Voices

FAF Looks to Review Government Accounting Standards

The Financial Accounting Foundation has reiterated its call for people to participate in a post-implementation review of two accounting standards for state and local government entities.

The FAF, which oversees both the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, has been conducting post-implementation reviews of both government and private sector accounting standards to see how well they have worked in practice.

In January, it released its first post-implementation review, of FIN 48, “Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Tax Positions,” a FASB standard for businesses (see Accounting Standard for Uncertain Tax Positions Needs Tweaking). In February, the FAF announced that it planned to conduct further post-implementation reviews of several other FASB and GASB standards, including GASB Statements No. 3, “Deposits with Financial Institutions, Investments (including Repurchase Agreements), and Reverse Repurchase Agreements,” and GASB Statement No. 40, “Deposit and Investment Risk Disclosures” (see FAF Plans Post-Implementation Reviews of More Accounting Standards).

Both statements require disclosures about deposits and investments, including the related credit and interest rate risks. GASB Statement 3 also provides accounting guidance for repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements.

GASB is looking for participants in a survey of how well the standards have been working. The survey is slated to be issued in September and will help the FAF evaluate the effectiveness of the accounting standards by hearing from users, preparers, auditors, academics, and regulators that are affected by it. Stakeholders who would like to be considered to participate in post-implementation review surveys, which are conducted by an independent survey firm on behalf of the FAF, should register online. If they have specific questions on the PIR of GASB Statements No. 3 and No. 40, they can contact the FAF at 3and40-PIR@faf-gasb.org.

The post-implementation review process is intended to help the FAF’s board of trustees with ongoing efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of the standard-setting process for both GASB and FASB. GASB sets standards for state and local governments, while FASB sets accounting standards for public and private companies and not-for-profit organizations. The post-implementation review process is designed to be independent of the standard-setting process of the GASB and the FASB.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY