GASB proposes changes in government accounting guidance

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board proposed guidance in an omnibus exposure draft to address a variety of state and local government accounting and financial reporting issues it has identified during the implementation and application of different GASB pronouncements.

The issues covered by the Exposure Draft, Omnibus 20xx, include:

• The effective date of Statement No. 87, Leases, to address concerns about interim financial reports;

• Reporting of intra-entity transfers of assets between a primary government employer and a component unit pension plan or other postemployment benefit (OPEB) plan;

• The applicability of Statement No. 73, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pensions and Related Assets That Are Not within the Scope of GASB Statement 68, and Amendments to Certain Provisions of GASB Statements 67 and 68, as amended, and Statement No. 74, Financial Reporting for Postemployment Benefit Plans Other Than Pension Plans, as amended, to reporting assets accumulated for pensions and OPEB;

• The applicability of certain requirements of Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities, to pension and OPEB arrangements; along with,

• Measurement of liabilities and assets, if any, related to asset retirement obligations in a government acquisition.

The exposure draft document is available on GASB’s website. GASB is asking for comments by Oct. 4, 2019.

Courtesy of GASB