Wrapping up 204 days in orbit, three Chinese astronauts flew back to Earth aboard a Shenzhou spacecraft Friday, leaving three crewmates behind on the Tiangong space station with a busted lifeboat.

Commander Chen Dong, concluding his third trip to space, and rookie crewmates Chen Zhongrui and Wang Jie touched down inside their spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing zone at 1:29 am EST (06:29 UTC) Friday. The parachute-assisted landing occurred in the mid-afternoon at the return zone, located in the remote Gobi Desert of northwestern China.

Chinese space officials upended operations on the country’s Tiangong space lab last week after astronauts found damage to one of two Shenzhou return capsules docked at the station. The China Manned Space Agency, run by the country’s military, announced changes to the space station’s flight plan November 4, the day before three crew members were supposed to depart and fly home.

Chen and his crewmates were preparing to board the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft for the ride back to Earth a few days after the arrival of three replacement crew members on the newly launched Shenzhou 21 capsule. Shenzhou 20 is the same spacecraft that launched Chen’s crew in April.

But a little more than a week ago, Chinese officials said the Shenzhou 20 spacecraft was “suspected of being impacted by small space debris” and confirmed the return trip would be postponed. Officials provided no additional details.

China’s human spaceflight agency released a cryptic statement earlier this week saying preparations were underway for the crew’s undocking and landing, but the circumstances of the return remained opaque until hours before the astronauts’ homecoming. Finally, officials confirmed the details of the return to Earth late Thursday.

“Based on preliminary analysis of photographs, design review, simulation analysis, and wind tunnel tests, a comprehensive assessment determined that the Shenzhou 20 manned spacecraft’s return capsule window glass had developed a minor crack, most likely caused by an external impact from space debris,” the China Manned Space Agency wrote on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform. “This does not meet the release conditions for a safe manned return.”

Swapping Spacecraft in Low-Earth Orbit

With their original spacecraft deemed unsafe, Chen and his crewmates instead rode back to Earth on the newer Shenzhou 21 craft that launched and arrived at the Tiangong station October 31. The three astronauts who launched on Shenzhou 21—Zhang Lu, Wu Fei, and Zhang Hongzhang—remain aboard the nearly 100-metric ton space station with only the damaged Shenzhou 20 craft available to bring them home.

China’s line of Shenzhou spaceships not only provide transportation to and from low-Earth orbit, they also serve as lifeboats to evacuate astronauts from the Chinese space station in the event of an in-flight emergency, such as major failures or a medical crisis. They serve the same role as Russian Soyuz and SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicles flying to and from the International Space Station.

Another Shenzhou spacecraft, Shenzhou 22, “will be launched at a later date,” the China Manned Space Agency said in a statement. Shenzhou 20 will remain in orbit to “continue relevant experiments.” The Tiangong lab is designed to support crews of six for only short periods, with longer stays of three astronauts.

Cryptocurrency continues to reshape the financial landscape. As cryptocurrency moves from niche to mainstream, companies are grappling with how to account for these volatile digital assets. New research from Scheller College of Business accounting professor Robbie Moon, and his co-authors Chelsea M. Anderson, Vivian W. Fang, and Jonathan E. Shipman, sheds light on how U.S. public companies have navigated crypto holdings and accounting practices over the past decade.

ASU 2023-08, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s (FASB) newly enacted rule, aims to bring clarity and consistency to crypto asset reporting with the mandate for fair value reporting. Moon’s research, which examined a comprehensive set of companies from 2013 to 2022, looks at the exponential rise in corporate crypto investments and the diverse, and often inconsistent, ways firms have reported them.

In “Accounting for Cryptocurrencies,” Moon and his co-authors work to better understand this pivotal point in financial reporting with research that dives into why firms hold crypto—whether for mining, payment acceptance, or investment—and how reporting practices have evolved to meet this current moment. The work is published in the Journal of Accounting Research.

Keep reading to learn more about Moon’s research and why it matters right now.

Why do companies hold cryptocurrencies, and how has this changed over time?

Companies hold cryptocurrency for three main reasons: they mine it, they accept it as payment, or they consider it an investment. Early on, most businesses kept crypto because customers used it to pay for goods and services. Around 2017, that trend declined, and more companies began mining crypto themselves. Today, mining accounts for about half of corporate crypto holdings, while payment acceptance and investment make up the rest.

What were the main challenges companies face when trying to report cryptocurrency holdings in their financial statements?

Until the end of 2023, there were no official rules on how companies should report cryptocurrency on their financial statements. Back in 2018, the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG) stepped in with guidance, suggesting that crypto be treated like intangible assets, similar to things like patents or trademarks. This is known as the impairment model.

What is the difference between the ‘fair value model’ and the ‘impairment model’ for accounting crypto assets, and why does it matter?

The two accounting methods differ in how they handle changes in crypto value. The fair value model updates the value of a company’s crypto to match current market prices every reporting period. If the price goes up or down, the change shows up on the company’s income statement as a gain or loss.

