| The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently issued an invitation for stakeholders, including banks and credit unions, to comment on potential financial accounting and reporting topics it might add to its agenda.
The board said that it intends to address areas of concern raised by a recent survey of stakeholders, including:
- Intangible assets, including research and development.
- Pensions and other postretirement benefit plans.
- Distinguishing liabilities from equity.
- Reporting performance and cash flows, including income statement, segment reporting, other comprehensive income and statement of cash flows.
“Now that many of the FASB’s major projects are complete, we are considering other areas of financial reporting that stakeholders think we should improve,” FASB Chair Russell G. Golden said in a statement. “But to develop the right solutions, we must first identify the right problems. And that means listening carefully to our stakeholders’ experiences, input and concerns.
Earlier this year, for instance, the board issued its final guidance on accounting for current expected credit losses, also known as CECL.
FASB said that in its invitation to comment, it is specifically requesting feedback on the following:
- Are the financial reporting issues described in this invitation to comment areas for which there is potential for significant improvement?
- What is the priority of addressing each issue?
- What approach should the FASB take to address each issue?
- Are there other major areas of financial reporting not described in this Invitation to Comment that the FASB should consider adding to its agenda?
The deadline for comments is Oct. 17.
