Fitch Ratings says it expects that fair value measurement will continue to be the top accounting issue for analysts and investors in the coming year.

The rating agency says that fair value measurement was the main accounting theme last year, and that its importance was magnified in the second half with the prevailing credit and liquidity crunch, particularly for subprime mortgage-related assets.

Fitch Ratings will continue to scrutinize fair value assumptions and may request additional detail from issuers to support valuation, it says.

Other topics that Fitch believes will dominate the accounting debate in 2008, include: off-balance-sheet accounting; financial statement presentation; global convergence of accounting standards; business combinations; insurance accounting, particularly as it relates to how fair value should be defined for insurance reserves; and, defining liabilities vs. equity.