Scott A. Taub is a Managing Director of Financial Reporting Advisors, LLC (FRA). Based in Chicago, Illinois, FRA provides consulting services related to accounting and SEC reporting and litigation support services. FRA specializes in applying generally accepted accounting principles to complex business transactions, offering clients an unbiased assessment of the accounting literature as applied to their situation. FRA also provides litigation support and expert services, and FRA’s partners participate in activities to improve financial reporting and the capital markets. In this regard, Mr. Taub is a member of the FASB’s Valuation Resource Group.
From September 2002 through January 2007, Mr. Taub was a Deputy Chief Accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and twice served as Acting Chief Accountant for a total of 14 months. He played a key role in the SEC’s implementation of the accounting reforms under the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Chief Accountant, including resolution of accounting and auditing practice issues, rulemaking, oversight of private sector standard-setting efforts, and regulation of auditors.
Mr. Taub represented the SEC in many venues, including the FASB and IASB’s advisory committees, and in front of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises. He also served as the SEC Observer to the FASB’s Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) and as Chair of the Accounting and Disclosure committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Mr. Taub also was a member of the SEC staff between 1999 and 2001 as a Professional Accounting Fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant.
Prior to September 2002, Mr. Taub was a partner in Arthur Andersen's Professional Standards Group (PSG). The role of the PSG within Andersen was to consult on complex financial reporting matters; establish and disseminate Andersen’s policies regarding financial reporting matters; and represent the firm before various standards setters including the FAB, SEC, AICPA, and IASB. Mr. Taub consulted and authored interpretive guidance for Andersen on a wide variety of accounting and reporting issues, including revenue recognition, business combinations, compensation arrangements, intangible assets, and investment accounting. Prior to joining the PSG, he was member of the audit practice in the firm’s Detroit office serving publicly held and privately owned companies in a variety of industries.
Mr. Taub is a frequent speaker, having addressed numerous audiences sponsored by a variety of organizations such as the Financial Executives International, the AICPA, the Institute of Management Accountants, the Securities Regulation Institute, and the Practising Law Institute. Mr. Taub writes a periodic column for Compliance Week on financial reporting developments. He was the primary author of several SEC reports and publications, including the Report and Recommendations Pursuant to Section 401(c) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 On Arrangements with Off-Balance Sheet Implications, Special Purpose Entities, and Transparency of Filings by Issuers and the Study Pursuant to Section 108(d) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 on the Adoption by the United States Financial Reporting System of a Principles-Based Accounting System. He is also co-author of the Miller Revenue Recognition Guide, a 600-page comprehensive guide to accounting for revenue recognition published by CCH.
Mr. Taub attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he received an undergraduate degree in economics in 1990, and won the William A. Paton Award for his performance on the CPA exam. In 2005 Mr. Taub won the SEC’s award for Supervisory Excellence. He is a licensed CPA in Michigan and Illinois and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Click here for Taub's most recent columns for Compliance Week.
