As they promised, accounting standard setters are stepping up the pace and length of dialogue on some of the most vexing accounting issues in hope of achieving common approaches to U.S. and international rules sooner rather than later.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board met in London for an all-day and two half-day sessions this week to wade deeper into how to get converged standards on fair value measurement, leasing, revenue recognition, financial instruments, consolidation, derecognition, and financial statement presentation. They also worked through issues related to hedge accounting, discontinued operations, insurance contracts and post-employment benefits.

The two boards promised the Group of Twenty leaders they will pick up the pace of standard setting to narrow the differences between International Financial Reporting Standards and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The Financial Crisis Advisory Group reported to the G20 that weaknesses and differences in accounting standards were at least a contributing factor to the financial crisis that brought chaos to the global economy.

With respect to fair value, the boards decided to retain a notion that fair value is the same as an exit price in a hypothetical transaction, but they didn’t discuss or decide how to address gains or losses that might arise when a live transaction is different from the fair value of the transaction. They agreed that the fair value of a liability includes the effect of nonperformance risk, and that they will provide clarification on what that might include besides just credit risk.

As for revenue recognition, the boards tentatively decided they will require entities to disclose the nature of contracts and related accounting policies, the principal judgments involved, a reconciliation of beginning and ending net contract positions, a total amount of outstanding performance obligations as well as the expected timing for their resolution, and information about onerous contracts.

The two boards will meet jointly again five times in February via videoconfernce.