GASB offers implementation guide on fiduciary activities

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board released an implementation guide Monday with questions and answers explaining GASB’s recently issued standards on accounting and financial reporting for fiduciary activities.

Implementation Guide No. 2019-2, Fiduciary Activities, discusses many of the questions related to how to apply the provisions of GASB Statement No. 84 on fiduciary activities. Implementation guides, such as this latest one from GASB, aim to clarify, explain and elaborate on the requirements of its pronouncements and standards for state and local governments.

The fiduciary activities statement establishes some criteria for identifying the fiduciary activities of all state and local governments. The focus of the criteria is generally on whether a government is controlling the assets of the fiduciary activity, as well as the beneficiaries with whom a fiduciary relationship exists. Separate criteria are included in the standard to identify fiduciary component units and postemployment benefit arrangements that are fiduciary activities. The implementation guide delves into many of the details of the standard in a question and answer format.

The implementation guide is available for download at no charge on GASB’s website. Printed copies will be available through the GASB Store in the weeks ahead.

Courtesy of GASB