Accounting solutions vendor Pendo Systems has developed a new report aimed at assisting its clients in identifying investments that come under the other than temporary impairment (OTTI) classification, as specified by the Financial Standards Accounting Board (FASB). OTTI has been a hot topic over the last few months, as the FASB has been coerced by industry lobbyists to revise its mark to market accounting rules.
The newly revised accounting rules allow firms “significant judgement” in the valuation of their assets and are considered to be a major step away from the original mark to market guidelines, according to the FASB. The area of OTTI has been altered to reflect the impact of the financial crisis so that losses recorded in capital are based on economic losses rather than market losses.
The vendor’s new OTTI Analysis Report is being offered to clients using its flagship BasisPoint accounting system, which provides an automated database of client accounts. The report will therefore assist BasisPoint clients in identifying investments that are candidates for Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) impairment accounting as required by a number of different regulations as well as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting requirements.
“This report was designed to allow users the flexibility to select run-time threshold parameters, such as percentage of market value under book value and over how many time periods,” explains Teri Henry, BasisPoint product manager.
As well as updating its accounting solution, Pendo Systems has also been recently focused on increasing its general data management offering. In November last year the vendor formed a strategic alliance with buy side data management solution vendor Data Agent to deliver an integrated solution aimed at streamlining data management for financial services firms. The two firms are developing a multi-dimensional platform on which they claim customers will be able to manage their investment data via the combination of their respective offerings.
