GASB Offers Pension Toolkit

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has released a new online pension implementation toolkit to help preparers, auditors, and users of state and local government financial reports understand and apply the revised pension accounting and financial reporting standards that the GASB approved in June 2012.

The toolkit is available at no cost at the GASB website. Prepared by the GASB staff, the toolkit includes a number of resources:

•  The Guide to Implementation of GASB Statement 68 on Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions, an authoritative resource guide;

•  The executive summary and full text of GASB Statements No. 68 and No. 71;

•  A video featuring GASB Project Manager Michelle Czerkawski outlining the key issues addressed by the implementation guide;

• A video featuring GASB chairman David A. Vaudt discussing the top implementation issues arising from the pension standards;

• Eight podcasts featuring GASB Project Manager Michelle Czerkawski discussing the most significant changes to accounting and financial reporting for pensions;

•  A video featuring GASB technical director David Bean and research manager Dean Mead discussing stakeholder outreach for the pension standards;

• An article outlining the key ways that the pension standards will change how governments calculate and report pension costs and obligations;

•  A background document  and six fact sheets answering frequently-asked questions regarding the pension standards;

• An article identifying several areas public officials should consider as they plan, prepare, and collaborate when implementing the new standards; and

• A “Setting the Record Straight” document addressing common misperceptions about the new pension standards.

“The GASB is committed to providing our stakeholders with a full array of resources to assist in their understanding and implementation of the pension standards,” said Vaudt in a statement. “This toolkit highlights key implementation issues and provides guidance on how preparers and auditors of state and local governments can effectively comply with the requirements.”

GASB Statement 68 revises the existing guidance for accounting and financial reporting for pensions that are provided to the employees of state and local governmental employers. GASB Statement 71 eliminates a potential source of understatement of restated beginning net position and expense in a government’s first year of implementing Statement 68. Governments are required to implement the new accounting standards in fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2014.

The new toolkit complements the toolkit the GASB released in November 2013 for pension plans looking to implement GASB Statement No. 67, Financial Reporting for Pension Plans.