The impairment model only lets companies record losses when the value drops below what they paid. If the price goes up, they can’t record the increase.

The difference in the two approaches can best be seen when crypto prices rise. Under the impairment model, companies’ balance sheets understate the true value of the crypto since the gains cannot be recorded. The fair value model allows companies to adjust the balance sheet value of crypto as market prices change.

What factors led ASU 2023–08 to favor fair value reporting?

When the FASB was trying to decide if they should add crypto accounting to their standard setting agenda, they reached out to the public for feedback. The response was overwhelming and most practitioners and firms called for the use of the fair value model.

How do big accounting firms, like Deloitte or PwC, influence how companies report their crypto holdings?

When there aren’t official rules for complex issues like crypto accounting, the Big Four firms often step in to guide companies. In 2018, they recommended using the impairment model, which they viewed as most appropriate based on existing standards. After that, most companies switched from fair value reporting to the impairment approach.

Their guidance in 2018 was based on what was allowed under the standards at that time. With the new rule in place, the firms will likely help clients manage the transition.

Does using fair value accounting for crypto make a company’s stock price more volatile or its earnings reports more useful to investors?

The primary downside of using a fair value model for a risky asset like crypto is how volatility affects earnings. Moon’s research suggests that stock price volatility increases for firms using the fair value model, and it doesn’t appear the model makes earnings more useful for investors. That said, the results should be viewed cautiously because the study’s sample largely consisted of smaller companies.

Why does this research matter right now?

This research matters because more companies are investing in cryptocurrency. That trend is only expected to grow. This research looks at how businesses handled crypto before official rules came out in 2023, showing that many treated it like traditional investments. This provides a baseline against which future research can evaluate the new rule.

The research also warns that the fair value approach could make stock prices more volatile without necessarily making earnings reports more useful for investors.

Services provided by accountants can help small business owners manage cash flow better, a study commission by Intuit Software has reported, but the role of accounting is changing as more technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are embedded into accounting software packages.

The study, conducted by Chris Brauer, director of innovation in the Institute of Management Studies (IMS) at Goldsmiths, University of London, Symmetry Research and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), noted that there is a substantial opportunity for both SMEs and accountants to drive meaningful economic impact.

Based on a survey of 4,000 small and mid-sized businesses, the study reported that 71% of the businesses polled agree that professional accounting services improve cash flow management, which makes both current and future business decision-making run more smoothly. In addition, 73.1% said that using professional accounting services has strengthened their financial reporting, and this alone has offered increasing opportunities to get bank loans or government grants.

Around 80% of SME leaders who have used an accountant said it has had either a moderate, significant or transformational effect on their financial literacy. Accountants can also serve an integral role as strategic financial advisors, counselling on business planning, tax compliance and financial management. Among the challenges facing the accounting profession is that the trajectory AI is taking may well remove much of the work they need to do in terms of how small business owners manage their finances. 

Marianna Tressel, executive vice-president at Intuit, believes the way AI changes business is just getting started, adding: “We’re just at the beginning, at the first few innings of what will be possible with AI and how people use AI.”

According to Tressel, AI is an accelerant in everybody’s work: “We were talking to a lot of small businesses about how they use AI for all sorts of elements of their work. It’s an accelerant, but also it’s a disruptor.”

Tressel believes conversational AI powered by a custom large model changes human computer interaction and this is something Intuit has begun doing, with a custom LLM based on open source technology, which, she said, can handle queries extremely cost effectively. This potentially has an impact on the role of an accountant.

Aaron Patrick, head of accounts at the UK-based cloud accountancy firm Boffix, said: “If we’re really honest, accountants and bookkeepers are starting to become less relevant.” However, for Patrick, there is now an opportunity for accountants and book keepers to become business advisers and start helping clients by showing value to their clients.

“Niche expertise is becoming a game changer for accountants. By specialising in specific sectors [such as] e-commerce, we can offer tailored advice that directly impacts a client’s success. Coupled with proactive communication, we’re not just checking boxes anymore – we’re building long-term relationships where we actively help SMEs make strategic decisions, thrive, and grow.”

For Intuit customers, this opportunity is made possible through its $12bn acquisition of MailChimp in 2021. The developer of QuickBooks used the acquisition as an opportunity to re-engineer its applications as a new platform.

In October, Intuit launched Intuit Accountant Suite, an AI-native platform, which the company claims provides accounting firms with the tools they need to scale and manage their clients, firms and teams, all in one place.

Discussing how the technology that is built into the new Intuit platform changes the role of an accountant, Patrick said: “We now have an opportunity to understand why sales has gone up or why expenses has gone down.”

According to Patrick, the new Intuit platform provides access to data silos: “As accountants, we’re going to have the opportunity not only to be able to tell the story based on the numbers, but understand what’s happened with the CRM system, such as assess how a company’s marketing is going.”