules so they can assure that donors of charitable contributions to their organizations will receive appropriate tax deductions and that the organizations themselves will not incur penalties for failing to make proper disclosures.

Accounting↗
PubMed1993

Priority worksheet brings order to information systems projects.

"Eeeny, meeny, miny, moe, and the first priority is ..." maybe the CEO's pet project or nursing's necessity. Putting aside "gut feel" for an objective method promises to streamline the process of prioritizing I/S projects, according to Saint Alexis Hospital Medical Center leadership.

Decision Making, Organizational↗